Virginia launches Treatment Atlas to help Individuals and families find high-quality addiction treatment. Oct 15, 2026, 09:13 ET New statewide partnership with Shatterproof, the Virginia Department of Social Services, and 211 Virginia provides transparent, trusted information to support treatment decisions and recovery RICHMOND, Va., Oct. 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ - Individuals and families across Virginia now have a free, confidential way to find and compare addiction treatment options through Treatment Atlas, an online platform designed to make it easier to identify high-quality, evidence-based care that meets their unique needs. Launched through a partnership among Shatterproof, the Virginia Department of Social Services (VDSS), and 211 Virginia, Treatment Atlas helps people search for and compare addiction treatment providers based on factors that matter most to them, including evidence-based treatment practices, insurance accepted, medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), specialty populations served, transportation assistance, and other indicators of treatment accessibility and quality. The platform, available at TreatmentAtlas.org, is designed to support both individuals seeking care and the organizations helping them navigate the treatment system. "Finding quality addiction treatment should not depend on guesswork," said Pam Jenkins, Chief Executive Officer of Shatterproof. "Families are often forced to make treatment decisions during moments of crisis, yet it can be incredibly difficult to know which programs provide evidence-based care. Treatment Atlas helps bring transparency to the process, empowering Virginians with trusted information so they can make informed decisions and access the care that best meets their needs." "Substance use disorders affect families across the Commonwealth, and finding help should not be another barrier for someone who is already navigating a difficult time," said Duke Storen, Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Social Services. "By integrating Treatment Atlas,into 211 Virginia, we're creating a more accessible pathway to both community-based and clinical recovery resources. Our commitment is to meet Virginians where they are, connect them to the resources they need, and help them move toward greater safety and independence. We're grateful to Shatterproof for partnering with us to make that commitment a reality." In addition to helping consumers identify treatment options, the platform is expected to support referral partners across the Commonwealth, including healthcare systems, community organizations, and 211 Virginia specialists who regularly assist individuals and families seeking treatment resources. Research has shown that not all addiction treatment programs provide the same level of care or consistently utilize evidence-based practices. Treatment Atlas was developed to help address this challenge by offering transparent information that helps individuals compare options and identify programs aligned with best practices. The Virginia launch will include provider engagement, stakeholder education, community outreach, and public awareness efforts designed to increase understanding of treatment quality and improve access to care statewide. Launch activities will include a stakeholder event in Richmond and a public webinar offering practical guidance for families, providers, and community members on how to identify quality addiction treatment. "Recovery outcomes improve when people can find care that meets their needs and preferences," Jenkins added. "Treatment Atlas supports a 'no wrong doors' approach by giving both consumers and referral partners a practical tool to navigate the treatment system and connect people with care." To learn more or search for addiction treatment options in Virginia, use 211 Virginia or visit www.TreatmentAtlas.org. About Treatment Atlas Treatment Atlas is a free, confidential online platform that helps individuals, families, referral partners, and healthcare professionals search for and compare addiction treatment providers. The platform provides information on treatment quality, evidence-based practices, insurance acceptance, medications for opioid use disorder, specialty populations served, and other factors that support informed treatment decisions. About Shatterproof Shatterproof is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to creating a world where addiction never defines or ends a life. Guided by its mission to transform systems, support families, and end stigma, Shatterproof advances evidence-based solutions to improve prevention, treatment, and recovery; drives policy change to strengthen addiction care and accountability; educates the public to replace stigma with understanding; and equips families with trusted resources and support. Grounded in science and rigorous measurement, Shatterproof helps people today while catalyzing lasting systems change for future generations. About Virginia Department of Social Services The Virginia Department of Social Services (VDSS), one of the Commonwealth's largest government agencies, is comprised of approximately 2,000 state staff who proudly serve alongside more than 10,000 employees of 120 local departments of social services and community action agencies to deliver critical social services to Virginia's most vulnerable citizens. VDSS is committed to ensuring Virginians have access to the high-quality human services and resources needed to enhance their individual and collective well-being, and shape strong futures for themselves, their families and communities. The agency provides a wide range of services and resources in the areas of food and energy assistance, foster care and adoption, child support, and abuse and neglect prevention, among others. For more information, visit dss.virginia.gov. SOURCE Shatterproof

Virginia launches Treatment Atlas to rate addiction care quality. Virginia residents looking for addiction treatment can now compare providers on something other than how close they are. Treatment Atlas, a free online platform built by the national nonprofit Shatterproof with the Virginia Department of Social Services and the state's 211 helpline, went live on October 15, letting families sort programs by the care they actually deliver - insurance accepted, medications for opioid use disorder, evidence-based practices, the populations a program is set up to serve, and whether it helps with transportation. The platform now sits alongside the state's existing helpline infrastructure, and the launch announcement framed it as an answer to a specific problem: the people making treatment decisions are usually making them in a crisis, with no way to tell a program's marketing from its medicine. "Finding quality addiction treatment should not depend on guesswork," said Pam Jenkins, chief executive officer of Shatterproof. "Families are often forced to make treatment decisions during moments of crisis, yet it can be incredibly difficult to know which programs provide evidence-based care." What the platform actually compares. Treatment Atlas is a directory with filters, not a referral service and not a bed registry. A user can search for providers and compare them across categories that the partnership says indicate quality: whether a program offers medication for opioid use disorder, which insurers it takes, whether it describes its approach as evidence-based, which specialty populations it serves, and indicators of accessibility such as transportation assistance. The platform is pitched at two audiences at once - people seeking care themselves, and the caseworkers, hospital discharge planners and helpline staff who route them. That second audience is the reason the state is involved rather than just hosting a link. When someone calls 211 Virginia - the statewide information line for health and human services - a specialist can now pull up a comparable set of program details instead of working from a list of phone numbers. "By integrating Treatment Atlas into 211 Virginia, we're creating a more accessible pathway to both community-based and clinical recovery resources," said Duke Storen, commissioner of the Virginia Department of Social Services. "Our commitment is to meet Virginians where they are, connect them to the resources they need, and help them move toward greater safety and independence." Why quality data instead of bed counts. The partnership's stated premise is that not all addiction treatment is equivalent. Research has shown that programs do not consistently deliver evidence-based practices, and that the gap between what a facility advertises and what it does is hardest to see precisely when a family has the least time to investigate - which is why a comparison tool that sits outside the industry's own advertising is different from a search engine result. The clearest example is medication for opioid use disorder, which federal agencies treat as the standard of care and which remains unevenly available across the country. A county-by-county bed count tells a caller nothing about whether buprenorphine, methadone or extended-release naltrexone is available on site; a filter that lists it program by program does. The same logic applies to whether a facility offers standard outpatient care or only residential beds, and to whether it will take a caller's specific insurance. The platform also carries information for people already in the system. Jenkins described the design goal as a "'no wrong doors' approach," in which a consumer or a referral partner can navigate the treatment landscape without needing to know the vocabulary of levels of care in advance, and said recovery outcomes improve when people can find care that matches their needs and preferences. What the launch leaves open. Virginia is not the first state to put treatment quality data in front of the public. New York City released a behavioral health provider directory in mid-October through its Mental Health Connect service, and Hawaii opened a statewide virtual intensive outpatient program earlier in the same week - a cluster of digital access tools that share an assumption that patients cannot use a system they cannot see into. What Treatment Atlas does not yet carry is outcome data. The launch materials describe provider engagement, stakeholder education, community outreach and a public awareness campaign, including a stakeholder event in Richmond and a webinar for families and providers, but no measure of whether patients who use the platform stay in treatment longer or fare better than those who do not. The announcement also does not describe how program information will be verified or refreshed once it is listed - the maintenance question that determines how useful a comparison directory is a year from now. For now the tool is a filter over a fragmented market, and its value will show up in what referral partners do with it. A helpline specialist who can rule out fourteen programs that do not accept a caller's insurance has saved that caller a morning of phone calls - a smaller claim than "better outcomes," but one that does not require a study to verify. Editorial Board Editorial review using SAMHSA, CDC, CMS, and state agency sources The NWVCIL editorial team reviews and updates treatment-center information using public data from SAMHSA, CDC, CMS, and state behavioral-health agencies. NWVCIL cross-check facility records, state coverage rules, and clinical-practice updates so the directory reflects current evidence and policy.