Cost of doing nothing
Teresa Walters
Saturday, January 27, 2007
DATACORP, a private social science research and consulting firm recently completed a report for the state of Kansas utilizing information from several studies as well as data from the Kansas Communities that Care Student Survey. The results were clear — substance abuse impacts all of us in one way or another.
Looking at areas of our state budget that are affected by substance abuse, such as health, adult and juvenile corrections, child welfare and income assistance and education, to name a few, the total cost to our state’s budget is over $583 million per year.
It has been proven that treatment does work and actually saves money. For every $1 invested in substance abuse treatment, a $7 savings in related expenses is realized. Treatment makes more sense than incarceration in many cases, as incarceration is 1.8 times as expensive as residential treatment.
The bottom line in summarizing these findings is that we must continue to mandate and fund treatment. When individuals are identified as having a problem, intervention and treatment needs to occur early and involve the entire family. And, as a society, we need to help change the “kids will be kids” mentality to delay the onset of alcohol and other drug use to prevent future problems for the individual and a further drain on our state’s resources.