Policies to improve the ways states organize and deliver alcohol and drug prevention and treatment
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A Join Together panel led by former Governor Mike Dukakis (D. Massachusetts) and State Representative Pat George (R. Kansas) has created a Blueprint that state governments need to follow to develop effective alcohol and drug policies that will save lives, restore families and reduce crime.
The panel's key recommendation calls for making governors, state legislative leaders and chief judges personally accountable for developing and implementing a state strategy requiring all public agencies affected by alcohol and drug problems to work together in a unified strategy that promotes treatment and prevention. The panel concluded that if States continue their current approaches, they will never reduce the alcohol and drug related problems that soak up more than 13% of their total annual spending.
Background and Purpose
State treatment and prevention organizations are not the only agencies whose expenses and activities are driven by the needs of individuals with substance use disorders. Agencies responsible for criminal justice, child welfare, public health, mental health, and education are all affected by these problems.
In fact, substance use disorders are responsible for about 13% of all state expenditures, not the 0.5% that is allocated for substance use treatment and prevention. However, drug and alcohol policy, treatment and prevention rarely get the attention they deserve at the state level.
In response to this, Join Together convened a national policy panel to investigate the role state governments can play in improving the treatment and prevention of substance use disorders. The panel (PDF), chaired by Michael Dukakis, explored what can be done by senior state leaders, including the governor and other appointed and elected officials. The report presents state government leaders and concerned citizens with practical suggestions for organizational structures that foster leadership, effective policy development and collaboration, best clinical practice, and appropriate levels of funding to actually address the scale of their state's substance use disorder and prevention challenges.
Blueprint in the News
Hearings and Testimony
The panel heard testimony from over 30 experts from around the country. This testimony as well as public testimony (PDF) is critical in helping the panel formulate their recommendations for how states can improve alcohol and drug prevention and treatment. The panel asked that testimony be presented on the issues of leadership, financing, workforce development, prevention, performance outcomes, and state models. All testimony followed a specific set of guidelines for testimony.
The following resources (PDF) provided important background information for the panelists:
Ambrogi, Robert. (2005). State Systems: Policies and Challenges. A briefing paper prepared for the Join Together national policy panel on state substance abuse systems. Boston, MA: Join Together.
Gelber, S., Rinaldo, DW. (2005). State Substance Abuse Agencies and their placement within the government: impact on organizational performance and collaboration in 12 states. Berkeley, CA: The Avisa Group.
Colker, Allison, C. National Conference of State Legislators. (2004). What Funding Is Available for States to Provide Services to People Affected by Alcohol and Other Substance Use Disorders? Treatment of Alcohol and Other Substance Use Disorders: What Legislators Need to Know. Washington D.C: National Council of State Legislators
Marton, A., Diagle, J., Gueronniere, G. (2005). Identifying State Purchasing Levers for Promoting the Use of Evidence-Based Practice in Substance Abuse Treatment-An Environmental Scan. Center for Health Care Strategies.
IOM (Institute of Medicine). (2006). Improving the Quality of Health Care and Mental and Substance-Use Conditions: Quality Chasm Series (Executive Summary). Washington D.C: National Academy Press.
