Chapter 3

Trends in Client Characteristics

Facility Operation
Primary Focus of Facility
Type of Care Received
Clients Receiving Methadone or Buprenorphine
Substance Abuse Problem Treated
Clients under Age 18 in Treatment

This chapter presents trends in client characteristics for 2007 to 2011.

Table 3.1. The number of clients in treatment on the survey reference date increased by 8 percent from 2007 to 2011, from 1,135,425 in 2007 to 1,224,127 in 2011.

Facility Operation

Table 3.1 and Figure 5. In almost all categories of facility operation, the proportions of clients in treatment changed very little between 2007 and 2011.

• Private non-profit facilities treated 55 percent of clients in 2007, decreasing to 53 percent in the years between 2008 and 2011. (The number of clients in private non-profit facilities increased by 4 percent, from 619,954 in 2007 to 646,904 in 2011.)
• Private for-profit facilities treated 30 percent of clients in 2007, increasing to 32 percent in 2011. (The number of clients in private for-profit facilities increased by 17 percent, from 338,031 in 2007 to 395,577 in 2011.)
• Local government-operated facilities treated 8 percent of clients in 2007, decreasing to 6 percent in 2009, where it remained. (The number of clients in local government-operated facilities decreased by 15 percent, from 85,953 in 2007 to 73,338 in 2011.)
• State government-operated facilities treated 4 percent of clients from 2007 to 2010, but treated 3 percent of clients in 2011.
• Federal government-operated facilities treated 3 percent of clients in 2007, 5 percent in 2008, and 4 percent in the years 2009 to 2011.⁷
• Tribal government-operated facilities treated 1 percent of clients in the years 2007 to 2010, but treated 2 percent of clients in 2011.
  

Primary Focus of Facility

Table 3.1. In almost all categories of facility primary focus of activity, the proportions of clients in treatment changed very little from 2007 to 2011.

• Facilities with a primary focus of substance abuse treatment services showed a slight but pretty steady decline from 68 to 65 percent of clients treated each year during the 5-year period.
• Facilities with a primary focus of mental health services treated 3 to 4 percent of clients.
• Facilities with a primary focus of general health care treated 1 to 2 percent of clients.
• Facilities whose main focus was another activity treated 1 percent or less of clients.
• Facilities having a mix of mental health and substance abuse treatment services as primary focus showed a fairly steady increase from 26 to 30 percent of clients treated during the period 2007 to 2011.
  

Type of Care Received

Table 3.2 and Figure 6. The proportions of clients in treatment for the major types of care—outpatient, residential (non-hospital), and hospital inpatient—were stable between 2007 and 2011.

• Clients in outpatient treatment made up 90 percent of clients in each year.
• Clients in residential (non-hospital) treatment made up 9 percent of all clients in each year.
• Clients in hospital inpatient treatment made up 1 percent of all clients in each year.
  

Clients Receiving Methadone or Buprenorphine

Table 3.2 and Figure 6. Clients receiving methadone or buprenorphine could be in any type of care—outpatient, residential (non-hospital), or hospital inpatient. Clients could receive methadone only in Opioid Treatment Programs (OTPs), certified by SAMHSA to provide medication-assisted therapy with methadone and buprenorphine. However, clients could receive buprenorphine in any type of facility.⁸

• The proportion of all clients receiving methadone was 22 to 25 percent between 2007 and 2011.
• The proportion of clients receiving buprenorphine was 1 percent in 2008 but increased to 2 percent in 2009 and 2010, and to 3 percent in 2011 (see footnote 2 on Table 3.2).
  

Substance Abuse Problem Treated

Table 3.3.The proportion of clients in treatment for the three broad categories of substance abuse problems—both alcohol and drug abuse, drug abuse only, and alcohol abuse only—changed very little between 2007 and 2011. Clients in treatment for both drug and alcohol abuse made up 42 to 46 percent of all clients from 2007 to 2011. Clients in treatment for drug abuse only ranged from 35 to 39 percent of all clients from 2007 through 2011. The proportion of clients treated for alcohol abuse only ranged from 18 to 19 percent between 2007 and 2011. Clients in treatment for diagnosed co-occurring substance abuse and mental disorders made up 37 to 41 percent of all clients from 2007 through 2011.

Clients under Age 18 in Treatment

Table 3.4. Clients under age 18 made up between 7 and 8 percent of all clients from 2007 through 2011.

• The types of care received by clients under age 18 were stable between 2007 and 2011.
  • From 87 to 88 percent of all clients under age 18 were in outpatient treatment.
  • From 11 to 12 percent of all clients under age 18 were in residential (non-hospital) treatment.
  • One to 2 percent of all clients under age 18 were in hospital inpatient treatment in each year.
• The proportion of clients under age 18 in treatment facilities with special programs or groups for adolescents ranged from 80 to 83 percent between 2007 and 2011.

To Chapter 3 Tables

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