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.

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.

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