SAMHSA’s quality guidance supports asking about licensing, accreditation, evidence-supported care, medications when clinically appropriate, family involvement, and continuing-care planning. Ask: “Which care approaches are used, who is qualified to deliver them, and how do you decide whether they fit an individual?” If medication may be relevant, ask who evaluates it, who monitors it, and how coordination occurs. The question does not assume that a particular medication or professional is available.
Family involvement also requires specificity. Ask whether involvement is considered, who decides whether it is appropriate, what consent is needed, and which staff role facilitates it. For continuing-care planning, ask when planning begins, who owns the task, what information is given to the next provider with consent, and how unresolved needs are documented. These questions evaluate process without assuming a particular service, schedule, or result.
- Ask for the name of the care approach and the qualification required to provide it.
- Ask how the facility checks that staff remain within scope and receive needed supervision.
- Treat accreditation, if claimed, as one data point to verify, not as a substitute for role-specific answers.