Criminal justice client rehabs can be considered as being a significantly better option than prison time or heavy fines for those who have already been convicted of any sort of drug or alcohol related crime. As an example, a person who has been in prison for driving while impaired of alcohol or drugs may qualify to get rehabilitation services for their problem as opposed to serving time in prison. The judge might order the individual receive rehabilitation, either alone or along with other consequences. First-time offenders in particular tend to be given the ability to select a criminal justice client rehab as opposed to other sentencing, and it is highly recommended that they take advantage of it if it's an alternative. The theory behind criminal justice client rehabs is it is much more effective and efficient to invest time and energy into treatment than enforcement of other consequences. Much research has been done to find out how effective this approach is on recidivism rates, i.e. if the individual returns or not to criminal justice system following rehab. All indicators appear to be quite positive, and criminal justice clients that take part in rehabilitation have a better chance of remaining out of the system after rehab.