Parents often struggle to find help after their child survives a drug overdose. They quickly choose a treatment center and find ways to fund it. “People are desperate,” said Pattie Vargas, a California mother who took out a second mortgage to pay for a spot at a facility for her son Joel, who battled meth addiction as a teen and later struggled with heroin. “They want to save their loved ones, so they just kind of grab any life raft that’s out there.” Joel later relapsed and passed away in 2017 before his 36th birthday. Vargas now works as a counselor for other grieving parents and advocates for better resources for the next generation. As overdose deaths continue to increase among American teens, inpatient treatment for opioid use disorder remains scarce.
A new study reveals that inpatient treatment is not accessible to many. Few facilities are available nationwide, and they are often unaffordable for families struggling with opioid addiction. Families navigating the complex web of addiction treatment services face challenges in finding suitable care for their children, the study found. Researchers called 160 addiction treatment facilities listed in the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) treatment locator in December 2022. Using a “secret-shopper” approach, the researchers posed as relatives of a 16-year-old who had a non-fatal overdose of fentanyl and inquired about treatment options and costs. The study highlighted the difficulty parents face in finding appropriate interventions in such situations.
The study comes as fentanyl has driven a surge in adolescent overdose deaths, reflective of a similar spike in other age groups. Researchers found that suitable care facilities for young people are not widely available. They also discovered long waitlists at centers for adolescents, with an average wait time of about a month. The wait tended to be longer for more affordable public facilities than for pricier private centers. The average cost was $878 per day with an average up-front cost of $28,731. The study also identified areas in the U.S. where even individuals with financial means were unable to find nearby treatment facilities for young people. Ten states and Washington, D.C., had no available treatment facilities. States lacking teen facilities, including West Virginia, Kentucky, and New Hampshire, are grappling with opioid crises and overdoses among youth. Only seven states met all of the criteria the researchers were looking for: they accepted Medicaid, had an open bed, and had buprenorphine, a drug to treat opioid use disorder, on hand.
Finding the right treatment often involves a herculean effort, given the limited available resources, according to the study, which was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences. While residential centers aren’t the most common point of treatment, they are often the first choice for parents. Nonetheless, it’s important to consult primary care providers first, according to the researchers. Not everyone needs rehab, and it may not be the best fit for many individuals. Providers like Pat Aussem, an addiction counselor and vice president of clinical content development at the nonprofit Partnership to End Addiction, emphasized the need for more assessment to understand what a specific child requires for a healthier life.
Ultimately, providers should offer resources for teens to address a mental health disorder and culturally appropriate care for LGBTQ patients and people of color. They should then determine which facility matches a patient’s needs and whether inpatient care is necessary. A suitable facility should provide a psychiatrist who can prescribe medications and access to counseling and academic support during the child’s absence from school. Parents need to navigate all of this while their child is in treatment. Additionally, they need to assess the resources available when their child returns home. Many individuals, upon returning home, face the same factors that led them to drug use in the first place.
It’s essential for the entire community to be involved when a child re-enters after drug treatment, said Terrence Walton, executive director of NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals. Families need to be connected with recreational centers, mentoring programs, and physicians and counselors who can track their child’s progress. “Even if you find good treatment, you go back to a community,” he said, stressing the importance of finding local help.
Kathy Strain, from Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, has worked to make these kinds of transitions available to families dealing with a young person struggling with addiction. Her nephew Tommy, whom she raised like a son, struggled with substance abuse and died at 27 after taking heroin laced with fentanyl. Strain emphasized that the focus on addiction has shifted from blaming users and their families for moral failings to understanding addiction as a disease. These honest conversations are a vital first step, said Strain, who is now an advocate for families dealing with substance use disorder. However, more resources are needed to make a difference.
For resources or support with substance use disorder, you can visit the SAMHSA.gov website or call 1-800-662-HELP (4357). Partnership to End Addiction’s SAFE Locator can help identify various treatment options across ages.
