Disparities in Youth Access to Substance Abuse Treatment and Recovery Services: How One Recovery School Initiative is Helping Students “Change Tracks”

ABSTRACT

Recovery high schools are one aftercare support for adolescents in the United States following intervention for substance use disorders. Admission requirements for most recovery schools include completion of a formal treatment program; yet, there is a documented disparity in access to treatment and completion by race. This article presents a descriptive case study of recovery schools in Massachusetts to consider the relationships among treatment and recovery resources, disparities in accessing these resources, and steps schools can take to address these inequities, specifically through the example of the Changing Tracks program.

KEYWORDS:

• Adolescent
• continuing care
• disparities
• recovery high school

Notes

1 One school opened for the 2015–2016 school year, so the data presented are only for the four previously opened.