City's racial composition shapes treatment center characteristics and services

Abstract

We assessed the extent to which a city's racial composition shapes the characteristics of substance abuse treatment centers. We utilized both the 2004 National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services, which provides information on treatment center characteristics such as availability of comprehensive substance abuse evaluation, and 2000 Census data on the percentage of African Americans and Latinos in a city. We found that a city's racial composition influences treatment center characteristics and services available, but the pattern is complex in that there are inequalities in treatment for certain types of services but not in others. For instance, cities with high percentages of Latinos and African Americans provide more treatment options, such as employment and domestic violence counseling or programs for gay/lesbian clients. However, minority cities have fewer integrated treatment centers that provide comprehensive assessment for substance abuse and mental health problems. We discuss the implications of these findings for service providers, especially those working with Latino and African American clients, as well as provide avenues for future research.