Information/Data Requests Only
The Research Permission Committee shall review requests for participant information from existing paper and/or electronic sources. The Administrator shall convene the Committee and shall consult with appropriate AOC staff as needed. The members shall have expertise in research and/or the program. The Committee shall meet as needed to review requests and shall respond within thirty days after meeting. When a researcher is allowed access to participant records/data, he/she must pledge that any information that is accessed shall be used solely for research purposes, and that the information shall not be re-disclosed without additional approval from the Administrator. Also, the researcher shall make reasonable legal and ethical efforts to prevent disclosure of the identity of research subjects or use or release any material that would have any adverse effect on the individuals involved.
Human Subjects Participation in Research
The Research Permission Committee shall review research/evaluation/monitoring requests that involve face to face contact with program participants. This review will be in addition to approval from an Institutional Review Board (IRB) associated with the project. The Administrator shall convene the Committee and the members shall have expertise in research and/or the program. The Committee shall meet as needed to review requests and shall respond to requests within thirty days after meeting.
When a researcher is allowed direct access to program participants, he/she must obtain an informed consent from the prospective participant which includes the following: the purpose of the research, the length of participation, potential risks of participating, the procedures involved, assurance of confidentiality, assurance of no penalty or reward for participation, and assurance of the opportunity to stop participating at any time. The researcher must also pledge that any information obtained during the research project will be used solely for research purposes, and that the information shall not be re-disclosed without additional approval from the Administrator. Also, the researcher shall make reasonable legal and ethical efforts to prevent disclosure of the identity of research subjects or use or release any material that would have any adverse effect on the individuals involved.
Access to the Drug Treatment Court Management Information System (MIS)
No external, independent researcher shall have direct access to records contained in the Drug Treatment Court MIS. In most cases, AOC staff will provide information that has been stripped of individual identifying information. In special cases, at the request of an Institutional Review Board (IRB) and with approved consent forms by participants, staff will provide identifiable data sent via encrypted email or password protected. The data shall be provided to the researcher in an Excel spreadsheet. Each table from the SQL Server 2000 database will appear on a different worksheet within the Excel file. The single Excel file will be stored on a data CD and will need to be picked up by the researcher. The researcher may need the assistance of a computer programmer, unless he/she is familiar with the languages necessary to run queries in Excel. The programmer will need experience in working with relational databases and have knowledge in languages such as Structured Query Language (SQL), Visual Basic Access (VBA), and/or Object-Oriented Programming (OOP). The researcher will be provided with a data dictionary and a description of the data structure.
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