Providers report information about all of their clients in treatment on a specific reference day.
They also report data that describe other aspects of their treatment operations. The focus here is on selected data that were most consistently reported in 1992 and in prior surveys. In addition to the highlights listed below, there are two broad findings concerning the structure of the specialty treatment industry. First, excluding growth in total clients over time, broad characteristics of providers and clients show either stability or gradual change between 1980 and 1992. Seeing the direction of changes or no change helps to understand how specialty treatment has responded to changes in the population needing treatment and to funding constraints.