March 7, 2003

Facilities Providing Substance Abuse Treatment in Languages Other than English

In Brief

Facilities providing treatment in languages other than English tended to be larger than English-only facilities

The States that reported the highest percentages of facilities providing treatment in languages other than English were in the West, Northeast, and South

Facilities providing treatment in languages other than English also reported providing programs or groups for special populations more frequently than English-only facilities

In 2000, 18 percent of persons 5 years or older in the United States (roughly 47 million) spoke a language other than English at home: 11 percent spoke Spanish and 7 percent spoke another language.¹ This report looks at substance abuse treatment facilities providing treatment in languages other than English, as reported to the National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services (N-SSATS).

N-SSATS is an annual survey of all facilities in the United States, both public and private, that provide substance abuse treatment. Four groups of facilities were compared: 1) facilities providing services only in English (English-only facilities); 2) facilities providing treatment in English and Spanish (Spanish facilities); 3) facilities providing treatment in English, Spanish, and at least one other language (multilingual facilities); and 4) facilities providing treatment in English and at least one language other than Spanish (other language facilities).

Facilities

Of the 13,428 facilities reporting to N-SSATS 2000, 70 percent were English-only facilities, 24 percent were Spanish facilities, 3 percent were multilingual facilities, and 3 percent were other language facilities. Facilities providing treatment in languages other than English tended to be larger than English-only facilities. On a typical day,² there were 27 clients in each English-only facility, 48 in each Spanish-only facility, 37 in each multilingual facility, and 55 in each other language facility.

States

The States that reported the highest percentages of facilities providing treatment in languages other than English were in the West, Northeast, and South (Figure 1). The highest percentages were reported by New Mexico (61 percent), Texas (48 percent), California (48 percent), Utah (46 percent), Arizona (45 percent), Massachusetts (44 percent), Oregon (43 percent), New York (41 percent), Connecticut (40 percent), and Florida (38 percent).

Figure 1. Percent of Facilities providing Substance Abuse Treatment in Languages Other than English, by State: 2000

Figure 1. Percent of Facilities providing Substance Abuse Treatment in Language Other than English, by State: 2000

Source: 2000 SAMHSA National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services (N-SSATS).

Type of Care

Hospital inpatient facilities comprised the largest proportion of facilities offering treatment in languages other than English (33 percent). Thirty-one percent of outpatient facilities and 16 percent of non-hospital residential facilities offered treatment services in a language other than English. Among facilities offering more than one type of care, apporximately 28 percent offered services in a language other than English. In each case, the predominant foreign language was Spanish: approximately 23 percent of the facilities providing each type of care were Spanish facilities. Multilingual and other language facilities were small proportions of the facilities providing each type of care.

Services Provided

For the most part, facilities providing treatment in languages other than English provided such services as mental health assessment, individual therapy, and group therapy as frequently as or more frequently than English-only facilities (Table 1).

Table 1. Facilities Providing Treatment in English and Other Languages, by Services Provided: 2000

	English Only	Spanish	Multilingual	Other Language
No. of Facilities*	9,410	3,208	373	414
Services Provided
Comprehensive Mental Health Assessment	44	40	55	58
Individual Therapy	94	96	96	96
Group Therapy	88	91	92	87
Employment Counseling	33	42	42	95
Services Addressing Domestic Violence	50	67	74	48

*Number of facilities for which language was reported.
Source: 2000 SAMHSA National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services (N-SSATS).

Programs and Groups for Special Populations

Facilities providing treatment in languages other than English also reported providing programs or groups for adolescents, clients with co-occurring disorders (i.e., clients with a psychiatric problem in addition to a substance abuse problem), persons with HIV/AIDS, gays and lesbians, seniors, and pregnant or postpartum women more frequently than English-only facilities (Table 2).

Table 2. Facilities Providing Treatment in English and Other Languages, by Groups for Special Populations: 2000

	English Only	Spanish	Multilingual	Other Language
No. of Facilities*	9,410	3,208	373	414
Special Populations
Adolescents	35	39	49	48
Clients with Co-Occurring Disorders	48	51	66	67
Persons with HIV/AIDS	18	31	22	42
Gays and Lesbians	13	19	16	32
Seniors	16	21	29	30
Pregnant Women	17	28	22	33

*Number of facilities for which language was reported.
Source: 2000 SAMHSA National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services (N-SSATS).

Methadone/LAAM Treatment

Of all facilities providing methadone/LAAM treatment, about half (49 percent) provided treatment in other languages: 39 percent were Spanish, 3 percent were multilingual, and 7 percent were other language facilities. Among non-methadone facilities, only 28 percent offered treatment in a language other than English.

Type of Payment Accepted

In most cases, multilingual and other language facilities were slightly more likely to accept each type of payment than English-only or Spanish facilities (Figure 2). Multilingual facilities were slightly less likely than other types of facilities to accept cash or self payment.

Figure 2. Payment Type Accepted, by Facilities Providing Treatment in English and Other Languages: 2000

Source: 2000 SAMHSA National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services (N-SSATS).

End Notes

¹Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. (2000). Census 2000 Summary File 3 (SF 3) - Sample Data [Data file]. Available from the U.S. Census Bureau Web site, http://factfinder.census.gov
²Based on the survey reference date, October 1, 2000.

The Drug and Alcohol Services Information System (DASIS) is an integrated data system maintained by the Office of Applied Studies, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). One component of DASIS is the National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services (N-SSATS), an annual survey of all facilities in the United States, both public and private, that provide substance abuse treatment. N-SSATS was formerly known as the Uniform Facility Data Set (UFDS).

The DASIS Report is prepared by the Office of Applied Studies, SAMHSA; Synectics for Management Decisions, Inc., Arlington, Virginia; and RTI, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.

Information and data for this report are based on data reported to N-SSATS for the survey reference date October 1, 2000.

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