Convening Highlights SAMHSA’s Ongoing Commitment to Help States Connect People to SUD Treatment and Recovery Support Services

After an overdose, the hours and days that follow can be a critical opportunity to connect someone to treatment and recovery support. Too often, people must navigate fragmented systems when timely support can make a significant difference in their recovery.

During Overdose Awareness Week (Aug. 25 to Aug. 31, 2026), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is highlighting approaches that help close the gap and connect people to care where they need it.

The need is urgent. U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention data show that an estimated 67,798 people across the United States died of overdose in the 12 months ending in March 2026, down from an estimated 77,306 during the same time period in 2025. SAMHSA’s 2025 National Survey on Drug Use and Health reports that, among people 12 or older who were classified as needing substance use treatment in the past year, about 1 in 6 (16 percent or 7.6 million people) actually received substance use treatment in the past year — underscoring a clear opportunity to better connect people to life-saving care and supports.

Bringing Partners Together to Strengthen Overdose Response

On August 19 and 20, SAMHSA convened a national Coordinated Overdose Response Treatment meeting in Bethesda, Maryland in partnership with the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR).

The goal of the meeting was to advance coordinated strategies that connect individuals who have overdosed to timely treatment, recovery supports, and ongoing care. Advancing these strategies is critical to saving lives and closing the treatment gap.

Federal, state, Tribal, and local partners joined healthcare and emergency response leaders, community-based and recovery organizations, researchers, evaluators, and technical assistance providers to share approaches and lessons from across the country.

Participants shared innovative behavioral health models being employed by states, communities, and Tribal entities to connect people who have substance use disorder (SUD) throughout the nation to localized treatment and recovery support services.

Among the models presented, three show the different ways communities are working to close the gap between overdose response and treatment.

Three Approaches to Connecting People to Care

Florida’s CORE Network is designed as a coordinated system of care that links first responders, hospital emergency departments, treatment providers, peer navigators, and other community supports so that people with opioid use disorder (OUD) are not left to navigate fragmented systems on their own.

The CORE model engages first responders to connect individuals with participating emergency departments, where patients can be stabilized and started on medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD).

From there, peer-supported warm handoffs connect patients to receiving clinics for community-based treatment and recovery support. The model emphasizes 24/7 access, multiple medication options, peer navigation, primary and behavioral healthcare, and assistance with broader needs such as housing, nutrition, and employment.

West Virginia: Quick Response Teams

West Virginia’s Quick Response Team (QRT) model focuses on the critical period immediately following an overdose, when individuals may be particularly reachable but can easily be lost between emergency response and treatment systems. QRTs are localized, community-level, multidisciplinary teams — which might include first responders, peer recovery support specialists, law enforcement, behavioral health professionals, and community partners such as faith leaders — to proactively contact people following an overdose and connect them with treatment, recovery supports, and other services.

West Virginia has used this decentralized approach as part of a broader statewide strategy to reduce repeat overdoses and increase engagement in post-overdose treatment, with teams adapting their composition and outreach practices to their local communities’ needs. West Virginia’s experience highlights the importance of rapid follow-up, trusted relationships, and coordinated outreach in turning an overdose response into an opportunity for sustained engagement in care and recovery.

CA Bridge demonstrates how hospitals and emergency departments can become active entry points to treatment for SUD rather than simply treating an overdose and discharging the patient.

The model emphasizes immediate access to medications for OUD (MOUD), particularly buprenorphine, coupled with navigation to ongoing care. California has integrated this approach across emergency and hospital settings, with more than 240 emergency departments offering MOUD through on-site induction and short-term prescriptions that help bridge patients to follow-up care.

CA Bridge offers a practical example of how health systems can redesign workflows so that treatment begins at the point of acute care and continues beyond the emergency department.

Learning from Communities Across the Country

The convening also featured 21 SAMHSA grantee presentations showcasing coordinated overdose response strategies, including field-initiated treatment, post-overdose outreach, rural and Tribal response, hospital bridge models, peer engagement, sustainability, and data-driven response. An ASPR-led session also explored collaboration with Medical Reserve Corps units.

The CORT convening supports the goals of President Trump’s Great American Recovery, as well as priorities as outlined by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

During Overdose Awareness Week, the experiences shared at CORT offer an important reminder: responding to an overdose is an opportunity to create a connection — to treatment, to recovery supports, and to continued care.

For help locating substance use treatment, visit FindTreatment.gov or call SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357). If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, call or text 988 or use the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline’s online chat. Recovery is possible.

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