N-SUMHSS Frequently Asked Questions

The National Substance Use and Mental Health Services Survey (N-SUMHSS) is SAMHSA’s annual survey of all active substance use and mental health facilities across the United States. It is the most comprehensive national source of data on substance use and mental health treatment facilities in the United States. The N-SUMHSS is intended to provide behavioral health services providers, researchers, and federal, state, and local governments with information about the number and characteristics of substance use and mental health treatment facilities nationwide.

The Inventory of Substance Use and Mental Health Treatment Facilities (I-TF) serves as the list frame for the N-SUMHSS. The I-TF is an electronic national inventory of all behavioral health facilities known and maintained by SAMHSA. The N-SUMHSS is a multimode survey. Data collection included three modes: 1) a secure web-based questionnaire, 2) a paper questionnaire sent by mail, and 3) a computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI). The N-SUMHSS is conducted in both English and Spanish.

Quality assurance measures are taken throughout all stages of the survey cycle, including survey design and development, data collection, data processing and validation, and dissemination. For more information about the quality assurance measures, please refer to Appendix B of the 2023 N-SUMHSS annual report.

In 2021, SAMHSA combined the National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services (N-SSATS) and the National Mental Health Services Survey (N-MHSS) into the N-SUMHSS, making it the most comprehensive source of data on treatment services provided by substance use and mental health treatment facilities across the United States. The legacy N- SSATS and N-MHSS data and reports can be accessed from the SAMHSA website here: https://www.samhsa.gov/data/data-we-collect.

All substance use and mental health treatment facilities are included in the N-SUMHSS with the following exceptions: Department of Defense (DoD) military mental health treatment facilities; individual private practitioners or small group practices not licensed as a substance use and/or mental health clinic or center; jails, prisons, or detention centers; facilities that do not primarily provide specialty mental health treatment services; and halfway houses. For more details on the N-SUMHSS inclusion and exclusion criteria, please refer to Appendix B of the 2023 N-SUMHSS annual report.

A facility that participates in the N-SUMHSS will have the option of being listed on FindTreatment.gov (https://findtreatment.gov), which will make others aware of your facility’s services, and help you reach potential clients in your community that you do not currently reach. Your facility must complete the N-SUMHSS every year to maintain your listing on FindTreatment.gov.

The N-SUMHSS is a voluntary facility survey. Substantial effort is made to obtain responses from all known substance use and mental health treatment facilities meeting the N-SUMHSS eligibility criteria. Facilities may be eligible to be listed on FindTreatment.gov and must complete the N-SUMHSS every year to maintain their listing on FindTreatment.gov. Note, only eligible facilities registered and included in the I-TF are sent the annual N-SUMHSS invitation. To add your facility today, please complete the Facility Registration Application Form.

The N-SUMHSS questionnaire contains 68 numbered questions, which consist of two introductory screening questions and four separate modules:

1. Module A focuses on substance use treatment services.
2. Module B focuses on mental health treatment services.
3. Module C focuses on facility characteristics.
4. Module D focuses on the number of clients in treatment.

The introductory questions request information on the primary treatment focus of the facility. These two questions indicate which sections of the survey each facility will be asked to complete. Facilities providing both substance use and mental health treatment services are asked to complete all four modules. Facilities providing only substance use treatment services are asked to complete Modules A, C, and a portion of Module D. Facilities providing only mental health treatment services are asked to complete Modules B, C, and a portion of D.

The N-SUMHSS should not be compared statistically with previous tables from the N-SSATS and N-MHSS as it is a different survey.

Information on state-specific characteristics of substance use and mental health treatment facilities can be found in the N-SUMHSS State Profiles. They include data on the location, characteristics, services offered, and the number of clients in treatment facilities in the state.