Using The Substance Abuse Treatment Facility Locator

Substance Abuse Treatment Facility Locator

If someone you know needs help for substance abuse addiction or problems with alcohol, where do you turn to find treatment? The Substance Abuse Treatment Facility Locator was created for just this purpose. It is a searchable directory of more than 11,500 addiction treatment programs around the country that treat alcoholism, alcohol abuse, and drug abuse problems.

The Locator includes outpatient treatment programs, residential treatment programs, hospital inpatient programs, and partial hospitalization/day treatment programs for drug addiction and alcoholism in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Republic of Palau, and the Virgin Islands.

The Locator is maintained by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). All information in the Locator is updated annually based on facility responses to SAMHSA's National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services. New facilities are added monthly.

Using the Locator

The Substance Abuse Treatment Facility Locator can be found on the Internet at:

http://findtreatment.samhsa.gov
The home page of the Locator shows a map of the United States; click on the State you need.

The Locator has three search tools: Quick Search, Detailed Search, and List Search. Quick Search and Detailed Search are geographically based and show the facilities within a 100-mile radius of a starting point that you designate. The searches cross city, county, and State boundaries. List Search is based on political boundaries and shows all the facilities within a specified city, county, zip code(s), or State(s).

Quick Search

Quick Search finds the substance abuse treatment facilities closest to the city, zip code, or street address you enter.

To use Quick Search, click on a State on the map. On the next screen, enter a city or zip code. A street address can be used to center your search more precisely.

The Locator displays the number of facilities within 100 miles of the starting point (i.e., the center of the city or zip code, or the street address if specified), and a map of the 10 closest facilities.¹ Figure 1 illustrates the map resulting from a search for facilities in the vicinity of Omaha, Nebraska 68102. The search found 89 facilities within a 100-mile radius of that zip code.

Below the map is a detailed listing for each facility, starting with the closest (Figure 2). The listing gives the name and address of the facility, its telephone number(s) and telephone hotline, if any. In addition, the types of services offered are displayed. Table 1 details the categories and services that may be listed.

Figure 1. Sample Map Generated by Quick Search

Figure 2. Sample Facility Listing

Detailed Search

Detailed Search allows you to refine your search using some or all of the categories in Table 1. To use Detailed Search, click on the tab at the left of the Locator. The first screen is similar to the screen for Quick Search. Enter a city or zip code; a street address can be used to center your search more precisely.

On the next screen, check the boxes that correspond to your search criteria. If you check one or more boxes WITHIN a category, the Locator will find facilities that offer AT LEAST ONE of the services you checked in that category. This means that the more selections you make within a category, the greater the number of facilities that will meet your search criteria.

For example, to find facilities that offer substance abuse treatment OR methadone/LAAM maintenance, check both of these boxes under Services Provided. The Locator will find facilities that offer either treatment, methadone/LAAM maintenance, or both. To find only those facilities that offer methadone/LAAM maintenance, check only the methadone/LAAM maintenance box.

On the other hand, if you check boxes under MORE THAN ONE category, the Locator will find only facilities that meet ALL of the criteria. Therefore, the more categories you make selections from, the fewer the number of facilities that will meet your search criteria.

For example, to find substance abuse treatment facilities that offer residential treatment AND a special program for adolescents, check the appropriate boxes under Services Provided, Type of Care, and Special Programs/Groups. The Locator will list only facilities that offer ALL of these services.

Figure 3 illustrates the results of a detailed search based on the same Omaha zip code used to produce Figure 1, but specifying facilities that provide substance abuse treatment, a residential setting, and have a special program for adolescents. Because of the narrow search criteria, only 5 facilities with these characteristics were found within a 100-mile radius. Note that the search crosses State boundaries, identifying facilities in Iowa as well as Nebraska.

Table 1. Search Categories Available in Detailed Search and List Search

Figure 3. Sample Map Generated by Detailed Search

List Search

List Search is an advanced feature that you can use to identify, print, and download information on facilities by city, county, zip code(s), State(s), or the whole United States. To use List Search, click on the tab at the left of the Locator and specify the search area. You can choose to retrieve all facilities in the area, or you can refine the search in a manner similar to that used in Detailed Search. For example, you could search for all of the methadone/LAAM maintenance facilities in States in the Northeast.

List Search will also identify facilities based on all or part of a facility name. You can use this feature to quickly find information on a particular facility. You may also be able to use this feature to search for facilities with characteristics not included in the Locator criteria. For example, treatment facilities associated with outdoor activities might be identified by a name search for "wilderness" or "ranch."

After the List Search is completed, you can print a list of the facilities and their characteristics, or you can download the list as a data file. The data file can be downloaded as an Excel spreadsheet, or as tab- or comma-delimited text with a file layout. The data file includes the mailing address as well as the facility's street address, and can be sorted or otherwise manipulated according to your needs.

Other Features

Other features of the Locator include a list of the State substance abuse agencies, contact information for those agencies, and links to State websites.

A link is provided to SAMHSA's Buprenorphine Physician Locator. This site is similar to the Locator and identifies physicians who are authorized to prescribe buprenorphine by zip code, city, county, or State.

A link to SAMHSA's Mental Health Facility Locator provides a directory of mental health services, resources, and statistics by State.

Links to Federal and non-governmental agencies and organizations that provide information about substance abuse and its treatment are provided.

A "Frequently Asked Questions" page provides additional information on using the Locator and getting listed in the Locator.

Comments or questions about the Locator and/or substance abuse treatment can be e-mailed to SAMHSA at locator@smdi.com. SAMHSA attempts to respond to all queries.

End Note

The Drug and Alcohol Services Information System (DASIS) is an integrated data system maintained by the Office of Applied Studies, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The Substance Abuse Treatment Facility Locator is an on-line searchable directory of substance abuse treatment programs around the country. It is based on SAMHSA's Inventory of Substance Abuse Treatment Services and the annual National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Facilities.

This report was prepared by the Office of Applied Studies, SAMHSA; Synectics for Management Decisions, Inc., Arlington, Virginia; and RTI, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.

Access the latest TEDS reports at:
www.oas.samhsa.gov/dasis.htm

Access the latest TEDS public use files at:
http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/SAMHDA.htm

Other substance abuse reports are available at:
http://www.oas.samhsa.gov

The DASIS Report is published periodically by the Office of Applied Studies, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). All material appearing in this report is in the public domain and may be reproduced or copied without permission from SAMHSA. Additional copies of this report or other reports from the Office of Applied Studies are available on-line: http://www.oas.samhsa.gov. Citation of the source is appreciated.

This page was last updated on December 30, 2008.