Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT)
The Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) is a U.S. government organization established in 1992 that plays a crucial role in supporting substance abuse treatment services, particularly for children and adolescents. Operating under the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), CSAT emerged from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) when NIDA shifted its focus exclusively to research. CSAT’s mission is to enhance the effectiveness of substance abuse treatment by promoting community-based, comprehensive services tailored to individual needs, recognizing that no single treatment approach is universally effective.
To achieve its goals, CSAT conducts research, evaluates treatment modalities, and fosters the adoption of evidence-based practices among community treatment programs. It also addresses the gap between treatment demand and available capacity. The National Advisory Council established by CSAT provides guidance on policy matters and evaluates grant applications to further the center’s mission. Key initiatives include a treatment helpline and National Recovery Month, which emphasizes the importance of recovery and promotes awareness of behavioral health. CSAT also offers an online resource, the Behavioral Health Treatment Services Locator, to help individuals find accredited treatment facilities across the country.
Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT)
DATE: Established 1992
DEFINITION: The Center for Substance Abuse Treatment is a United States (US) government organization that supports the research work of the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration as the provider of substance abuse treatment services, especially for children and adolescents.
Background
For eighteen years after its beginning, the work of the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) was a program of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), which was responsible both for overseeing research related to substance abuse and for the delivery of services to patients. When NIDA became part of the National Institutes of Health in 1992, its focus shifted entirely to research. The provision of services shifted to CSAT and the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention.
Mission and Goals
The center’s initiatives and programs since 1992 have been based on research findings and the consensus of experts in the field of addiction. For most people, treatment and recovery work best in a community-based, coordinated system of comprehensive services. Because no single treatment approach is effective for all persons, CSAT supports efforts to provide multiple treatment modalities, evaluate treatment effectiveness, and use evaluation results to enhance treatment and recovery approaches. The CSAT works to close the gap between available treatment capacity and demand, supports the adaptation and adoption of evidence-based and best practices by community-based treatment programs and services, and improves and strengthens substance abuse treatment organizations and systems.
Advisors
CSAT’s National Advisory Council was established under Section 502 of the Public Health Service Act (1944) and was originally chartered on December 9, 1992, in keeping with public law. The council advises, consults with, and offers recommendations to the US health secretary, the SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) administrator, and the CSAT director concerning issues relating to the activities done by and through the center and policies related to such events.
The advisory council can, based on the evidence provided, make recommendations to the director of the center concerning actions conducted at the center. The council also reviews applications submitted for grants and cooperative agreements for activities requiring council permission; it also recommends approving applications for projects that show promise of making valuable contributions to the center’s mission. Furthermore, the council can consider any grant proposal the organization makes.
The advisory council collects material about ongoing studies and services in the US or other countries related to substance abuse and mental illness. The council also examines material on issues linked to diseases, disorders, or other aspects of human health related to SAMHSA's mission and its programs.
The director of CSAT permits the council to make such information available through publications for the benefit of public and private health entities, health professions personnel, and the public. The council may appoint subcommittees and convene workshops and conferences. The center provides management and support services for the council.
Programs
CSAT programs include a treatment helpline (1-800-662-HELP) and the National Recovery Month, which promotes the societal benefits of treatment for substance use and mental disorders, celebrates people in recovery, lauds the contributions of treatment providers, and promotes the message that recovery is possible. National Recovery Month spreads the message that behavioral health is essential to overall health, that prevention works, that treatment is effective, and that people can and do recover.
Another CSAT service is the Behavioral Health Treatment Services Locator, an online resource for locating drug and alcohol abuse treatment programs. The locator lists private and public facilities licensed, certified, or otherwise approved for inclusion by their respective state’s substance abuse agency. It also lists treatment facilities administered by the US Department of Veterans Affairs, the US Indian Health Service, and the US Department of Defense.
Bibliography
"About CSAT National Advisory Council." SAMHSA, 17 May 2024, www.samhsa.gov/about-us/advisory-councils/csat-national-advisory-council. Accessed 25 Aug. 2024.
"Center for Substance Abuse Treatment." SAMHSA, 24 Apr. 2024, www.samhsa.gov/about-us/who-we-are/offices-centers/csat. Accessed 25 Aug. 2024.
Courtwright, David T. "The NIDA Brain Disease Paradigm: History, Resistance, and Spinoffs." BioSocieties, vol. 5, no. 1, 2010, pp. 137–47.
DuPont, Robert L. "National Institute on Drug Abuse at Its First Thirty-Five Years." Drug and Alcohol Dependence, vol. 107, no. 1, 2010, pp. 80–81.