State and Service Estimates of Substance Use Treatment Facilities That Receive Public Funds in the United States

Abstract

Purpose

The Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS) is a publicly available national dataset provided annually by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. TEDS contains sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of treatment episodes in substance use treatment facilities that receive public funds. Yet little is known about what proportion of facilities across states/jurisdictions and services/settings receive public funds to assist with interpreting TEDS.

Methods

This study uses the National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services 2020. Descriptive statistics were used to estimate percentages of facilities that receive public funds at national and state/jurisdiction levels across all services/settings.

Results

In the full sample, 51.4% (n = 8262) of facilities received public funds, and in the sample of states/jurisdictions included in TEDS 2020 data, 52.3% (n = 7659) of facilities received public funds. Across services/settings, the proportion of facilities receiving public funds ranges from 27.1% in rehab/residential, hospital (non-detox) settings to 58.0% in rehab/residential, short-term (30 days or fewer) services/settings. Variability was also identified within states and services/settings from 0.0% to 100.0% of facilities that receive public funds.

Conclusion

This study estimates the proportions of substance use facilities that receive public funds to guide interpretations of TEDS. This study’s findings, combined with TEDS, may assist advocates, clinicians, policymakers, researchers, service providers, service recipients, and other key stakeholders in reaching a shared goal: improving the well-being of individuals living with substance use disorders.

Keywords:

• detoxification
• outpatient
• national survey of substance abuse treatment services
• residential
• substance use disorder
• treatment episode dataset

Acknowledgments

Dr. Jordan Wingate, thank you for your thoughtful edits.

Disclosure

There are no conflicts of interest to report.

Additional information

Funding

There is no funding to report.