1 Acculturation and Latinx Presence in New York State Substance Use Disorder Treatment R. Campbell, LCSW, Ph.D., G. Ramos, LMHC, Ph.D., S. Dewan, LMSW, Ph.D. Abstract Facilitating Latinx help-seeking access to substance use disorder (SUD) treatment is essential and challenging. This mixed-methods study by a not-for-profit group in New York State attempts to give voice to the treatment provider presence and to describe their experiences concerning the successful development of resources that increase access and encourage involvement of Latino/a clients in SUD treatment in New York State. Findings were that provider acculturation level was significantly related to the presence of Latinx clients in SUD treatment. Clinicians’ comments illuminate trends and highlight creative ways in which clinics can enhance Latino/a SUD treatment access and involvement. Keywords: Latinx, Substance Use Disorder, Acculturation As a result of many factors including stress, drug use deaths for Hispanics have been rising faster than average in the U.S. according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Bebinger, 2018). Latinx fatalities increased at a rate of over 50% between 2014 and 2016, compared to less than 50% for whites. Drug use particularly affects the youth and young adults in Hispanic communities. More than 74.5%of all deaths among Latinx ages 15 – 24 y.o. are attributed to accidents, assaults/homicides, intentional harm/suicide, HIV/Aids and chronic lower respiratory disease, all of which have been associated with drug use (Prado et al., 2016). The greatest recent increase in drug overdose deaths for Latinx have been due to heroin, as well as natural/semisynthetic opioids, benzodiazepines, synthetic opioids, and psychostimulants (Shiels, Freedman, Thomas, & Berrington de Gonzalez, 2018). New York is one of the states with the highest number of Latinx as well as problematic drug and alcohol use by the Latinx community in the state (New York State Department of Health, 2020). Understanding of the driving forces behind the rise in overdose deaths in the Latinx communities is lacking (Bebinger, 2018) and important to establish. The organization which initiated the trainings and the research is a small not-for-profit organization in New York State with a commitment to substance use disorder training and research. We have a ten year history of offering free and low cost courses to New York State addiction counselors. We understand that the Latinx community has a history of under-utilization of substance use disorder treatment resources (Rodriguez & Smith, 2020), and asked for addiction counselors in New York State to participate with us in exploring barriers and facilitators to Latinx participation in treatment. In this release of preliminary results from an ongoing study, we are investigating the individual (microsystem) and perceived organizational (mesosystem) factors which are associated with Latinx presence in substance use disorder treatment in New York counties.