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1991.09.04 :  Drug Abuse Campus Treatment Programs

Contact:  Joan Hurley (301) 443-5052
Jim Helsing (301) 443-8956
September 4, 1991

       HHS Secretary Louis W. Sullivan, M.D., today announced
initial funding of $9 million each for two new drug abuse
treatment "campus" demonstration programs to compare a variety of
treatment approaches used in residential therapeutic community
programs to help addicts return to productive lives.
       The new treatment campuses will be located in Houston,
Texas, and Secaucus, N.J. Each will be able to treat up to 360
drug abusers at a given time.  The total federal-state investment
over three years will be $68.6 million. 
       "The purpose of this new and innovative program is to
improve residential therapeutic community treatment models and to
increase the efficacy, efficiency and economy of the total drug
abuse treatment system in our country," said Secretary Sullivan. 
       "We expect this program to evolve more effective drug
abuse treatment models which can be replicated in communities
across the nation.  This announcement represents the culmination
of the vision we established in the National Drug Control
Strategy to develop this grant program."     

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    In the "campus" approach, as many as five to eight treatment
providers using different modalities will occupy a common facility.
A central intake unit, medical and psychiatric services, educational
and vocational training, and recreational activities will serve all
programs.
    "Expanding and improving drug treatment is a fundamental
element of the President's  National Drug Control Strategy," said
Governor Bob Martinez, director, Office of National Drug Control
Policy. "The two treatment campuses will not only increase our
capacity for treatment, they will also allow for a variety of drug
treatment approaches and provide the opportunity to evaluate and
compare them." He heralded the  treatment campus concept as the kind
of new-look approach to drug treatment that is "so urgently needed
to combat drug abuse in areas of the nation with pressing drug
problems." 

    Assistant Secretary for Health James O. Mason, M.D., pointed
out that "This treatment improvement demonstration effort also will
have the special benefit of expanding availability of residential
treatment for adolescents, minorities, and female  addicts and their
children in two states which have especially high concentrations of
these priority treatment populations." 

    Each of the new campus demonstration programs will be
operated by the respective state drug abuse agency under a
"cooperative agreement" with the federal government. The federal
government will provide 80 percent of funding, and state matching
funds the other 20 percent.   

    "The drug treatment campus  program is a premier example of
HHS' Office for Treatment Improvement's strategy to upgrade
treatment systems across the nation by striving both to improve
effectiveness and reduce costs of drug treatment," said Frederick K.
Goodwin, M.D., administrator of the Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental
Health Administration, of which OTI is part.  "Research has shown
that residential programs can produce substantial and long-lasting
reductions in drug use and criminal behavior among persons who stay
in treatment at least 90 days. But there are important questions
still to be answered if these programs are to be utilized to their
greatest advantage."



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    Among these questions are:

    l) Can the present 12-month average for residential treatment
be reduced without signficant loss in effectiveness?  

    2) Will reducing the expected length of treatment decrease
dropout rates?

    3) To what degree can medical problems such as depression or
AIDS be dealt with by drug treatment programs without compromising
the central goal of drug treatment?

    4) What methodologies are best for such difficult-to-reach
populations as substance-abusing women?

    "Such questions can only be answered by careful comparisons
of treatment outcomes in programs which differ in key elements, such
as length of residential phase, or amount of medical care provided,"
said Beny Primm, M.D., director, Office for Treatment Improvement,
who initiated the treatment campus concept. 

    The Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse will receive
$9 million each year over the next three years to compare two
residential programs for adolescents, and three for adults. The
commission will work in partnership with the city of Houston.

    The New Jersey State Department of Health will receive $9
million annually over three years to establish a 360-bed campus at
Meadowview Hospital in Secaucus to test two approaches to
residential treatment for addicts in general, and in three specific
critical population groups: pregnant women, Hispanic males and
adolescents.     

    Evaluation of varying treatment modalities used on each
"campus" will be carried out by the National Institute on Drug
Abuse, also a component of ADAMHA.  

    "By using scientifically rigorous methods of comparison to
evaluate alternative treatment approaches delivered side by side in
a controlled environment, we will be able to pinpoint those  models
of treatment that are best for adoption in other communities or
states," said Charles Schuster, Ph.D., NIDA director.


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