Substance Use Disorder Treatment Month 2026
Build a treatment system people can enter and stay with.
The observance centers one clear message: “Treatment Works! Find the Path that Works for You.”
Treatment works. Access must work, too.
January 2026 marks the second year of Substance Use Disorder Treatment Month, led by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The observance supports people contemplating or seeking help, practitioners who provide or are considering providing treatment, and friends, family, and loved ones.
For healthcare executives, the opportunity is operational: make the route into treatment visible, reduce dead ends between services, and create accountable connections that match each person with an appropriate path.
people age 12 or older had a substance use disorder in the past year in 2025.
or 7.6 million of the 47.2 million people classified as needing substance use treatment received it in 2025.
Source: SAMHSA, 2025 National Survey on Drug Use and Health Annual National Report.
Design one coordinated route, with many valid entry points.
People may first connect through primary care, an emergency or hospital visit, behavioral health, community services, or a trusted person. The system should make every entry point lead to a clear next action.
- 01
Recognize
Use a respectful opening and make help visible without judgment.
- 02
Assess
Identify immediate needs, preferences, clinical considerations, and practical barriers.
- 03
Match
Connect the person with a treatment pathway that fits the situation and available options.
- 04
Begin
Confirm the receiving service, the next step, and who owns the transition.
- 05
Sustain
Support continuity, recovery goals, and re-entry when a path needs to change.
Command principle: A referral is a direction. A completed connection is a handoff.
Monitor the moments where a path can stall.
An executive dashboard should follow the person’s movement through the system, not just count the services the organization offers.
Reach
Can people identify where to start, including after hours, and get a clear response?
Fit
Does the next step reflect the person’s clinical needs, preferences, and practical circumstances?
Handoff
Does the receiving team accept ownership, confirm the connection, and explain what happens next?
Continuity
Can people stay connected, change paths, or return without rebuilding the entire process?
Transfer trust, not just information.
A coordinated handoff keeps a person from having to navigate disconnected teams alone. Each transition should end with an owner, a confirmed next step, and a way back into care.
Ask permission and preference
Explain the available connection, what information would be shared, and how the person prefers to proceed.
Connect in the moment when possible
Bring the receiving service into the transition and reduce unnecessary repetition.
Name the owner and next action
Make responsibility visible, including timing, contact method, and what to do if the connection fails.
Close the loop
Verify whether the connection occurred and respond quickly when a person needs a different route.
Build the observance around every audience SAMHSA names.
Substance Use Disorder Treatment Month is not aimed at one audience. Its reach depends on coordinated support for people seeking help, practitioners, and the people around them.
Contemplating or seeking help
Make options easier to find, explain what happens next, and reinforce the official message that treatment works and paths can differ.
Treating or considering treatment
Give teams a defined consultation route, clear referral ownership, and an operating model that connects clinical and support services.
Friends, family, and loved ones
Offer reliable information about how to encourage help-seeking and where to locate treatment resources without positioning loved ones as the care team.
Measure whether the pathway completes.
Use a small set of operational measures to expose delays, failed transitions, and inequities that are otherwise hidden inside departmental totals.
| Domain | Measure | Executive question |
|---|---|---|
| Findability | Percentage of audited public and internal entry points with accurate treatment-navigation information | Can a person identify a working first step? |
| Response | Time from request to informed contact, segmented by channel and time of day | Where does waiting become a dead end? |
| Connection | Percentage of referrals completed as confirmed warm handoffs | Does ownership survive the transition? |
| Continuity | Percentage of planned follow-ups reached with a documented next action | Can the system adapt when the first path changes? |
| Capacity | Unavailable matches, reroutes, and closure reasons by service type | Which constraints repeatedly block access? |
| Equity | Access, connection, and continuity measures reviewed across relevant populations and locations | Who experiences a harder route through the same system? |
Turn a January message into an operating improvement.
Use the observance to make one treatment pathway clearer, faster, and more accountable, then carry the work beyond the month.
See the current route
- Name the executive sponsor and operational owner.
- Map every entry point, referral destination, and after-hours route.
- Audit public and internal treatment information for accuracy.
- Identify the three most common handoff failures.
Build the warm handoff
- Define what a completed connection requires.
- Assign ownership at each transition.
- Create a shared escalation path for failed or unavailable matches.
- Test the workflow with multidisciplinary scenarios.
Run the command center
- Launch the four access-dashboard measures.
- Review delays, reroutes, failed contacts, and inequities.
- Correct one high-frequency barrier with a named deadline.
- Set a monthly executive pathway review.
Make every connection feel like a path forward.
Substance Use Disorder Treatment Month gives healthcare leaders a practical test: can a person move from seeking help to a confirmed treatment connection without getting lost between departments? The answer improves when entry points are visible, handoffs are owned, and the system is designed to support more than one valid path.
Authoritative resources
- SAMHSA: 2026 Substance Use Disorder Treatment Month
- SAMHSA: 2025 National Survey on Drug Use and Health Annual National Report
- SAMHSA: 2025 NSDUH detailed tables
- FindTreatment.gov: Find treatment for mental and substance use disorders
- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
Immediate support: Call or text 988 for crisis support. If someone is in immediate danger or needs emergency medical care, call 911.
Reviewed August 2026. National estimates are from the 2025 National Survey on Drug Use and Health and apply to people age 12 or older in the U.S. civilian, noninstitutionalized population. This executive brief supports organizational planning and education. It does not replace individualized clinical care, professional judgment, emergency services, or applicable law.