October 28, 2026 Field Brief

Today's Field Brief shares updates and reminders for service providers reporting data for the State Opioid and Stimulant Response grant (SOS). The grant is funded by the Ohio Department of Behavioral Health (DBH) through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and evaluated by the Ohio Colleges of Medicine Government Resource Center (GRC). Data is collected with SAMHSA’s Unified Performance Reporting Tools (SUPRT) and entered in the DBH iPortal application.

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Thank you to everyone who submitted their Quarter 4 reports in October.

It is never too early to start preparing for the next upcoming quarterly reporting period. SOS 4.0 Year 3 Quarterly Reporting for Q1 will open December 14, 2026, and close January 11, 2027.  

• All organizations directly funded by DBH are required to submit quarterly data.
• For Q1, this includes the SOR/TOR and SOR/TOR Sub-Recipient Expenditure Report.
• As a reminder, the SOR/TOR Sub-Recipient Expenditure Report is a financial report for the previous Federal Fiscal Year (FFY26), September 30, 2025 – September 29, 2026. All organizations directly funded by DBH in SOS 4.0 Year 2 (FFY26) must complete this expenditure report, even if the organization is no longer funded in SOS 4.0 Year 3.

Continue checking the SOS Quarterly Reporting | Ohio SOS Evaluation page as updated resources and registration for the Quarterly Reporting Question and Answer Sessions will be posted throughout the month of November.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) from DBH on SOS Data and Closeout

Question: Do I need to close SUPRT Assessments for clients at the end of the Year 2 grant?

Answer: No. If your agency will receive funding for Year 3 of the SOS Grant, you do not need to close out clients who are still receiving services. Only complete a close out for a SUPRT Assessment if a client is no longer receiving services.
 

Question: Do clients receiving services need to be updated for Year 3 in the iPortal?

Answer: Only update clients if they are no longer receiving services, or if your agency will not receive SOS 4.0 Year 3 funding. If your agency is not funded for Year 3, please close out clients in the iPortal within 30 days of the end of the grant year.

Next Steps

Below are next steps based on this closeout guidance:

• Monitor clients for closeout throughout the grant period and enter a closeout record whenever a client completes services or becomes inactive.
• If your organization will receive Year 3 SOS funding: Leave clients active if they will continue receiving SOS-funded services. Continue collecting data according to each client’s existing assessment schedule. Keeping eligible clients active helps minimize additional assessments for both clients and organizations.
• If your organization will not receive Year 3 SOS funding: Close out clients in iPortal within 30 days of the end of the grant year.

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Program Funding Type Message Boxes

When creating a SUPRT-A baseline assessment in iPortal, it is critical that the correct program funding type is selected to ensure accurate reporting. When a collector selects “Local Board Project” or “Community Organization”, new pop-ups provide additional information to ensure they select the correct option. If you are unsure which option to select, please check with your supervisor, board, or DBH to verify the correct program funding type.

Reminder: SUPRT-A Baseline Determines Open Window for Six-Month and Annual Assessments

The SUPRT-A baseline data collection date determines the valid windows for collecting and entering SUPRT-A and SUPRT-C 6-month and annual assessments. Even if a SUPRT-C baseline is collected on a different day, the SUPRT-C 6-month and annual assessment open windows are determined by the SUPRT-A baseline date determines the open window for collecting all future assessments. iPortal was recently updated to consistently reflect this SAMHSA requirement. To check the open window for your client’s upcoming assessments, the SOS Evaluation website contains a date calculator where the SUPRT-A baseline date can be entered and it automatically calculates the valid open window. Additionally, clients in their valid window will appear on the dashboard of iPortal so be sure to monitor this and take action when assessments are due. 

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Annual Training Requirement

With the start of the new fiscal year, all SUPRT data collectors and data entry staff must complete the annual two-part SUPRT training series. Registration and completion of both the SUPRT Data Collection and SUPRT Data Entry trainings are required:

• SUPRT Data Collection – Overview of the SAMHSA Unified Performance Reporting Tool (SUPRT), presented by Dr. Margaret Baughman. Duration: 90-minute training with an optional additional 30-minute Q&A.
• SUPRT Data Entry – Training on entering SUPRT assessments into the DBH iPortal, presented by GRC staff. Duration: 60 minutes.

Training dates for November and December are now available. Staff must register separately for each training. Please visit the Training Events | Ohio SOS Evaluation page to register.

Optional Training for Managers

New and existing managers may register for the Awardees and Supervisor Training. This optional training reviews all SOS data collection and reporting requirements, including SUPRT and quarterly reporting, and clarifies evaluation roles and responsibilities. Duration: 60 minutes.

The Awardee and Supervisor Training is listed near the bottom of the same Training Events | Ohio SOS Evaluation page to register. 

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Stay in Touch

To stay up to date on implementing the new SUPRT tool, all SOS 4.0 grantees should:

1. Add the SOSEval@osumc.edu email address to your contacts.
2. Bookmark and check the SOS evaluation website: OhioSOSEvaluation.org.
3. Share the sign-up form for the news brief to stay up to date on SOS news.

Please reach out with any data collection questions to SOSEval@osumc.edu.