Evaluation Report: Substance Abuse Treatment

There were nearly 42,000 admissions of Minnesota residents to substance abuse treatment in 2004. Over half were publicly funded. The main source of funding was the Consolidated Chemical Dependency Treatment Fund. State appropriations to this fund have reached $63 million in 2006, however funding is not available to persons with incomes above the poverty line.

Effectiveness studies show that treatment results are mixed and that information on community programs is limited. There is wide variation in county use of public funds, and the treatment clients receive varies by county. Inmates who complete substance abuse treatment programs in prison have lower overall arrest and conviction rates following release than inmates who complete short programs and untreated inmates. Few chemically dependent inmates enroll in post prison treatment programs due to a lack of services and case management. 

Key recommendations: 

• The Department of Human Services should strengthen oversight of local assessments, develop strategies to increase effective treatment options, improve placement decisions, and assess options for improving fairness of state laws that require county investment in treatment costs.
  
• The Department of Corrections should develop a strategy to improve the post-release outcomes for chemically dependent inmates who do not complete treatment in prison, present the Legislature a plan to ensure that more offenders receive treatment during and after prison, and work with local agencies to improve post release substance abuse plans for individual inmates.