What substance use services are advertised by local governments? An analysis of data from county websites in New York state

Objective: To assess the substance use disorder (SUD) prevention and response activities that county governments in New York advertise. Study design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: We coded websites of county public health, mental health, emergency, and social service departments to identify whether any government agency provided information about ten evidence-based SUD services. We calculated the number and percentage of counties advertising each service, overall and by county size (medium/large and small). Results: The most common services advertised on county websites were Resource Lists (91.4 %), Naloxone Training, Education, or Distribution (74.1 %), and Addiction/Overdose Education (62.1 %), and the least common were Syringe Exchange (31.0 %) and Anti-Stigma Training or Resources (13.8 %). When counties were assessed by population size, each service was advertised by a higher percentage of medium/large counties than small counties. Conclusions: Despite public health researchers recommending that government responses to the overdose crisis include the SUD services examined here, many counties do not provide information to their constituents about several important services. Thus, even if these services are available, they may be unknown to residents.