In July 2000, the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS), in partnership with the Alaska Mental Health Board and the Advisory Board on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, embarked on a project to identify problems and barriers associated with improving care to persons with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorder diagnoses. Although delivery of treatment services to this special population has long been a problem, there was a renewed and heightened emphasis placed on the issue beginning in 1999. For the current project, the DHSS Commissioner convened a steering committee to investigate issues related to delivery of services to persons with co-occurring disorders and to make recommendations for improving services.