COA - Council On Accreditation

	Services for Substance Use Conditions

Introduction

Administration and Management

Service Delivery Administration Standards

Service Standards

Definition

Services for Substance Use Conditions are comprehensive and integrated community-based services designed to help individuals and families resolve problems resulting from the use of alcohol or other drugs and address co-occurring health and mental health conditions.

Note: Organizations providing only Diagnosis, Assessment, and Referral Services will complete SA 1, SA 2,SA 4, SA 5, SA 7, SA 9,and SA 11.

Organizations providing only Co-Dependency Counseling will complete SA 1, SA 2, SA 3, SA 4, SA 5, SA 7, SA 9, SA10, and SA 11.

Organizations providing only Substance Use Counseling will complete SA 1, SA 2, SA 3, SA 4, SA 5, SA 7, SA 8, SA 9, SA 10, and SA 11.

Note: Often Services for Substance Use Conditions are provided in a residential setting or in combination with other services. Additional service sections, such as Day Treatment Services, Group Living Services, or Residential Treatment Services may be completed.

Note: The standards for Services for Substance Use Conditions can apply to the following levels of treatment:

Diagnosis, Assessment, and Referral Services provided as a single service.

Co-Dependency Counseling, or counseling for family members or significant others affected by the behavior of a person with a substance use condition, when they do not use substances themselves.

Substance Use Counseling provided to persons in recovery. Counseling is primarily focused on relapse prevention and is provided to persons who need sustained counseling, support, and/or education to address a range of substance use issues. Counseling is frequently provided as a component of, or in conjunction with, treatment services.

Treatment for Substance Use Conditions provided as an intensive service for persons acutely affected by alcohol or other drug problems. Treatment addresses the full range of related issues, including: achievement and maintenance of sobriety or abstinence; health and mental health needs; counseling and/or psychotherapy; education; and improved social, emotional, psychological, cognitive, and vocational functioning.

Acute needs require immediate attention or treatment, without which the health of the person is at serious risk. For programs designed to meet non-acute needs (listed above), no standards that require physician involvement or oversight apply; however, programs serving individuals whose needs become acute, will make referrals for medical and other needed services. Please note that COA does not accredit medical detoxification programs.

Note: Please see Self-Paced_Training: Services for Substance Use Conditions (SA) in the Tools Index for additional assistance with this standard.

Research Note: Individuals receiving Services for Substance Use Conditions commonly have co-occurring mental health, substance use, medical and other conditions that require attention integrated within the context of their substance use treatment, and consequently services should be designed and organized to address individual needs. Research indicates that co-occurring disorders are common, and should be addressed routinely in core substance use services, not primarily through parallel collaborative services or specialized programs.


	PURPOSE: Individuals who participate in Services for Substance Use Conditions on an on-going basis improve social, emotional, psychological, cognitive and family functioning, and attain the recovery they seek.

RELATED FILES


	SERVICE One or more organization-operated programs or activities that have a common general objective and deploy the organization's material and human resources in a planned and systematic manner. An organization that publicly promotes or identifies itself in writing as offering a service, is licensed to deliver a service, assigns personnel and/or space to a service, or allocates financial resources to a service is considered to offer that service.


	FAMILY Two or more people who consider themselves family and who assume obligations, functions, and responsibilities generally essential to healthy family life. Child care and child socialization, income support, long-term care, and other caregiving are among the functions of family life. The definition of "family" will rest with an individual's indication of who plays a family member role, including current or former foster family, adoptive family, extended family members, fictive kin, or significant others. Organizations that believe family is the central constellation in a child's life, and that family attachments are of primary importance for human development, will strive to work with professional staff to develop a common understanding of "family."


	COMMUNITY A specific group of people living in the same locality and who may share a common culture, values, and norms. Communities can also be defined by race, religion, ethnicity, age, occupation, political status, tribal affiliation, interest in particular problems or outcomes, or other common bonds. The term "community" encompasses worksites, schools, tribes, residential neighborhoods, business districts, recreational areas, and health and human service sites.


	DIAGNOSIS The process by which a social, physical, or mental health problem and its underlying cause are identified and a plan of action formulated toward resolution of the problem. The diagnostic process involves collection and analysis of relevant information. See also ASSESSMENT.


	ASSESSMENT An evaluation, which utilizes professional expertise and skills in the collection and analysis of data to understand and describe the nature of service needs of an individual, family, or group. Assessment, as in needs assessment, is also used to determine priorities of program planning and service development for the organization as a whole. See also DIAGNOSIS.


	PREVENTION Actions taken to minimize and/or eliminate social, psychological, or other conditions. Prevention can occur at the individual, group, community, and societal levels and enhances opportunities to achieve positive fulfillment.


	PSYCHOTHERAPY Interaction between a client and a clinical social worker or other mental health professional in which a relationship is established to help resolve mental health problems, relationship problems, psychosocial stress and distress, and difficulties in coping with or functioning in the social environment.


	ACUTE NEEDS Intense conditions of sudden onset and short duration, typically lasting less than 6 months. In the context of substance abuse treatment, those needs that require immediate attention and treatment without which the health of the consumer is at serious risk.


	PROGRAM A system of services offered by an organization. For example, an organization providing a mental health service may offer several mental health programs to different populations, e.g., a mental health program for adolescent teens. The word "program" can be used interchangeably with the word "service" or to describe specific programs.


	REFERRALS Resource suggestions provided to consumers to address problems or needs that are beyond the scope of the organization's mission.


	RESEARCH For purposes of COA accreditation, all forms of internal or external research involving persons served except internal program evaluation and outcomes research, or educational projects performed by students and interns that are part of their professional training.


	DETOXIFICATION The process by which drugs or other harmful substances are removed from a person's body for a time period sufficient to restore adequate physiological and psychosocial functioning.