More than 85,000 people are admitted each year in New Jersey to treatment programs for alcohol and drug addiction, and experts say language can be a major barrier to getting services.

According to the State Department of Health, New Jersey is home to more than 2 million immigrants, and more than one-third said Spanish is the primary language in their home. This means a growing demand for multilingual and multicultural addiction treatment professionals.

Marlene Lao-Collins, executive director of Catholic Charities-Diocese of Trenton, which operates an intensive addiction recovery program, said a multicultural approach helps reach more people.

“Sometimes you may be able to speak the language but not really understand the culture,” Lao-Collins pointed out. “The language barriers make it difficult to appropriately deliver the services that we have to deliver and for people to really understand.”

Lao-Collins noted her agency uses federal Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic funding to hire, recruit, and train bilingual staff to best serve its patient population. Catholic Charities is primarily an outpatient program, while other facilities use an inpatient approach to addiction recovery.

Lao-Collins emphasized it is challenging for treatment programs to find the appropriate staff to work with them. She added the number of people requiring treatment is growing.

“Absolutely, (by) leaps and bounds,” Lao-Collins observed. We don’t have enough clinicians or folks—whether they’re psychiatrists or nurses—who speak multiple languages or even just English. The demand is huge, and the supply is very slim.”

Elsa Candelario, professor of professional practice in the School of Social Work at Rutgers University and director of the “Latino Initiatives for Service, Training, and Assessment” program, said they train social workers to interact with multiple constituencies and groups like Catholic Charities employ many.

“My program trains individuals in cultural competency,” Candelario explained. “The majority of our students are Spanish-speaking or bilingual, and they are interested in working with a non-English-speaking population.”

Cover Photo: Experts say addiction treatment outcomes are much better when a healthcare provider speaks the language and understands the culture of the patient. (Adobe Stock)

Publisher’s Notes: Bilingual, multicultural staff needed for NJ addiction treatment was first published by Public News Service and republished with permission.

Part of LNN’s mission is to amplify the work of others in providing greater visibility and voice to Hispanic, Latino communities.

Support for this reporting was provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts.