Verified October 10, 2026 against the statutes, regulations and sources cited below. The state decides every application. All states
What operators miss in Montana
- Plans for building, altering or adding to a health care facility go to DPHHS for preliminary approval before construction starts.
- Montana law asks an applicant for treatment facility approval to show a local need for the proposed services.
Does Montana license behavioral health and addiction treatment programs?
Montana counts substance use disorder facilities and mental health centers as health care facilities, and no one may operate a health care facility without a DPHHS license. Licenses run one to three years and cannot be sold, assigned or transferred. A separate DPHHS "state approval" is needed for SUD facility services to be reimbursed.
- Separate SUD and mental health licenses
- Health care facility license (substance use disorder facility or mental health center)
- Issued by Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS)
Citation: Mont. Code Ann. 50-5-101, 50-5-201; ARM 37.27.106
How does Montana license each level of care?
An SUD facility seeking state approval must be licensed for each level of care named in its application.
- Outpatient: A licensed mental health center must provide crisis telephone services, medication management, outpatient therapy, community-based psychiatric rehabilitation and support, and chemical dependency services.
- IOP and PHP: Adult and youth day treatment are optional endorsements recorded on a mental health center license.
Citation: ARM 37.106.1906; ARM 37.27.106
What does Montana require for owners, sales and moves?
- Ownership change or relocation: A license is valid only for the person and premises named; on a transfer of ownership the old license is returned or destroyed.
Citation: Mont. Code Ann. 50-5-201(2)-(3)
What does an opioid treatment program need in Montana?
Montana law requires a facility applying for state approval as a treatment facility to show that a local need currently exists for the proposed services. How this applies to a new OTP was not confirmed.
- State opioid treatment authority: Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities Division (Helena)
- 3 opioid treatment programs in 2024 (N-SUMHSS)
Citation: Mont. Code Ann. 53-24-208(2)
How does Montana treat recovery residences?
- NARR affiliate: Recovery Access Montana
What does Montana Medicaid add?
Medicaid pays SUD facility-based services only to a facility that holds both a DPHHS license and DPHHS state approval; DPHHS inspects approved facilities every two years.
- Montana DPHHS
Opening or expanding a program in Montana?
We confirm what Montana requires for your services and levels of care, prepare the application and every attachment for your owner or officer to sign, and track it to a decision. An outpatient program license is $1,995 per site. Every fee is flat and never depends on admissions or census.