Use of Youth Substance Abuse Treatment Versus the Justice System: Race Is a Factor

Racial
and ethnic disparities exist among youth who become involved
with the juvenile justice system. Whether disparities exist in
youth access to substance abuse treatment is less clear. To examine
possible disparities in treatment use and how they may relate
to justice system involvement, researchers assessed 420 adolescents
aged 13–18 years who had received services from at least
one public service sector (e.g., substance abuse treatment, social
services, juvenile justice) and met DSM-IV criteria for substance
abuse and/or dependence in the past year.

• Non-whites
  were much less likely than whites to have received outpatient
  substance abuse treatment during the past year (odds ratio,
  OR, 0.4).
• They were also much more likely to be involved in the juvenile
  justice system than to have received specialty alcohol
  or drug treatment (OR 10.2).

Comments:

Non-white adolescents
in the public system, compared with white adolescents, receive less
appropriate care for substance abuse and dependence. They are much
less likely to receive outpatient addiction treatment services and
more likely to be involved in the justice system where their health
needs may not be adequately addressed. As suggested by the authors,
all adolescents— regardless of where they come into contact
with the public service system— should be assessed for addictions
and linked with treatment as appropriate.

Rosanne
T. Guerriero, MPH

Reference:

Aarons

GA, Brown SA, Garland AF, et al. Race/ethnic disparity
and

correlates of substance abuse service utilization and juvenile

justice involvement among adolescents with substance use

disorders. Journal of Ethnicity in Substance Abuse.
2004;3(1):47–64.
(view
abstract)