The adolescent addiction treatment workforce: status, challenges, and strategies to address their particular needs.

Treating youth with substance use problems presents unique challenges, distinct from those of adults, that add to the complexity of recruiting and retaining a qualified adolescent treatment workforce. Youth who need treatment are often involved in an array of systems (i.e., health, legal, and social) and use substances for a variety of reasons, requiring providers to have a unique set of treatment practices and proficiencies. The intent of this article is to highlight the current understanding of the issues facing the alcohol and other drug treatment workforce and to provide an overview of strategies people are or could be using to build and maintain a workforce that can effectively deliver care for adolescents.