RD341 - 2009 Substance Abuse Services Council Response to Code of Virginia § 2.2-2697


Executive Summary:
The 2004 Session of the General Assembly amended the Code of Virginia (§ 2.2-2697) directing the Substance Abuse Services Council to collect information about the impact and cost of substance abuse treatment provided by public agencies in the Commonwealth.

§ 2.2-2697 Review of state agency substance abuse treatment programs.

A. On or before December 1, 2005, the Council shall forward to the Governor and the General Assembly a Comprehensive Interagency State Plan identifying for each agency in state government (i) the substance abuse treatment program the agency administers; (ii) the program's objectives, including outcome measures for each program objective; (iii) program actions to achieve the objectives; (iv) the costs necessary to implement the program actions; and (v) an estimate of the extent these programs have met demand for substance abuse treatment services in the Commonwealth. The Council shall develop specific criteria for outcome data collection for all affected agencies, including a comparison of the extent to which the existing outcome measures address applicable federally mandated outcome measures and an identification of common outcome measures across agencies and programs. The plan shall also include an assessment of each agency's capacity to collect, analyze, and report the information required by subsection B.

B. Beginning in 2006, the Comprehensive Interagency State Plan shall include the following analysis for each agency-administered substance abuse treatment program: (i) the amount of funding expended under the program for the prior fiscal year; (ii) the number of individuals served by the program using that funding; (iii) the extent to which program objectives have been accomplished as reflected by an evaluation of outcome measures; (iv) identifying the most effective substance abuse treatment, based on a combination of per person costs and success in meeting program objectives; (v) how effectiveness could be improved; (vi) an estimate of the cost effectiveness of these programs; and (vii) recommendations on the funding of programs based on these analyses.

As required, this 2009 report responds to Section B and includes appendices with reports from the Department of Corrections (DOC) outcomes studies, and a description of the substance use disorder (SUD) services provided by state agencies in Virginia. The 2005 Substance Abuse Services Council report included a section that responded to Section A of the Code and included estimates of the large unmet need for treatment and recommendations to address this unmet need. Treatment here is defined narrowly as those services directed toward individuals with identified substance abuse and dependence disorders, and does not include prevention services for which other evaluation methodologies exist.