The states of Minnesota and South Carolina were recently awarded five-year grants totaling $7.45 million to improve the treatment of patients with both addictive and mental-health disorders.

The grants will help the two states provide accessible, effective, integrated treatment services to people with co-occurring disorders and their families, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). "Co-occurring substance abuse and mental disorders should be the expectation, not the exception," said Assistant Surgeon General Eric Broderick, D.D.S., M.P.H., SAMHSA's acting deputy administrator. "When both conditions are not recognized and treated, recovery is jeopardized."

The states will receive about $1 million for each of the first three years of the program, as well as funding for evaluation over the last two years. Minnesota will use its grant to expand existing screening and assessment for co-occurring disorders and develop a formal state policy on integrated treatment. South Carolina will establish pilot programs in Charleston and Georgetown aimed at improving diagnosis and treatment of patients with dual disorders.