Arkansas Drug and Alcohol Outpatient Licensing

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

Apply now: OADAP Licensure Standards & Application | Questions: (501) 686-9164

Arkansas Drug and Alcohol Outpatient Licensing: OADAP Requirements

Outpatient substance abuse treatment programs in Arkansas fall under the same OADAP authority that governs residential programs, A.C.A. § 20-64-901 et seq. and the licensure standards filed as 016.23.10 Ark. Code R. 003, which appear to have carried over into the Code of Arkansas Rules as Title 20, Part 433 (our reading of the new numbering, not yet matched line by line), but there’s a distinction specific to outpatient programs that catches people off guard.

Licensed treatment and DUI/DWI education are not the same thing

A program licensed by OADAP to provide alcohol and other drug abuse treatment is not automatically authorized to provide educational services to DUI or DWI offenders. That’s a separate function entirely. To offer it, a program has to be a contracted OADAP alcohol education program on top of its treatment licensure. Assuming an SUD treatment license covers court-ordered DUI education classes, only to find out it doesn’t, creates a real problem when referral sources are counting on that service being covered.

Licensure isn’t a one-time approval

OADAP licenses run for one year or three years, and the longer term isn’t handed out by default, it depends on demonstrated compliance with the applicable standards across the board. A program with a clean history and consistent documentation is in a better position for the three-year license; one with findings or gaps should expect the shorter renewal cycle and more frequent review.

Accreditation can fast-track your licensure

Arkansas operators often treat state licensure and accreditation as two separate hurdles to clear one after the other. OADAP’s own standards say otherwise: a program that meets CARF, Joint Commission, or Council on Accreditation standards is entitled to automatic OADAP licensure, once you present that accreditation and OADAP verifies you also meet a specific set of areas its own standards cover beyond what accreditation checks. Read the statute next to the standards, though. A.C.A. § 20-64-903(c) lists only CARF International and the Council on Accreditation, so if your award is from the Joint Commission, ask DHS whether it counts. It’s a real, faster path, not permission to open before either credential is in hand. This pathway doesn’t extend to opioid treatment programs; OTPs still need separate OADAP licensure regardless of accreditation.

Medication-assisted treatment

Outpatient SUD programs in Arkansas should have a genuine pathway to medication-assisted treatment for clients who need it: buprenorphine, naltrexone, or coordination with a certified opioid treatment program for methadone access. This doesn’t mean every outpatient program needs to dispense medication on-site, but it does mean having a working relationship with a prescriber who can actually get a client started without weeks of delay, not a name on a referral list nobody follows up on.

How to Submit Your OADAP Application

OADAP’s Licensure Standards for Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Treatment Programs manual includes the Application for Licensure as part of the same document, and covers outpatient programs under the same process as residential ones. The standards still carry the OADAP name, but A.C.A. § 20-64-903 assigns licensure to DAABHS today. Applications and related correspondence go to the Division of Aging, Adult, and Behavioral Health Services at P.O. Box 1437, Slot W241, Little Rock, AR 72203-1437, or by phone at (501) 686-9164. A related behavioral health agency application pathway, administered through the Division of Provider Services and Quality Assurance, uses DPSQA.ProviderApplications@dhs.arkansas.gov for electronic submission, worth confirming with DAABHS which pathway applies to your specific program structure.

Opening an Arkansas Ketamine Clinic Next to an Outpatient Program

Built from Arkansas’s corporate statutes, a December 2025 Arkansas State Board of Nursing paper on practice ownership and OADAP’s standards. Ownership rules here have real gaps, so treat this as a starting map for an Arkansas healthcare attorney.

Nothing in Arkansas law prohibits a stand-alone ketamine clinic. OADAP licenses alcohol and drug treatment programs, and a clinic giving ketamine for depression isn’t one, so an outpatient SUD provider that wants ketamine usually sets it up as a separate medical practice. Running ketamine inside the OADAP-licensed program instead is a major programmatic change, which standard AO1 says needs 30 days’ written notice to OADAP (criminal justice programs also need approval under CJS5), plus a contracted medical doctor under MD6 before any prescription stock is kept.

Who Can Own the Clinic

Arkansas draws ownership narrowly. The Medical Corporation Act requires every officer, director and shareholder of a medical corporation to hold a license under the Arkansas Medical Practices Act (A.C.A. § 4-29-307), and a professional LLC that practices medicine has to obtain a certificate of registration from the Arkansas State Medical Board before registering (A.C.A. § 4-38-1202, which the nursing board’s December 2025 paper says now appears as § 4-38-1203). In practice that means physicians, and arguably physician assistants, on the clinical side. A lay investor’s stake sits in a management services organization that leases the space, owns the equipment and runs billing under a fair-market-value management agreement, while the physician entity holds the DEA registration and every clinical decision.

APRN ownership is the open question. The nursing board’s December 2025 paper on ownership of medical practices points out that the corporate statutes speak only of Medical Practices Act licensees, yet the Nurse Practice Act contains no ban on APRN-owned entities, a gap that has let APRN-owned practices spread. An APRN holding a certificate of full independent practice authority can plausibly own a ketamine clinic, but that structure deserves a legal opinion before a lease is signed.

Operating Details That Matter in Arkansas

Because the nursing board’s sedation position statement doesn’t mention psychiatric ketamine, the conservative staffing pattern is a prescribing physician or APRN in the room managing each infusion while a nurse monitors. That choice limits capacity more than chair count does. A clinic sharing a building with an OADAP outpatient program needs separate records, a separate locked ketamine supply under its own DEA registration, and written client consent under 42 CFR Part 2 before addiction treatment information crosses over from the counseling side. Arkansas doesn’t list a dedicated facility license for an office-based infusion clinic, but a call to the Arkansas Department of Health to confirm that for a specific site is worth making before opening.

Where This Fits In

This covers outpatient licensing specifically. For the full Arkansas picture, see Arkansas Behavioral Health Licensing.

Correction (October 2026): This guide previously said OADAP sits inside OSAMH and that standard CJS5 governs every program’s major changes. The statute now places licensure with DAABHS, and CJS5 is limited to criminal justice programs; AO1’s 30-day notice is the general rule.

This content is provided for general informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical, clinical, legal, financial, tax, accounting, insurance, licensing, accreditation, regulatory, billing, employment, or compliance advice. Requirements change often. Consult qualified professionals for guidance specific to your situation.

Sorting out whether your outpatient program needs a separate DUI/DWI education contract?

Sources

• Arkansas Code, A.C.A. 20-64-903: Licensing authority, exemptions and accreditation (Justia mirror) (checked October 8, 2026)
• Arkansas Code, A.C.A. 20-64-904: Licenses and fees (Justia mirror) (checked October 8, 2026)
• Arkansas DHS, Rule 016.23.10-003: Licensure Standards for Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Treatment Programs, rule listing (Cornell LII) (checked October 8, 2026)
• Arkansas DHS: Licensure Standards, revised 1/1/2020 (DUI/DWI education limit, one-year and three-year licenses, AO1, CJS5, MD6) (checked October 8, 2026)
• Arkansas State Board of Nursing: Ownership of Medical Practices in Arkansas (12/2025) (checked October 8, 2026)
• Arkansas Code, A.C.A. 4-38-1202: Certificate of registration for LLCs practicing medicine (FindLaw mirror) (checked October 8, 2026)