SAMHSA convenes panels of clinical, research, and administrative experts to produce the content of TIPs, which are distributed to public and private substance abuse treatment facilities and individuals throughout the United States and its territories.
TIPs also deal with administrative and programmatic issues such as funding, inter-agency collaboration, training, accreditation, and workforce development.
Some TIPs also cover ancillary topics that tend to be associated with substance abuse treatment, such as co-occurring mental health problems, criminal justice issues, housing, and primary care.
SAMHSA also makes newer TIPs available for download in Portable Document Format (PDF), or accessible online through the National Library of Medicine.
Although TIPs frequently show up on internet auction sites and through used book sellers for varying costs, they are intended to be available for free to the public.