Substance abuse service prevalence and access in the juvenile justice system

Compared to the bounty of literature advocating and describing substance abuse treatment services for high risk youth, there is surprisingly little factual information on the prevalence and availability of these services in the juvenile justice system. This presentation reports findings about treatment and other service provision from a survey of a nationally representative sample of directors of local jails (n=32), community corrections facilities (n=60), and large, state-sponsored residential facilities (n=49) serving juvenile offenders. Provided by 75% of the surveyed facilities, drug and alcohol education was the most prevalent substance abuse service, followed by weekly group counseling (40%), and relapse prevention programs (32%). Service access was very low, with less than 10% of youth attending substance abuse counseling on any given day. Both the prevalence data and measures of service access showed distinct differences in service provision by facility type, with youth in residential facilities at least four times more likely than those in jails and community corrections facilities to be attending substance abuse counseling. Similar service patterns were also observed in these facilities' provision of somatic health services, and to a lesser extent, mental health services. Implications of these findings for reaching youth in the early stages of delinquency and substance abuse are discussed.