South Carolina Department Of Alcohol & Other Drug Abuse Services

The South Carolina Department Of Alcohol & Other Drug Abuse Services, a state government entity based in Columbia, acts as the prime recipient of federal grant funding for substance use disorder prevention, treatment, recovery services, and opioid crisis response programs, with 98% of its recent awards held as grants rather than subgrants.

SAMHSA's Center for Substance Abuse Treatment dominates the customer base by award count. The department holds 22 awards from SAMHSA's substance abuse prevention and treatment block grant programs and project grants (CFDA 93.959, 93.490), along with 15 additional SAMHSA awards covering state opioid response initiatives, perinatal substance use disorder treatment pilots, and related harm-reduction and recovery-housing coordination work. The Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families accounts for 7 awards; the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development holds 5 formula grants for recovery housing programs under the Recovery Housing Program (Section 8071 of the SUPPORT Act); and the Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs has awarded 2 project grants. These five agencies represent 85% of the award count across the portfolio. The combined potential value across all 60 awards totals $4.9 million, but obligated dollars reach $1.51 billion, reflecting the department's role as the single state authority distributing federal block-grant dollars to local governments, nonprofits, community mental health centers, and specialized SUD service providers statewide.

Recent representative prime grants include a $1.08 million SAMHSA project grant (CFDA 93.490) awarded September 30, 2026, for the South Carolina Pilot Program for Treatment of Perinatal Substance Use Disorders, serving 150 unduplicated pregnant and postpartum women over three years across eight rural counties in collaboration with the Medical University of South Carolina; a $71.918 million SAMHSA Substance Use Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Services Block Grant (CFDA 93.959) awarded October 1, 2025, funding statewide prevention, treatment, and recovery services through September 30, 2027; a $7 million Bureau of Justice Assistance Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Site-Based Program project grant (awarded October 1, 2023, ultimate completion March 31, 2028) supporting law enforcement diversion programs across six jurisdictions with embedded social workers, deflection and diversion programming, and medication-assisted treatment; and multiple HUD Recovery Housing Program formula grants (awarded between July 2023 and October 2024) funding stable, temporary housing for individuals in recovery from substance use disorder across multiple award cycles through 2033. The department acts as a sub-recipient on one federal grant sub-award providing outpatient and intensive outpatient SUD services as of July 1, 2024.

Activity has remained relatively flat — three awards in 2022, five each in 2023 and 2024, with one award each in 2025 and 2026 — though the dollar pipeline remains substantial given block-grant dollar volumes. Four awards face ultimate completion dates within the next twenty-four months, positioning the department for recompete submissions on block-grant renewals and state opioid response project continuations. The department operates across multiple federal grant programs spanning health, justice, and housing authorities, functioning as South Carolina's designated single state authority for administering and distributing federal substance use disorder funding to county-level and regional service providers.