Abstract
This paper presents descriptive key informant data collected from 51 county administrators of publicly funded alcohol and other drug treatment systems in California. The study examined administrators' perceptions of service adequacy, the provision of services, and evaluation of services. County AOD administrators reported that publicly funded treatment systems in California adequately serve most populations (both drug-specific and ethnic/racial). Several administrators, however, suggested that adolescents, the elderly, and the homeless were not as adequately served. Administrators also felt that most services for different drug user groups were somewhat adequate. Administrators indicated there was little use of psychological testing, placement criteria, children's counseling, and spirituality counseling in their treatment systems. They reported current treatment approaches included a mixture of more traditional methods (use of 12 step programs) with newer ones (e.g., cognitive-behavioral therapy, relapse prevention work, and use of non-confrontational methods). Recommendations for student education, future research, and policy are discussed.