Under the authority of Section 501 of the PHS Act, the ACWS is a legislatively mandated committee, whose charge is (1) to advise the Associate Administrator for Women’s Services and the SAMHSA Administrator on appropriate activities to be undertaken by the SAMHSA Centers with respect to women’s substance abuse and mental health services, including services which require a multi disciplinary approach; (2) to collect and review data; (3) to report biannually to the Administrator regarding the extent to which women are represented among senior SAMHSA personnel; (4) to make recommendations for improvement in the participation of women in the SAMHSA workforce; and (5) to prepare for inclusion in the SAMHSA biannual report a description of activities of the ACWS, including findings made by the Committee regarding the extent of expenditures made for women’s substance abuse and mental health services by SAMHSA and the estimated level of funding needed for such services to meet the needs of women.

The Committee is chaired by the Associate Administrator for Women’s Services.  Management and support services for ACWS are provided by the Office of Policy, Planning, and Innovation (OPPI).