Aligning Substance Use
Disorder Metrics


The Long-Range Planning (LRP) team is working with the Office of Addiction & Recovery (OAR) and Results Management to convene a data-focused interagency working group of data and evaluation experts.

Project goals

  1. Develop an understanding of what SUD measures are currently collected within and across state agencies
  2. Identify opportunities to improve and align ongoing measurement across key state agency partners.
  3. Support the Subcabinet in creating a measurement framework to assess progress on meeting the strategies and priorities of the interagency state substance use plan.

Project Overview

In 2025, the Minnesota Legislature directed the Opioids, Substance Use, and Addiction Subcabinet to lead creation of an Interagency State Substance Use Plan. To support this effort, the LRP team has convened a cross-agency workgroup of subject matter experts in SUD measurement to support this project. From September 2025 through April 2026, the workgroup completed Phase 1 of this effort. The deliverables created were:

  • A key measure catalog that outlines the important SUD-related measures that are currently collected to assess performance, outcomes, and impacts of SUD programs and policies.
  • A data inventory that outline data ownership, storage, and use.
  • A Tool User Guide to govern updates and maintenance of the key measure catalog and data inventory.

Once this work is completed, the workgroup will use these newly developed tools to look for opportunities to align measurement across multiple state agencies. This work will be aligned with the priorities and goals that are developed as part of the interagency state plan development led by OAR. Together, the workgroup will create:

  • A set of recommendations for the Subcabinet to consider including in the final interagency state plan.
  • A data implementation framework outlining some of the resources, staffing, infrastructure, and data governance needed to implement recommendations.