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American Indians and Alaska Natives are historically more likely than individuals of other racial and ethnic groups to be in need to treatment for substance abuse and addiction. On the Contrary, American Indians and Alaska Natives are more likely to feel the need to seek treatment than other racial/ethnic groups. Nearly 50% of American Indian and Alaska Native addiction treatment admissions arrive to rehab as criminal justice clients, which means they have very likely agreed to a diversion option to go to rehab instead of jail time. So therefore, there is an absolute need for different types of treatment programs to provide services for all of the very unique requirements of this client demographic, including addiction rehabilitation programs in native languages.
One of the barriers that American Indian and Alaska Natives in Oaks face is access to comprehensive and effective treatment facilities, particularly those who reside in rural areas. Facilities providing drug and alcohol rehabilitation services in rural areas commonly are not set up to provide support aimed at meeting the needs of this unique group of people including substance abuse rehabilitation services in their language. American Indian and Alaska Native clients can work with elders and stakeholders working in mental health services for their tribe or region to determine which treatment services are an option for them and through which treatment facilities, and which will best suit their needs. There have been many grants approved in recent years to help pay for these types of rehab services for American and Alaska Native clients, which have very effective programs which provide evidence based treatment that also encompasses culturally sensitive treatment services including those in their language which are provided by bi-lingual treatment staff, medical staff, etc.
