About Pacific Shores

Pacific Shores is a reported directory of addiction treatment — not a marketing front. We cover programs, insurance options, and the uncomfortable parts of recovery the way a health desk covers medicine: with citations, updated facts, and named editors.

Why this exists

The addiction directory space is crowded with sites that look neutral but operate on referral commissions. A family in crisis can spend hours on what appears to be a listing service, only to discover they've been routed to whichever facility paid the highest fee. That's not what we do. The 21,568 facilities in our database come directly from the federal Behavioral Health Treatment Services Locator (SAMHSA), the same public source used by 211 helplines and hospital case managers. We don't accept payment from any listed provider to change placement, ranking, or review content.

How we verify what's on the page

Each facility listing pulls from SAMHSA's N-SSATS survey, re-verified quarterly. License numbers link to state regulators where possible. Insurance-acceptance data cross-references the facility's current SAMHSA filing with state Medicaid directories — if the two disagree, we flag "verification needed" rather than guess. Our editorial team reads each of the editorial guides before publishing; we don't run machine-generated clinical content.

The reporting standard

Every recovery guide, insurance explainer, and state directory piece is anchored to at least three independent sources: federal agency publications (SAMHSA, NIDA, CMS), peer-reviewed research (NEJM, JSAT, Addiction journal), and state-level regulatory filings. When reporting on treatment approaches — MAT, CBT, 12-step, harm reduction — we present what the evidence currently shows, including where the evidence is contested. We don't take a side between modalities because the clinical literature doesn't.

What we publish, and what we don't

• We publish: facility profiles, level-of-care explainers, insurance navigation guides, state and city directories, cost estimations, regulatory updates (ACA, 42 CFR Part 2, parity law).
• We don't publish: affiliate-paid "best rehab" lists, anonymous testimonials we can't verify, clinical claims that aren't substantiated in peer-reviewed medicine, alarmist marketing framed as news.

Corrections and updates

When we find an error — outdated phone number, a facility that's closed, a license change — we correct the listing and log the change with a timestamp. Our directory is updated quarterly at minimum; the "last verified" date at the bottom of each facility page is authoritative.

Get in touch

Editorial feedback, correction requests, and treatment-facility information updates: use the contact form. We read every message. For an emergency requiring immediate help, call 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline) or the SAMHSA helpline at 1-800-662-HELP. See our editorial policy for the full methodology.