Substance Use Disorder And Addiction

Governors have long been at the forefront of efforts to prevent and treat opioid use disorder and substance use disorder, working with stakeholders to mount a comprehensive response to the opioid epidemic.

Since 2012, the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices has supported states in their efforts to help prevent and treat substance use disorder. Over the years, NGA Health and NGA Public Safety and Legal Counsel have jointly worked with states to identify and implement evidenced based best practices related to substance use disorder. NGA focus areas include but are not limited to:

Sharing evidenced based prevention, treatment, and recovery strategies and programs;
Using data and evaluation in policy development;
Improving outcomes for targeted populations (justice-involved individuals, pregnant and parenting women, LGBTQIA+, people of color, and other historically underrepresented populations);
Expanding access to medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD);
Identifying trends in polysubstance use and identifying comprehensive responses to addiction;
Addressing infectious diseases as a result of SUD/OUD;
Strategies to improve the treatment of individuals with co-occurring disorders; and
Increasing access to non-opioid management of chronic pain.

Meet Our Team

Dr. Shelby Hockenberry, Program Director

Dr. Elise T. Simonsen, Senior Policy Analyst

Nicole Banister, Policy Analyst

Lacy Adams, Policy Analyst

Tony Cutillo, Policy Analyst

David Engleman, Policy Analyst

Projects

Improving Care For Stimulant And Polysubstance Use

NGA has hosted a series of learning calls with national experts, Governors’ office staff and senior officials, researchers, academics, and local organizations to better understand the current landscape and challenges from state leaders for addressing stimulant and polysubstance use at the state level. The overdose epidemic has unfolded through various ...
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Improving Outcomes for Individuals with Opioid Use Disorder on Community Supervision

A project for the development of innovative approaches to improving community supervision of individual with substance use disorder. While states have made progress in implementing and expanding access to treatment services for justice-involved individuals within correctional facilities, many states continue to encounter significant barriers to continuity of care and access ...
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Expanding Access for Medication for Opioid Use Disorder for Justice Involved Individuals

Since 2019, the National Governors Association, in partnership with the American Correctional Association, has supported at least 14 states to expand access to MOUD among justice involved individuals. NGA supported states in developing and executing strategic plans to build and strengthen collaborations and partnerships between public safety and public health ...
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Publications

Lessons Learned in State Collaboration to Address Substance Use Disorder and Justice-Involved Individuals

This policy brief highlights lessons learned from collaborative efforts in Hawai‘i, Pennsylvania and West Virginia between SAAs and SSAs to address SUD issues within justice-involved populations. (Download) Executive Summary A ...
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State of the States Opioid Survey and Analysis

Amidst a global pandemic that has challenged states’ capacities to respond to increasing overdose deaths, collecting and sharing information across partners to effectively respond to new challenges will be more ...
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Community Supervision and Treatment of Individuals With Substance Use Disorder

This policy brief highlights the common challenges and opportunities for governors and state officials to inform state and local policy development and improve outcomes for individuals with SUD who are ...
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Expanding Access to Medications for Opioid Use Disorder in Corrections and Community Settings

This roadmap highlights existing state efforts and serves as a policy development tool for Governors and state officials seeking to improve coordination and bolster existing efforts across state agencies to ...
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Supporting State Behavioral Health Systems During COVID-19 Response and Recovery

This paper identifies for Governors the key issues that are currently challenging state behavioral health systems, along with actions that state agencies may consider to support and sustain behavioral health ...
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Expanding Access To Non-Opioid Management Of Chronic Pain

This report synthesizes the existing evidence base for non-opioid therapies, examines Medicaid coverage policies, and identifies barriers and opportunities for scaling evidence-based integrated pain management delivery systems. (View/Download) Executive Summary ...
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