The Drug and Alcohol Services Information System Report

May 10, 2002

Drug and Alcohol Treatment in Juvenile Correctional Facilities

In Brief

  • Among juvenile correctional facilities, 37 percent provided on-site substance abuse treatment and 59 percent conducted drug testing
  • States varied from 13 percent to 63 percent in providing on-site treatment in juvenile facilities
  • Facilities operated by private organizations or those with fewer than 25 residents were more likely to offer treatment

This report examines substance abuse treatment in juvenile correctional facilities. The Uniform Facility Data Set 1997 Survey of Correctional Facilities1 collected information about the availability of drug and alcohol treatment and supplemental on-site services in the nation's correctional facilities. Treatment was defined to include services such as detoxification, group or individual counseling, rehabilitation, and methadone or other pharmaceutical treatment. Supplemental services included education and awareness programs, needs assessment, drug testing, and self-help programs. The survey included juvenile facilities identified by the Department of Justice as facilities under the purview of a correctional or juvenile justice agency or otherwise associated with a State or local corrections system. The response rate of juvenile facilities was 94 percent. Information from 148 juvenile facilities already surveyed in the 1996 Uniform Facility Data Set was added for a total sample size of 3,127 juvenile correctional facilities.
 
 
Services Offered
Among all juvenile correctional facilities in the nation 37 percent provided on-site substance abuse treatment to their residents (Figure 1). Approximately 20,000 individuals younger than 18 years of age were receiving substance abuse treatment within these facilities (data not shown). Of the 1,143 facilities offering treatment, more than 90 percent provided individual counseling or group
Figure 1. Percentage of Juvenile Correctional Facilities Offering Services: 1997*
Figure 1. Percentage of Juvenile Correctional Facilities Offering Services: 1997*

Source: 1997 SAMHSA Uniform Facility Data Set (UFDS), Survey of Correctional Facilities.
counseling, and 72 percent offered family counseling. With respect to services other than substance abuse treatment, juvenile facilities were more likely to conduct awareness and education programs, needs assessment, and drug testing than to offer self-help programs and detoxification services.

Among the facilities responding to questions about drug testing, 59 percent responded that they had conducted some type of drug testing in the year prior to the survey. A quarter of responding facilities tested on a random basis and 52 percent tested on the basis of reasonable suspicion. Some facilities conducted both types of testing. Of responding facilities, 17 percent tested residents on admission, and 8 percent tested residents at release. Drug testing was more common in facilities providing substance abuse treatment; 75 percent of those facilities had conducted drug testing in the previous year, and 38 percent tested on a random basis.

State Differences
At the State level, there were differences in services provided by correctional facilities. For example, the State of Washington had the highest proportion of facilities providing on-site substance abuse treatment, with 31 of the 49 juvenile correctional facilities (63 percent) providing treatment. With respect to supplemental services, roughly 80 to 90 percent of the juvenile facilities in Washington provided drug testing, needs assessment, and education. Juvenile correctional facilities in Mississippi were the least likely to provide on-site substance abuse treatment, with two of the 15 juvenile correctional facilities (13 percent) providing treatment. While 36 percent of juvenile facilities in Mississippi provided some type of drug testing, 60 percent provided needs assessment services and 82 percent provided education programs.2

Facility Size
In terms of facility population, juvenile correctional facilities were generally smaller than jails and prisons with adult populations. Of all juvenile facilities responding to questions about facility size, 66 percent had fewer than 25 residents, 16 percent had 25 to 49 residents, 11 percent had 50 to 99 residents, and 8 percent had 100 or more residents (Figure 2). Among the largest facilities, those with 250 or more residents, 58 percent provided treatment, while 30 percent of the smallest facilities, facilities with fewer than 25 residents, provided treatment (Figure 3). Still, because the majority of all juvenile correctional facilities are small, over half (54 percent) of facilities that provided treatment were small facilities with fewer than 25 residents.3
Figure 2. Number of Juvenile Correctional Facilities, by Size: 1997** Figure 3. Percentage of Juvenile Correctional Facilities Providing Treatment, by Size: 1997**
Figure 2. Number of Juvenile Correctional Facilities, by Size: 1997* Figure 3. Percentage of Juvenile Correctional Facilities Providing Treatment, by Size: 1997**
Source: 1997 SAMHSA Uniform Facility Data Set (UFDS), Survey of Correctional Facilities.

Public and Private Ownership
Of the facilities providing information about ownership, over half (56 percent) of juvenile correctional facilities with on-site treatment were privately owned, primarily by nonprofit organizations. The smallest facilities, which were more common, were more likely to be private; 68 percent of the smallest facilities were owned by private organizations. At the other extreme, 93 percent of the largest facilities were public.4

Figure Notes
* Ad hoc analysis; number of respondents varies according to item response rates and ranges from 2,911 to 3,113.
**Ad hoc analysis; sample size is 3,096, based on response rate to questionnaire item about facility size.

End Notes
1Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (2000). Substance Abuse Treatment in Adult and Juvenile Correctional Facilities: Findings from the Uniform Facility Data Set 1997 Survey of Correctional Facilities (DHHS Publication No. SMA 00-3380). Rockville, MD: Author.
2Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (2000). Substance Abuse Treatment in Adult and Juvenile Correctional Facilities: Findings from the Uniform Facility Data Set 1997 Survey of Correctional Facilities (DHHS Publication No. SMA 00-3380). Rockville, MD: Author. Appendix A and UFDS 1997 Survey of Correctional Facilities, ad hoc analysis.
3Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (2000). Substance Abuse Treatment in Adult and Juvenile Correctional Facilities: Findings from the Uniform Facility Data Set 1997 Survey of Correctional Facilities (DHHS Publication No. SMA 00-3380). Rockville, MD: Author. Table 25.
4UFDS 1997 Survey of Correctional Facilities, ad hoc analysis.

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 Uniform Facility Data Set (UFDS), now known as the National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services (N-SSATS). The Uniform Facility Data Set 1997 Survey of Correctional Facilities collected information about the availability of drug and alcohol treatment and supplemental on-site services in the nation’s Federal prisons, State prisons, jails, and public and private juvenile facilities.

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 issue are based on data reported to UFDS for the 1997 Survey of Correctional Facilities.
Access the UFDS Correctional
Facility report at:
http://samhsa.gov/data/CorrectionalFacilities.htm

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This page was last updated on December 31, 2008.