The Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (BHDD) is a cabinet agency, with its Director appointed by the Governor of South Carolina through the advice and consent of the Senate. The BHDD is composed of the Office of Substance Use Services (OSUS), Office of Mental Health, and Office of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.
The OSUS Mission
To ensure the availability and quality of a continuum of substance use services, thereby improving the health status, safety, and quality of life of individuals, families, and communities across South Carolina.
OSUS Services
OSUS estimates that approximately 451,000 individuals in South Carolina are suffering from substance-related problems that require immediate intervention and treatment. To address this need, OSUS contracts with the state’s county alcohol and drug abuse authorities to provide the majority of direct prevention, treatment and recovery services to the citizens of South Carolina. OSUS also contracts with a range of public and private service providers, including opioid treatment programs, recovery organizations, hospitals, and community distributors of the overdose antidote naloxone.
The federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has designated OSUS as the Single State Agency responsible for overseeing the state’s Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant and funding for substance use disorder programs in South Carolina.
OSUS Divisions
OSUS accomplishes its mission through five organizational areas:
- Prevention and Intervention Services Division - Works with federal, state, public, and private organizations to develop comprehensive state and community-based substance use prevention and intervention services using evidence-based approaches.
- Treatment and Recovery Services Division - Provides state leadership to improve access, reduce barriers, and promote high-quality, effective treatment and recovery options for individuals and families in every community.
- Technology, Research and Evaluation Division - Manages the Office's information technology needs, as well as providing analysis of outcome measures, setting contract objectives for service providers, conducting service provider evaluations, and assessing prevention and treatment service quality.
- Legal and Compliance Division - Provides legal advice to the Office Director and executive management staff. Works with service providers across the state to ensure that substance use services are rendered according to state and federal guidelines, standards, and criteria.
- Grants Administration Division - Manages funds and conducts grants analysis for the purpose of maximizing financial and operational performance while minimizing risk.
Agency History
- 1957 – The S.C. General Assembly passes Act 309, creating the S.C. Alcoholic Rehabilitation Center.
- 1966 – On March 31, Governor Robert McNair signs a bill changing the S.C. Alcoholic Rehabilitation Center to the S.C. Commission on Alcoholism.
- 1971 – Act 445 creates the S.C. Office of the Commissioner of Narcotics and Controlled Substances in the Governor’s Office.
- 1974 – With the passing of Act 1065, the S.C. Commission on Alcoholism assumes the duties of the Office of the Commissioner of Narcotics and Controlled Substances and becomes the S.C. Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse.
- 1993 – As a result of government restructuring, the S.C. Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse becomes the cabinet-level Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services.
- 2025 – Act No. 3 of 2025 creates the S.C. Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities.
Sara Goldsby
Office Director
A native of Wyoming, Sara Goldsby was confirmed as Director of DAODAS (the predecessor agency of the BHDD Office of Substance Use Services) by the South Carolina Senate on February 8, 2018, after being appointed Acting Director by Governor Nikki Haley in August 2016, then nominated as Director by Governor Henry McMaster in May 2017.
