DATStats: Results from 85 studies using the Drug Abuse Treatment Cost Analysis Program (DATCAP)

The Drug Abuse Treatment Cost Analysis Program (DATCAP) was developed and launched in the early 1990s to help addiction researchers and administrators estimate the economic costs of substance abuse interventions. This paper presents summary results from 85 DATCAPs completed over the past 10 years. After first grouping the DATCAPs into 9 treatment modalities, cost measures (normalized to 2001 dollars) are reported along with client caseload information. Additionally, the distribution of costs across 6 resource categories is presented for each of the treatment modalities. The average weekly economic cost per client ranged from $82 per week for outpatient drug court interventions to $1,138 per week for adolescent residential treatment. As expected, labor was overwhelmingly the most utilized resource across all modalities, ranging from 48% to 88% of total economic cost. Addiction researchers, program administrators, and policymakers now have cost estimates and resource distribution information for various treatment modalities serving diverse populations.