Wyoming Drug and Alcohol Outpatient Treatment Licensing

Author: A. Ant, CADC-II, Licensing & Accreditation Expert

Disclaimer: This content is provided for general informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal, regulatory, or licensing advice. Requirements change frequently. Consult qualified professionals for guidance specific to your situation.

Apply now: outpatient SUD certification through the BHMS online portal (the gateway for court-ordered and referred clients) | Questions: Behavioral Health Division certification program, wdh-certification@wyo.gov, (307) 777-5253, fax (307) 777-5580

In Wyoming, the moment an outpatient addiction practice comes under state review is usually the first time a judge or probation officer sends someone for an assessment. BHD’s certification page names that exact activity, saying state certification is required of programs that wish to “Provide substance use disorder assessments for court-ordered or referred clients.” Before that point, a counselor seeing private clients in an office answers to a licensing board and to nobody at the Department of Health. After it, the practice needs certification from the Wyoming Department of Health, Behavioral Health Division (BHD), and it either meets the state’s written outpatient standards or proves accreditation instead. In our reading, Wyoming has no facility license for outpatient SUD programs at any stage.

Day programs, IOPs, office buprenorphine and freestanding ketamine practices are the subject here. Residential programs and the accreditation rule for court-ordered residents are in Wyoming Drug and Alcohol Inpatient Treatment Licensing. Outpatient mental health practices, which BHD does not certify at all unless they are state contracted centers, are in Wyoming Mental Health Outpatient Licensing, and the statewide picture is on Wyoming Behavioral Health Licensing.

Where BHD Fits for a Wyoming Outpatient Program

Each row below is drawn from WDH’s own rule printouts, the certification pages and the official statute PDFs. Placing a practice in a row, and our view that no license applies in the first one, is our interpretation.

Wyoming’s facility licensing law doesn’t reach an office practice. W.S. 35-2-901(b) says the health care facility chapter does not apply “to any person providing health care services within the scope of his license in a private office,” and the list of licensed facility types in 35-2-901(a)(x) has no outpatient SUD or mental health clinic. What changes from one row to the next is BHD’s role.

Setup	BHD certification	Standards that apply	State review
Licensed clinicians, private clients, no court referrals	Not required	Board licensure under W.S. 33-38 for each clinician	None found at the program level
Program taking court-ordered or referred clients, not accredited	Required (W.S. 9-2-2701(c))	Chapter 2, Sections 9 to 14 of the BHD rules	Application review, possible on-site inspection
Program taking court-ordered or referred clients, accredited by TJC, CARF or NIAHO	Required	Section 8 standards deemed satisfied (Chapter 2, Section 3(b))	Review plus verification with the accreditor, then accreditor reports to BHD within 30 days when requested

Programs paid with state or Department of Corrections money also need certification, but that money question sits outside the license, and we leave it to others.

Wyoming’s Written Outpatient Standards

For an outpatient program serving court-ordered clients, Chapter 2, Section 2 of the BHD rules lets the provider choose. It can hold national accreditation, or it can meet the state standards in Sections 9 through 14. Those sections cover organization and administration, clinical staff and supervision, case records, general SUD services, intensive outpatient and impaired driving education.

Two of them carry hard numbers. An adult intensive outpatient program must “Consist of nine (9) to nineteen (19) hours per week of structured programming for adults” (Section 13), and impaired driving education runs a minimum of 8 hours (Section 14). Clinical supervision has a floor too. A non-accredited provider’s clinical work is overseen by a qualified clinical supervisor as defined in W.S. 33-38-102(a)(xiii), and “At a minimum, clinical oversight must consist of one (1) contact per month” (Section 10(b)). Programs certified under the state standards place clients by ASAM criteria, and BHD’s checklist shows the ASAM Criteria Fourth Edition for adults in force since July 1, 2026, which brings levels such as 2.5 High-Intensity Outpatient and 2.7 into the BHMS service list.

Which route is cheaper depends on scale. For a single office doing court assessments and a weekly group, the state standards are usually the shorter road in our experience. A program planning several sites, or one that expects to add residential care, gets more from accreditation, because a residence serving court-ordered clients must be accredited anyway.

Office-Based MAT in Wyoming

We found nothing in the BHD rules that obliges an outpatient program to offer medication for opioid use disorder. The rules include a definition of medication assisted treatment and name it among the intervention services, and a certified program without accreditation must keep “documentation of collaboration and attempts to collaborate with the MAT practitioner” in the client record (Chapter 2, Section 11(c)(xv)(E)). A counseling program whose clients get buprenorphine from an outside prescriber should have that contact documented, with releases signed.

Prescribing buprenorphine in the office takes a standard DEA registration. DEA’s registrant letter of January 12, 2023 says so in as many words: “all prescriptions for buprenorphine only require a standard DEA registration number.” A practice that also dispenses on site needs the Wyoming Board of Pharmacy’s controlled substance registration for that location (W.S. 35-7-1024(a)). Opioid treatment programs handle methadone and fall outside this guide, so a client who doses at an OTP needs a release on file and a named contact at that program.

Ketamine as an Office Practice in Wyoming

We searched Wyoming law for a ketamine clinic category and came up empty. What follows on facility licensing, ownership and monitoring is how we read the statutes and FDA labeling cited, and the open questions are marked as open.

A ketamine clinic set up as a physician or APRN office has no Wyoming facility license to obtain in our reading. Nothing on the 35-2-901(a)(x) list fits it, and the private office exemption in 35-2-901(b) covers licensees practicing within their scope. BHD certification doesn’t apply either unless the clinic is also running SUD services for court-referred clients. What remains are registrations tied to each prescriber, each location and the drug itself.

• Federal DEA registration for each prescriber, because ketamine is a Schedule III drug under federal rules (21 CFR 1308.13(c)(7))
• A Wyoming controlled substance registration from the Board of Pharmacy for each practice location, with a July 1 renewal date every second year (W.S. 35-7-1023 and 35-7-1024)
• Use of the state prescription tracking program, which W.S. 35-7-1060(b) requires a prescriber to search before first prescribing a Schedule II to V drug to a patient
• For Spravato, certification of the site in the REMS. The September 2026 FDA labeling says it “can only be administered at healthcare settings certified in the SPRAVATO REMS program,” with monitoring for at least 2 hours after each dose

The statute doesn’t say whether ketamine administered in the office, as opposed to prescribed for home use, must be reported to the tracking program. We left that unresolved, and the Board of Pharmacy is the agency to ask about your dosing model.

Who Can Own It

Wyoming’s professional corporation statute, W.S. 17-3-101 to 17-3-104, requires that “All shareholders of the corporation are, and will continually be, licensed in the profession for which the corporation is formed,” and the name has to end in “P.C.” or “A Professional Corporation.” The Medical Practice Act, as far as our search of it went, contains no corporate practice prohibition. We did not research Wyoming case law on the point, so whether a lay investor may own the clinic outright is unsettled as far as we can tell. Our working model has two companies. The prescriber’s professional corporation employs the clinicians and answers for every treatment decision, and a second company holds the lease, owns the chairs and monitors and charges the practice a set monthly fee. In our reading an APRN can be the owner on the clinical side, since the APRN prescribing definition in W.S. 33-21-120(a)(i)(A) covers all schedules except Schedule I and names no supervising physician. How residential programs fit ketamine in, and the referral cautions between a residence and a clinic, are discussed in the ketamine section of Wyoming Drug and Alcohol Inpatient Treatment Licensing.

Nursing and Patient Selection

The Wyoming State Board of Nursing has no ketamine advisory opinion on its practice page. Its moderate sedation and infusion therapy opinions may touch on infusion clinics, but we haven’t read them, so send protocol questions to wsbn.practice@wyo.gov. On candidates, keep the indications honest. Anesthesia is the only use the Ketalar label approves, so a clinic giving generic ketamine for depression or PTSD is working off label (Spravato, with its own label and REMS, is the exception), and ketamine has no place as an addiction medication. Patients with a dissociative misuse history deserve extra caution.

Who Staffs a Wyoming Outpatient Program

Clinical staff in a Wyoming outpatient program come from the Mental Health Professions Licensing Board’s credentials. W.S. 33-38-102 sets up three addiction tiers: the Licensed Addictions Therapist (LAT), whom the statute does not tie to a supervisor, the Certified Addictions Practitioner (CAP), who works under a qualified clinical supervisor, and the Certified Addictions Practitioner Assistant (CAPA), also supervised. The LAT shares its licensing standard with the LPC, LMFT and LCSW: a graduate degree, a passing exam and 3,000 hours of supervised clinical experience, “including a minimum of one hundred (100) hours of face-to-face individual clinical supervision” (W.S. 33-38-106). A provisional license issued along the way expires 36 months after issuance unless extended.

Pay is close to the national middle. BLS reports a Wyoming median of $62,980 for substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors (OEWS, May 2025), a 25th percentile of $46,300 and a 75th of $80,310. The national median in the same release is $59,350. A lean program with a clinical director and two counselors at the Wyoming median spends about $188,940 a year on clinical wages (3 x $62,980, our estimate), before benefits, a receptionist or a billing contractor. A small Wyoming outpatient program does not need every chair filled by an LAT to open its doors. One LAT clinical director can oversee CAPs, CAPAs and provisionally licensed clinicians still logging their 3,000 hours, and those staff take a lower wage because the supervision moves them toward the next credential. Built that way, a Wyoming outpatient team usually spends 40 to 60 percent less on clinical wages than one made up entirely of independent licensees. Should the program add medication management, an RN leading a few LPNs is less expensive than an all-RN nursing staff. The number of groups you run each week, and the caseload each counselor carries, decide the remaining hires.

When Outpatient Accreditation Pays Off in Wyoming

Accreditation is optional for a Wyoming outpatient SUD program, even one serving court-ordered clients. When a program has it, Chapter 2, Section 3(b) treats the Section 8 standards as met at initial certification and at renewal. Only accreditation from The Joint Commission, CARF or NIAHO counts under Chapter 1, Section 3(a)(xx). The trade is a reporting duty that outlasts the survey. No more than 30 calendar days after they go to the accreditor, an accredited provider gives BHD its survey reports, along with any report it filed on a sentinel event or major unusual incident, as requested by the Department, with proof the accreditor accepted them (Section 4(b)(ii)).

How to Submit Your Wyoming Outpatient Certification Application

New outpatient providers apply in the Behavioral Health Management System (BHMS). BHD’s new provider page and the 08.2026 checklist set out the package. Expect to upload your accreditation status and chosen ASAM services, a local business license or, from the state, an entity document like an LLC’s Certificate of Organization, your program’s own Statement of Disclosure and Release of Information forms, proof of liability coverage, every clinician’s license, and a policy manual written to Chapter 2, Section 9(b). An application has to be finished within 90 calendar days or BHD rejects it, and once it is complete BHD “shall approve or deny a completed application within thirty (30) calendar days after receiving the application.”

We found no certification fee. A new provider gets a provisional six-month certification, and renewal after that runs from six months to three years. Renewals are due at least 30 calendar days before the certification expires. An already certified provider adding a level, such as intensive outpatient, sends the Add a Level of Care Service form with a written request, updated policies and staff licenses to wdh-certification@wyo.gov. Phone questions go to (307) 777-5253. For an outpatient program that already has its policies written, we estimate 1 to 3 months to certification, based on the 30-day decision rule plus document preparation. That figure is ours, not BHD’s.

Outpatient Errors Wyoming’s Rules Punish

The first is taking a court-referred assessment before certification arrives, which W.S. 9-2-2701(c) says a court shouldn’t send in the first place. Another is assuming the BHMS application can sit open while staff are hired, when the 90-day clock will reject it. A third is selling the practice and assuming the certification goes with it. Chapter 2, Section 7 says “A certification is non-transferable,” so a new owner reapplies.

Frequently Asked Questions

Deciding between accreditation and Wyoming’s own outpatient standards? We can talk it through with you.

Sources

• Wyoming Statutes, Title 35 (35-2-901, 35-7-1023, 35-7-1024, 35-7-1060): Title 35, Public Health and Safety (PDF) (checked October 20, 2026)
• Wyoming Statutes, Title 9 (9-2-2701): Title 9, Administration of the Government (PDF) (checked October 20, 2026)
• Wyoming Statutes, Title 33 (33-21-120, 33-38-102, 33-38-106): Title 33, Professions and Occupations (PDF) (checked October 20, 2026)
• Wyoming Statutes, Title 17 (17-3-101 to 17-3-104): Title 17, Corporations (PDF) (checked October 20, 2026)
• WDH Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Services Rules, Chapter 1: General Provisions (PDF) (checked October 20, 2026)
• WDH Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Services Rules, Chapter 2: Behavioral Health Service Provider Certification (PDF) (checked October 20, 2026)
• WDH Behavioral Health Division: Behavioral Health Division home (checked October 20, 2026)
• WDH Behavioral Health Division: Provider Certification (checked October 20, 2026)
• WDH Behavioral Health Division: New Provider Certification (checked October 20, 2026)
• WDH Behavioral Health Division: New Provider Certification Application Checklist, 08.2026 (PDF) (checked October 20, 2026)
• WDH Behavioral Health Division: MHSA Certification Program Handbook, March 2026 (PDF) (checked October 20, 2026)
• Wyoming Mental Health Professions Licensing Board: Board home page (checked October 20, 2026)
• Wyoming State Board of Nursing: Practice and advisory opinions (checked October 20, 2026)
• DEA Diversion Control Division: Dear Registrant letter, January 12, 2023 (PDF) (checked October 20, 2026)
• 21 CFR 1308.13(c)(7), via Cornell LII: Schedule III, ketamine (checked October 20, 2026)
• U.S. FDA: SPRAVATO prescribing information, REMS and monitoring (PDF) (checked October 20, 2026)
• U.S. FDA: KETALAR prescribing information, indications (PDF) (checked October 20, 2026)
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS May 2025, SOC 21-1018: Wyoming estimates (checked October 20, 2026)
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS May 2025, SOC 21-1018: National estimates (checked October 20, 2026)