© 2007 American Public Health Association DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2005.069336
Yih-Ing Hser, Cheryl Teruya, Alison H. Brown, David Huang, Elizabeth Evans, and M. Douglas Anglin are with the Integrated Substance Abuse Programs, University of California, Los Angeles. Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Yih-Ing Hser, PhD, UCLA Integrated Substance Abuse Programs, 1640 S. Sepulveda Blvd, Suite 200, Los Angeles, CA 90025 (e-mail: yhser{at}ucla.edu).
Objectives. Californias Proposition 36 offers nonviolent drug offenders community-based treatment as an alternative to incarceration or probation without treatment. We examined how treatment capacity changed to accommodate Proposition 36 clients and whether displacement of other clients was an unintended consequence. Methods. Treatment admissions were compared for the year before and 2 years after the law was enacted. Surveys of county administrators and treatment providers were conducted in Kern, Riverside, Sacramento, San Diego, and San Francisco counties. Results. The number of Proposition 36 offenders admitted to treatment continued to increase in the state (approximately 32000 in Year 1 and 48000 in Year 2) and in the 5 counties; total treatment admissions stabilized in Year 2 after increasing in Year 1. Voluntary clients decreased by 8000 each year statewide, but the change varied across counties. One third of treatment providers reported decreased treatment availability for nonProposition 36 clients in Year 2. Conclusion. Despite expanded treatment capacity (mostly in outpatient treatment), indirect evidence suggests that displacement of voluntary clients may have occurred in part because of the demand for treatment by Proposition 36 clients.
Californias Proposition 36, enacted as the Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act of 2000, has been in operation for more than 5 years since its implementation in July 2001. This law allows (under certain conditions) adults convicted of nonviolent drug possession offenses to choose community-based drug treatment in lieu of incarceration or probation without treatment. Offenders on probation or parole who commit nonviolent drug possession offenses or who violate drug-related conditions of probation or parole can also receive treatment. The resulting increase in client flow has introduced considerable challenges for Californias publicly funded drug treatment system. The foremost concern expressed by those involved at all levels is how the treatment system is responding to accommodate the influx of Proposition 36 offenders. We address the following questions: was the drug treatment system flooded with Proposition 36 clients (i.e., were more program slots necessary?), and did programs expand to meet the need? Were staff capacity and service capacity increased to meet the needs of Proposition 36 clients? Did Proposition 36 clients displace nonProposition 36 clients, particularly those who were seeking treatment on their own? The intent of Proposition 36 was to improve public health and safety via provision of substance abuse treatment. Its implementation highlights the critical interaction between the criminal justice and health service systems. Offenders often enter, are processed through, and exit the criminal justice system with health and health-related problems, including mental illness, disease (e.g., hepatitis C, tuberculosis, HIV), substance abuse, and homelessness.15 As such, the impact of the law on access to health services and drug treatment capacity for the criminal justice population has implications for other systems.
Treatment capacity in the drug treatment system is often simply regarded as the number of available program slots (residential beds or outpatient slots). Our conceptualization of treatment capacity is multifaceted, however, involving program slots and characterized by facility and program capacity (i.e., physical structures and facility licensure and program certification), staff capacity (i.e., ratio of clients to staff, or caseload), service capacity (i.e., adequate and specialized services to meet clients needs), and funded capacity (i.e., funds to cover the costs of treatment). Increased numbers of clients will occupy more physical space in programs and require additional staff effort and time as well as services, all of which have associated costs. Thus, increased demands on the treatment system from Proposition 36 clients may affect (displace) nonProposition 36 clients who would otherwise seek and receive treatment. Under the law, Proposition 36 funds of $120 million per year (roughly one quarter of the statewide treatment funding available from all sources) could be used for capacity expansion: purchasing more treatment slots from treatment providers with existing county contracts, acquiring new (physical) facilities, and opening new programs (e.g., intensive treatment for women with children). However, only facilities and programs that have been licensed or certified by the state Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs are eligible to treat Proposition 36 clients. Furthermore, capacity expansion can be limited by licensing or certification requirements and funding. Therefore, to determine treatment capacity for Proposition 36 clients, one must consider availability of funded capacity in licensed facilities and certified programs, and, accordingly, whether treatment slots are sufficiently available at different levels of care or modalities that address clients varying and multiple needs. Studies have shown that clients treated in residential programs are typically more severely impaired than those treated in outpatient programs,68 and that methadone maintenance can successfully treat heroin users.911 However, residential programs are much more costly than outpatient programs,1213 and are more difficult to expand, especially in the short time since the implementation of Proposition 36. Proposition 36 funds can also be used for capacity expansion to hire additional treatment staff and to develop and provide new services. Comprehensive assessment of treatment capacity requires characterization of the extent of available services that meet the needs of clients beyond drug and alcohol services, such as psychiatric medications or transitional housing. Many clients have problems in multiple areas and, if left unsolved, these problems frequently interfere with clients participation in treatment or increase their risk for relapse. Moreover, Proposition 36 stipulates that funds may also be used to provide vocational training, family counseling, and literacy training in addition to substance abuse treatment. Thus, it is important to examine whether programs serving Proposition 36 clients are actually providing these services. A related issue is that if priority is given to Proposition 36 clients over nonProposition 36 clients when treatment capacity cannot accommodate the needs of both groups, displacement can occur. Displacement may be indicated by a reduction in the number of voluntary or otherwise referred clients, fewer treatment slots or services available, longer wait times, shortened treatment duration, and greater client-to-counselor ratios for nonProposition 36 clients. On the basis of this conceptual framework, we explored the impact of Proposition 36 on treatment capacity in California. We analyzed the statewide database of client treatment admission and discharge records to assess changes in client populations in California overall and in 5 selected counties (Kern, Riverside, Sacramento, San Diego, and San Francisco). We also examined the perspectives of county administrators and treatment providers involved in Proposition 36 implementation and service delivery in these counties. In the discussion, we reflect upon the public health implications of the findings.
Client Data Client characteristics were derived on the basis of data collected in the California Alcohol and Drug Data System, which contains admission and discharge records of all clients admitted to publicly funded alcohol and drug programs or to private state-licensed methadone programs.
Treatment Program Survey
County-Level Data
Facility and Program Capacity Compared with the year before Proposition 36 implementation, total statewide treatment admissions during the first year after Proposition 36 implementation increased 11%; in 4 of the 5 selected counties (except San Francisco), increases ranged from 11% to 34% (Table 1
Trend analysis (description of the analytic method and results can be provided upon request) showed that statewide, only admissions to ODF significantly increased in both Year 1 and Year 2 beyond the expected historical fluctuation. Riverside and San Diego counties demonstrated significant increases in ODF admissions, whereas San Diego and San Francisco counties showed significant decreases in admissions to methadone programs after Proposition 36 was implemented.
As shown in Table 1 Some counties (i.e., Sacramento and San Francisco) worked with a limited number of designated treatment programs to provide services for their Proposition 36 clients, whereas others (i.e., Kern, Riverside, and San Diego) had a more distributed system that included most or all of their existing contracted programs. To place and serve the large number of Proposition 36 clients, outpatient programs experienced the most expansion in (funded) capacity. Most counties worked with existing facilities that already held county contracts before Proposition 36 took effect, and a few counties (e.g., Riverside) expanded their capacity by contracting with formerly nonaffiliated facilities. Of the 126 facilities surveyed, 22 (17.5%) started serving Proposition 36 clients in Year 2, suggesting a 21% increase in treatment programs that served Proposition 36 clients in these 5 counties. Some counties (i.e., Kern and San Diego) did not fund or contract with methadone (detoxification or maintenance) programs for Proposition 36 clients. Among the selected counties, Sacramento had the highest proportion (45%) of heroin-abusing offender admissions being treated in methadone programs. The waiting time for Proposition 36 clients to be placed in programs after assessment was typically less than a week for all counties, perhaps because of the wide use of ODF program placement. Nonetheless, administrators in all counties (except Kern) cited residential treatment as 1 of their countys top-3 urgent needs, particularly for offenders with co-occurring mental disorders. Less than 20% of all program survey respondents indicated insufficient treatment capacity for Proposition 36 clients in Year 1, and 25% to 40% did so for Year 2 (although the difference between years was not significant).
Staff Capacity The caseload pattern (number of Proposition 36 clients per counselor) did not change over time but varied considerably across counties. Programs in Kern reported the highest counselor caseload: the mean caseload was 12 in residential programs and 26 in ODF programs in the first year and increased to 20 in residential programs and 28 in ODF programs in the second year. Slight changes were observed in Riverside, San Diego, and San Francisco, with no change in Sacramento (an average of 6 clients per counselor in residential programs, and 31 clients per counselor in ODF programs). None of these changes was significant.
Service Capacity At the program level, few changes can be discerned from the survey, as services for Proposition 36 offenders did not appear to have changed much from either those available for nonProposition 36 clients or those offered before the new law. Planned treatment durations for Proposition 36 clients ranged from 3 to 6 months for outpatient and less than 3 months for residential programs (except for San Diego). Most facilities provided referrals for aftercare. Across the 5 counties, between 50% and 100% of treatment programs reported providing family counseling, 20% to 80% provided vocational training, and less than 50% provided literacy training; increases in the number of programs providing these services over time were small and occurred only in a few counties, and then only in the first year of the law.
Displacement of NonProposition 36 Clients About 33% of treatment providers reported decreased treatment capacity for nonProposition 36 clients in terms of fewer treatment slots, less provision of treatment services, and increased ratios of nonProposition 36 clients to counselors.
Proposition 36 introduced an unprecedented number of clients into Californias drug treatment system. Overall treatment admissions increased by 11% to 34% during the first year in 4 of the 5 counties studied, with an 11% increase statewide. No parallel increases have been observed in drug use prevalence14 or in drug law enforcement15 during these periods. In the laws second year, few changes in overall admissions were observed in the 5 counties and the state, but the number of Proposition 36 offenders entering drug treatment continued to increase in all counties and statewide (50% increase over Year 1). Except for San Francisco county, Proposition 36 clients in Year 2 constituted 18% to 42% of the total admissions in the studied counties treatment systems and 20% of the states treatment system, which is a significant proportion given the brief time since implementation. This expansion has occurred mainly in ODF programs, with concurrent reductions in self-referrals and admissions to methadone programs. These findings suggest that treatment capacity and availability for nonProposition 36 clients might be compromised in the majority of California counties.
Facility and Program Capacity Proposition 36 admissions to methadone detoxification or maintenance were extremely low in most counties (except Sacramento), similar to levels in the state (about 1% of all admissions), although heroin abusers accounted for 11% to 12% of the states Proposition 36 offenders. These low rates are likely because of the criminal justice systems longstanding rejection of methadone as a viable treatment option for its clients. Regardless of the reason for the low rates, brief ODF treatment may not be sufficient for heroin addicts as they typically have more severe problems.6,16 We have observed disproportionately higher rates of heroin-abusing Proposition 36 admissions treated in residential programs (close to 30%, in contrast with 15% of Proposition 36 offenders whose primary drug was not heroin). It is, however, unclear why there has been an overall decline in heroin admissions in Californias treatment system (about 11% reduction each year statewide); this phenomenon should be examined in future studies.
Staff Capacity
Service Capacity
Displacement Second, general treatment admissions leveled off in Year 2, while Proposition 36 clients continued to increase. Reductions were found in self-referrals and nonProposition 36 criminal justice system referrals with concurrent increases in Proposition 36 clients; these reductions imply reduced access to public treatment because the California Alcohol and Drug Data System included all admissions to facilities receiving any public funding. Although it is possible that some formerly voluntary clients later became Proposition 36 clients, the extent must be limited because there was no evidence of any systematic change in arrest or charging practices.15 Third, Proposition 36 clients were significantly different in terms of demographics and other characteristics (i.e., most were male methamphetamine and amphetamine abusers being admitted to their first treatment experience) from nonProposition 36 clients or clients in years before Proposition 36,17 potentially indicating a new type of client entering the treatment system. Proposition 36s impacts on nonProposition 36 clients could pose considerable problems if Proposition 36 clients continue to increase without additional capacity expansion in facilities, staffing, and services. The current budget crisis in the state could further compromise service availability for both Proposition 36 and nonProposition 36 clients.
Conclusions Although more direct evidence for displacement (e.g., longer wait time for nonProposition 36 clients) should be sought, our findings suggest that displacement may be an unintended negative consequence of Proposition 36 that needs further investigation. Is the perceived or actual unavailability of treatment or inadequate level of available treatment for voluntary clients contributing to a lower rate of help seeking and, thus, to the ongoing public health and safety problems of untreated addiction? There has been some indication that policies promoting "treatment on demand" have increased access only for some populations, but not for the indigent or for opiate addicts needing methadone maintenance.24 It has also been suggested that increased case-loads result in increased pressures on programs and staff, which undermine treatment objectives.25 The ways in which diverted offenders impact the substance abuse treatment system require further investigation, and the implications for other health service systems need to be more thoroughly considered. Because resources are limited in California, it could be argued that displacement of voluntary clients by those who are criminally involved, such as Proposition 36 clients, may produce greater benefit to society (e.g., reduced drug use and associated criminal activities). To temper this assertion, however, previous research has shown that drug addiction tends to develop into a chronic condition that often includes criminal activity.6,16 By delaying or denying their treatment, drug abusers without criminal histories may later become criminally involved addicts. Policymakers and the public need to carefully consider the long-term implications of a policy that directs resources at one critical population while potentially diverting resources from another.
The study was supported in part by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (grant R01DA15431). Yih-Ing Hser and M. Douglas Anglin are also supported by National Institute on Drug Abuse Independent Scientist Awards (K02DA00139 and K05DA00146, respectively). The authors wish to thank the administrators from the 5 participating counties (Kern: Lily Alvarez, Allen Belluomini, Etta Robin; Riverside: Frank Lewis, Al Bell, Maria Lozano; Sacramento: Toni Moore, Sharon DiPirro-Beard, Jessica Vierra; San Diego: Al Medina, Linda Bridgeman-Smith, Susan Bower; San Francisco: Tom Hagan, Michael Ford, Craig Murdock) for supplying information and supporting the study. We also express our appreciation to the staff at the University of California, Los Angeles, Integrated Substance Abuse Programs for their assistance in the preparation of the article. Note. The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
Human Participant Protection
Peer Reviewed
Contributors Accepted for publication January 17, 2006.
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