About Substance Abuse Services

The Department of State Health Services (DSHS) provides funding for prevention, intervention and treatment services through contracts with about 200 community organizations that serve more than 750,000 Texans each year.  The agency receives more than $130 million in federal funds with the bulk of that money coming from a federal block grant.  DSHS also receives $27 million in state general revenue and some additional funding from interagency contracts and fees.

Other Functions

• Monitoring drug trends in Texas, analyzing drug-related data and conducting surveys related to substance abuse.
• Building alliances with other public and private agencies, including law enforcement and corrections, and looking for new ways to effectively reduce the state's substance abuse problems.
• Providing an information and referral hot line, (877) 9-NO DRUG, provides 24-hour bilingual service to Texans who need crisis counseling or drug and alcohol information.

Prevention Activities

DSHS places a priority on preventing our children from using drugs. The department funds 11 Prevention Resource Centers across the state. These centers provide communities with prevention information, resources and expertise. The Mental Health and Substance Abuse (MHSA) Information Center provides free booklets, posters and bookmarks to schools in Texas. The Information Center also shares its wealth of information and an extensive video collection with the public.

Other prevention activities funded by the department include:

• The Partnership for a Drug-Free Texas, which has generated more than $10 million in advertising and media exposure to encourage Texas youth to make wise choices about alcohol and other drugs
• The Texas Red Ribbon Campaign, which teaches students across the state about the benefits of a drug-free lifestyle.
• The Statewide Prevention Training Program, which provides schools and community groups with access to the best prevention training, conferences and workshops in Texas. This program has trained more than 5,000 Texas educators and service providers.

This page was last modified May 23, 2008