State licensing
State licensing is the permission a state agency grants a treatment provider to operate specific services at a specific location, and it is the legal foundation every accreditation and advertising certification builds on.
Also called state license, facility license, behavioral health license
- Last reviewed
- 3 sources, linked
- 4 related terms
What it means
Every state sets its own rules for substance use disorder and mental health treatment providers, and the agency responsible differs from state to state. A license is usually tied to the services and the address, so a new level of care or a new building can mean a new or amended license.
Licensure shows up everywhere else. LegitScript asks for the business registration and the licenses for every service and jurisdiction. The federal EKRA statute defines a clinical treatment facility as one providing care under licensure or certification under state law. SAMHSA's FindTreatment.gov is a locator of state-licensed providers.
Accreditation from CARF or the Joint Commission is a separate credential. It can strengthen a license in the eyes of payers and families, but it does not replace one.
Why it matters for your website
Never advertise a service, level of care or location your license does not cover. Reviewers, payers and careful families compare the two, and a mismatch is both the easiest problem to find and the easiest to avoid.
List each licensed location with its full address and the services offered there. If your state expects a license number in advertising, publish it where the rule says it belongs.
Sources
The facts on this page about a law, a regulator, a clinical standard or a platform come from these sources. Each link opens the original in a new tab.
- Cornell Law School, Legal Information Institute18 U.S. Code § 220, Illegal remunerations for referrals to recovery homes, clinical treatment facilities, and laboratories (opens in a new tab)
- LegitScriptAddiction Treatment Certification (opens in a new tab)
- SAMHSAFindTreatment.gov (opens in a new tab)
Last reviewed
This entry explains a rule so you can plan a website around it. It is not legal advice: for a decision about your own program, ask a healthcare attorney.
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