Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance

Alcohol and Substance Abuse Screening, Assessment and Treatment of Family Assistance Recipients

As a result of welfare reform legislation, public assistance recipients must be screened for alcohol and substance abuse, and depending on the results of the screening process, may be required to undergo an assessment for such abuse or to receive treatment for such abuse. The screening, assessment and treatment activities are to be conducted by local social services districts under the supervision of the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA). We examined the implementation and oversight of these activities. We found that additional actions are needed if the screening, assessment and treatment activities are to be adequately overseen by OTDA. For example, the local districts are not required to report data to OTDA about their screening, assessment and treatment activities, and systems have not been developed by OTDA for assessing the effectiveness and efficiency of the activities. We recommend that such data be reported to OTDA, and such assessment systems be developed by OTDA.

For a complete copy of Report 99-S-37 click here.
For a copy of the 90-day response click here.