NASADAD has released an updated fact sheet on the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment (SAPT) Block Grant. The updated version includes a new analysis of the lost purchasing power of the SAPT Block Grant over the past decade; the latest outcomes data from the 2018 Block Grant Report; recent data on primary substance of use and demographics of individuals at time of admission; an overview of the set-asides within the Block Grant; the important role of the State alcohol and drug agencies; and more.

Here are some highlights:

• The SAPT Block Grant is currently funded at $1.858 billion (FY 2019).
  • Over the past decade, SAPT Block Grant funding has not kept up with health care inflation, resulting in a 24% decrease in the real value of funding since FY 2009.
• At discharge from Block Grant-funded programs, 76% of clients demonstrate abstinence from alcohol use, and 57% are abstinent from illicit drug use. Additionally, of clients discharged from treatment, 89% have stable housing, and 93% have had no arrests.
• On average, SAPT Block Grant funds make up 68% of primary prevention funding in States and Territories. In 20 States, the prevention set-aside represents 75% or more of the State agency’s substance use prevention budget.
• Pregnant women must be given priority in treatment admissions, and those that are referred to the State for treatment must be placed within a program or have interim arrangements (e.g., education on communicable diseases, counseling on effects of substance use on the fetus, referral to prenatal care, etc.) made within 48 hours.
• Over one-third (34.1%) of individuals admitted to treatment in the publicly-funded system cited heroin or prescription opioids as their primary substance of use in 2016.