A Profile of the Substance Abuse Treatment Industry: Organization, Costs, and Treatment Completion

Abstract

Nationally representative data from the Alcohol and Drug Services Study, conducted between 1996 and 1999, are used to explore the structure and operation of the substance user treatment industry in the United States. The empirical relationship among client (N = 4945) retention and completion, types and use of counseling and medical personnel, diagnostic mix, client demographics, the level of services used, and the cost of treatment in different treatment settings is discussed using tabular presentation and tests of significance. Limitations of the analysis are outlined. This information and analysis are expected to help the research community understand the potential of the ADSS data in addressing many important questions about substance user treatment.

Keywords:

• substance user treatment
• costs
• completion

Notes

¹The journal's style utilizes the category substance abuse as a diagnostic category. Substances are used or misused; living organisms are and can be abused. Editor's note.

²Treatment can be briefly and usefully defined as a planned, goal directed change process, which is bounded (culture, place, time, etc.) and can be categorized into professional-based, tradition-based, mutual help–based (AA, NA, etc.), and self-help (“natural recovery”) models. There are no unique models or techniques used with substance users—of whatever types—that are not also used with non-users. Editor's note.