Key Points: In this brief, we highlight the experiences and practices of substance use treatment providers
and their human services partners when serving people of color. We selected providers who
focused on serving people of color, and this study was not intended to assess outcomes or
effectiveness of any of the practices highlighted.
- Treatment providers highlighted several practices that promoted active and positive
participation in their programs by people of color:- Incorporate the community’s cultural values into organizational structures and
treatment models. - Engage the community in designing programs and services and hire staff that
reflect the community. - Address the comprehensive health, social, and economic needs of
participants. - Incorporate harm reduction services and healing-centered approaches in the
continuum of care.
- Incorporate the community’s cultural values into organizational structures and
- Providers described several constraints when serving communities of color:
- Structural barriers such as poverty, racism, and differential access significantly
impede meeting clients’ social and economic needs. - Challenges retaining program staff with the appropriate language and cultural
skills. - A complex patchwork of funding streams.
- A lack of data and limited internal capacity for data analysis and program
evaluation.
- Structural barriers such as poverty, racism, and differential access significantly
- Providers emphasized that success required working with the strengths of the
communities they serve and that every community has protective factors. More
research is needed to understand how federal, state, and local policies and programs
can maximize the strengths of communities of varied backgrounds, while also
implementing evidence-based practices.