Teen & young adult opioid use disorder treatment
Information for healthcare providers
This page is designed for healthcare professionals—including prescribers, nurses, care navigators, and behavioral health providers—who support adolescents and young adults with substance use disorders (SUDs), especially those with opioid use disorder (OUD).
Treating youth with OUD can be complex, but it is doable. Here, you’ll find clinical guidance, implementation tools, and family engagement resources to help you feel more confident and connected in your practice.
Why this matters
The use of medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) is an evidence-based treatment proven to support recovery in youth with OUD. However many adolescents with OUD are never offered medications. This page is here to help you change that by providing information about how to make MOUD available for young people with OUD.
Clinical guidance & treatment overviews
These resources provide foundational knowledge and offer evidence-based recommendations to help you initiate and sustain MOUD for youth in your care setting:
- Fact Sheet: Medications for Opioid Use Disorder for Youth (WA HCA & UW ADAI, 2024)
- Understanding and Supporting Adolescents with an Opioid Use Disorder (Peavy & Banta-Green, 2021)
- Video: Caring for Youth with Opioid Use Disorder – Sarah Bagley, MD (2021)
Evidence for MOUD
Medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) are backed by robust research and endorsed by leading medical authorities. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) emphasizes that MOUD should be readily accessible to all adolescents with OUD. Making MOUD available for OUD care among adolescents is essential.
Resources
- Resources to Address the Opioid Epidemic – American Academy of Pediatrics (2025)
- Medication for Adolescents and Young Adults with Opioid Use Disorder – Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine (2021)
- Characteristics and Receipt of Medication Treatment Among Young Adults Who Experience a Nonfatal Opioid-Related Overdose – Bagley et al. 2020 (Annals of Emergency Medicine)
- Video: Evidence for MOUD in adolescents – Alexis Ball, MD (2025)
Implementation support
This section includes resources to help you feel confident and prepared to provide MOUD to youth.
For additional tools, including sample documentation templates, program guidance, and clinical pearls: Request Toolkit of Clinical Resources for Adolescent OUD Care.
- Visit ScalaNW for more clinical guidelines
- SMART Recovery Support Groups: A 12-step style program that some people like to attend
- Washington Partnership Access Line: (866) 599-7257 (Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. PST) . Psychiatry consultation for primary care providers in WA.
- Washington Friends for Life campaign
- Never Use Alone Hotline: (800) 484-3731 or (888) 696-1996
- Washington Recovery Help Line: (866) 789-1511
- Crisis Connections 24-Hour Crisis Line: (866) 427-4747
- Washington Telebuprenorphine Hotline: (206) 289-0287
- Washington Recovery Help Line: MOUD Locator & (866) 789-1511
Family engagement
Families and friends are essential partners in youth SUD care. These tools are designed to help you support family, friends, and others with clear, compassionate communication about MOUD, safety, and connection.
Resources
- Talking about OUD with friends, family, and & concerned significant others: A companion resource to UW ADAI’s Guide for Family and Friends to Support Youth Using Opioids; includes talking points and sample questions to support conversations with parents, friends, and others.
- Video: CRAFT and Adolescent OUD – Lara Okoloko, MSW (2025)
- Refer family, friends, and other concerned significant others to counseling or peer support:
- Community Reinforcement and Family Treatment (CRAFT) is a type of therapy/support for loved ones who are using substances
- SMART Recovery Family & Friends – Peer support meetings for families
