About the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment

The Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) is one of three centers of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. CSAT was created in October 1992 with a Congressional mandate to expand the availability of effective treatment and recovery services for alcohol and drug problems.

CSAT supports a variety of activities aimed at fulfilling its mission, which is to improve the lives of individuals and families affected by alcohol and drug abuse by ensuring access to clinically sound, cost-effective addiction treatment that reduces the health and social costs to our communities and the Nation.

CSAT's initiatives and programs are based on research findings and the general consensus of experts in the addiction field that, for most individuals, 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 the national effort to provide multiple treatment modalities, evaluate treatment effectiveness, and use evaluation results to enhance treatment and recovery approaches.