OUR
MISSION
The Daniel Calazans Foundation (DCF) is an early-stage 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a mission to raise awareness and investigate the interconnection of the mental health and substance abuse crises in the United States.
Only about 10% of people with a substance abuse disorder receive specialty treatment. Furthermore, of the people who struggle with both SUDs and mental illness, fewer than half (48%) receive treatment for either.
9.2 million adults have a substance use disorder and co-occurring mental health or behavioral disorder in the United States.
​
Patients with a dual diagnosis are more likely to treat their mental health disorder by self-medicating, which can be using alcohol or drugs to alleviate the mental health disorder symptoms.
​
Between 70 and 80 percent of individuals with co-occurring mental and substance use disorders did not receive any mental health care or substance abuse treatment in 2021.
One of our goals is to encourage the scientific community and health care providers to conduct more in-depth research into developing integrated solutions for the mental health and substance abuse crisis.
In the United States, only 5% of health care funding goes toward mental health treatment. As a result, the United States has some of the worst mental health-related outcomes, including the highest suicide rate and the second-highest drug-related death rate.
​
Our goal is to decrease the alarming number of preventable "deaths by despair" caused by suicide and substance abuse — including fentanyl poisoning and drug overdose.
