New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports

The Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS) is an agency of the New York state government that provides funding, technical assistance, and oversight to a network of over 1,300 community-based addiction treatment programs, as well as 12 state-operated addiction treatment centers. It is part of the pro forma Department of Mental Hygiene along with the Office of Mental Health (OMH) and Office for People With Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD).

Operations

The Statewide Health Information Network for New York (SHIN-NY, pronounced "shiny") is a health information exchange that allows healthcare providers to access and share patient data, managed by the nonprofit New York eHealth Collaborative. There are several regional health information organizations such as Hixny.

History

The Department of Mental Hygiene was established in 1926–1927 as part of a restructuring of the state government, and was given responsibility for people diagnosed with mental illness, intellectual disability or epilepsy. In 1961 a Division of Alcoholism was created by executive order within it. In 1962 the Metcalf‐Volker Act provided for the civil commitment of narcotics addicts. In 1966 the Narcotic Addition Control Commission (NACC) was established within the Department of Mental Hygiene to oversee a statewide program for the compulsory treatment, prevention, and research of drug addiction, including court-ordered rehabilitation in state-run facilities and community-based outpatient clinics. In 1973, NACC was renamed the Drug Abuse Control Commission (DACC), expanding its authority to include other dangerous drugs while shifting outpatient supervision to probation departments. In 1975 it was further renamed the Office of Drug Abuse Services.

In 1978, the Department of Mental Hygiene was reorganized into the autonomous Office of Mental Health (OMH), Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse (OASA), and the Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (OMRDD). In 1989 the Statewide Anti-Drug Abuse Council was created by executive order. In 1992, the Division of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse (DAAA) and Division of Substance Abuse Services (DSAS) were merged into the Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS). In 2012, the Protection of People with Special Needs Act (PPSNA) established the Justice Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs to create uniform safeguards for people with special needs served in residential facilities and day programs by provider agencies that are operated, licensed, or certified by a multitude of state agencies, including the OMH, OASAS, and OPWDD. In 2019 the Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services became the Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS). The Clinical and Research Institute on Addictions was established in affiliation with the University at Buffalo in 1970 for the conduct of biological, psychological, and social research on the etiology, prevention, and treatment of alcoholic disorders.

List of commissioners

1990 (1992), Marguerite Saunders (initially as Director of the Division of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse)
1996, Jean Somers Miller
2004, William Gorman
2007, Karen Carpenter-Palumbo
2011, Arlene González-Sánchez
2021, Chinazo Cunningham

References

External links

Official website
New York State Justice Center
Data on Data.NY.gov
Contracts on Open Book New York from the NYS Department of Audit and Control
Department of Mental Hygiene in the New York Codes, Rules and Regulations (NYCRR)
Mental Hygiene Law as amended in the Consolidated Laws
Alcoholism and Substance Use Disorders and Mental Health committees of the Senate
Alcoholism and Drug Abuse and Mental Health committees of the Assembly

New York Assembly on state OMH, OASAS collaboration