Evaluation Report: Substance Abuse Treatment

The Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor has issued a program evaluation report on substance abuse treatment, both in the community and in state prisons. The report says that stronger state leadership and oversight are needed to improve the availability and effectiveness of treatment in Minnesota.

Despite uniform placement criteria, there is wide variation in counties' use of publicly-funded treatment, and the Minnesota Department of Human Services has not monitored local assessment and placement practices. The evaluation found that previous research on the effectiveness of substance abuse treatment has yielded mixed results, and information on the outcomes of Minnesota's programs is limited.

In addition, only 17 percent of chemically dependent prison inmates complete substance abuse treatment prior to their release, and few enter treatment upon release. The report found widely varying rates of rearrest and reconviction among chemically dependent persons who completed substance abuse programs in prison--ranging from low recidivism rates for inmates who completed a program that combines chemical dependency treatment with a boot camp environment to high recidivism rates for inmates who completed short substance abuse education programs.

http://www.auditor.leg.state.mn.us/ped/2006/subabuse.htm

3.28 MB

Publication Year: 2006

Publisher

Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor
658 Cedar Street
Room 140
St. Paul, mn 55155-1603
Phone: 651-296-4708
Website: http://www.auditor.leg.state.mn.us/
Email: Legislative.Auditor@state.mn.us