Use it in the day or two before admission, after the admissions and insurance calls. It covers 23 things families tend to take on trust: the care, the program’s license, the money and the family’s part. Tick a box only when you’ve checked it yourself, in writing where you can.
Families often say yes on a crisis call and learn the hard parts later. Still comparing programs? Start with the 20 questions to ask or the comparison worksheet.
What should we confirm before saying yes?
Several items come from SAMHSA’s signs of quality treatment.1
Before we say yes, we have confirmed:
- Care
- The program
- Money
- Safety and family
The boxes that trip families up
Check the license yourself. Your state’s substance use agency, listed on FindTreatment.gov, can tell you what a program is licensed for.5
Dana nearly said yes to a residential program for her husband, Chris. Then she checked the license: the state listed outpatient care only. She called the next program.
When a program says it checked your insurance, that’s not a promise to pay. Uninsured or paying yourself? You can usually get a good faith estimate before care starts.2 A free flight or free rent is a warning sign; paying kickbacks to steer patients to treatment can be a federal crime.3
No valid license, needed medication or written cost means keep looking. Your adult loved one makes the final call, and programs usually need their written consent to update you,4 so raise signing a release before admission day.
Frequently asked questions
Does this checklist work for detox or outpatient?
Yes. Skip the items that don’t apply.
Is there a checklist for the insurance call?
Yes: the insurance call checklist. All our printable family tools are in one place.
Sources
- SAMHSA — Quality Treatment for Mental Health, Drugs and Alcohol (last updated 2023). samhsa.gov/find-support/learn-about-treatment/finding-quality-treatmen… — accessed Oct 2026
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services — No Surprises: Understand your rights against surprise medical bills. cms.gov/newsroom/fact-sheets/no-surprises-understand-your-rights-again… — accessed Oct 2026
- 18 U.S.C. § 220 — Illegal remunerations for referrals to recovery homes, clinical treatment facilities, and laboratories (Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act, 2018). uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=%28title%3A18+section%3A220+edition%3A… — accessed Oct 2026
- eCFR — 42 CFR Part 2, Confidentiality of Substance Use Disorder Patient Records (§§ 2.13, 2.31; current as of September 2026). ecfr.gov/current/title-42/chapter-I/subchapter-A/part-2 — accessed Oct 2026
- SAMHSA, FindTreatment.gov — State Agencies. findtreatment.gov/state-agencies — accessed Oct 2026