13 Years of Impact: 13 Shatterproof Accomplishments Worth Celebrating
Thirteen years ago, Shatterproof began with a promise.
After losing his son Brian to addiction, Gary Mendell founded Shatterproof in 2013 with a commitment to spare other families from the pain his family experienced. What began as one father’s promise grew into a national organization working to transform addiction care, advance prevention efforts, change public policy and end the stigma surrounding substance use disorder.
Over the past 13 years, that mission has translated into measurable change. Shatterproof has helped advance major federal legislation, driven dozens of state policy changes, improved the way addiction is treated in healthcare and reached millions of Americans with resources and messages that can change and save lives. As part of this year’s anniversary, our Love People Loudly campaign is also inviting supporters to rally their communities by requesting a proclamation from local leaders.
In honor of Shatterproof’s 13th birthday, here are 13 accomplishments that have helped move the country forward.
1. Setting a National Standard for Quality Addiction Treatment
For decades, there was no consistent definition of what high-quality addiction treatment should look like.
Shatterproof helped change that by leading the development of the National Principles of Care, eight science-based principles that recognize substance use disorder as a chronic disease and establish a framework for evidence-based addiction treatment. The principles have helped set a clearer standard for what people and families should be able to expect from care.
2. Making Treatment Quality Easier to Find and Compare
Finding addiction treatment can be overwhelming, and finding quality care can be even harder.
The launch of Shatterproof Treatment Atlas brought greater transparency to the process by creating a public platform for finding and comparing addiction treatment based on quality and services. In 2025 alone, more than 1.2 million people used Treatment Atlas to find care, generating over 1.5 million sessions - a 34% increase from the previous year. Most importantly, 63% of people who engaged with a treatment provider through Treatment Atlas connected with a provider highly aligned with clinical best practices.
3. Transforming Addiction Training for Healthcare Providers
Addiction is a medical condition, yet historically, relatively few healthcare professionals received formal education on how to prevent, diagnose, and treat it.
Shatterproof played a critical role in advancing the MATE Act, which expanded substance use disorder training for healthcare providers, and the MAT Act, which removed a major federal barrier to prescribing buprenorphine for opioid use disorder.
Today, more than 800,000 prescribers have completed training on substance use disorder prevention and treatment, helping make evidence-based care more accessible in healthcare settings across the country.
4. Bringing Addiction Treatment Into Primary Care
For many people, a primary care provider is the first and sometimes only point of contact with the healthcare system.
Shatterproof has helped expand the Collaborative Care Model, an approach that integrates behavioral health treatment into primary care. Since Shatterproof began this work, Medicaid coverage of the model has expanded from 14 to 35 states, helping make integrated care accessible to millions more people.
5. Advancing Landmark Federal Addiction Legislation
Changing the addiction crisis requires changing the systems surrounding it.
Over the past 13 years, Shatterproof has helped advance eight major federal laws addressing prevention, treatment and healthcare. Those victories include the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act, MATE and MAT Acts, the CARES Act and legislation supporting the Collaborative Care Model.
Together, these reforms have expanded the addiction treatment workforce, increased access to evidence-based medications and helped make addiction care a more integrated part of the healthcare system.
6. Taking on “Ghost Networks” in Behavioral Healthcare
An insurance directory may say care is available. Too often, patients discover that the providers listed are unavailable, no longer in-network or impossible to reach.
Shatterproof helped advance the REAL Health Providers Act, enacted in 2026 to address inaccurate provider directories and so-called “ghost networks” in Medicare Advantage. Beginning in 2028, the law will require plans to maintain more accurate, regularly updated provider directories and strengthen protections for patients.
7. Changing Addiction Policy Across the States
National change often begins one state at a time.
By mid-2026, Shatterproof had helped drive 58 policy changes across 31 states, touching nearly every part of the addiction response from prevention and treatment access to accountability and recovery support.
That work has included strengthening mental health resources, expanding naloxone access, advancing Good Samaritan protections, improving prescription drug monitoring programs and removing barriers that can delay treatment when people need it most.
8. Bringing Accountability to Opioid Settlement Spending
Opioid settlements have given states and communities billions of dollars to address the devastation caused by the addiction crisis.
Shatterproof has worked to ensure settlement funds support evidence-based solutions and are accompanied by transparency and accountability. That work has influenced opioid settlement improvements in 9 states including Colorado, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Kentucky, New York, Nevada and Rhode Island.
9. Creating a National Measure of Addiction Stigma
Stigma can keep people from talking about substance use disorder, seeking treatment or supporting a loved one. But reducing stigma first requires understanding it.
First fielded in 2021, the Shatterproof Addiction Stigma Index (SASI) measures public attitudes, beliefs and behaviors related to substance use disorder. It is the nation’s most comprehensive measure of public attitudes about substance use disorder, creating a way to track where stigma persists and whether efforts to reduce it are working.
10. Reducing Addiction Stigma at Scale
Measuring stigma was only the beginning.
Through public education and stigma-reduction campaigns, Shatterproof reached 27.8 million Americans in 2025. Even more importantly, Shatterproof reported a 9% reduction in stigma among audiences exposed to those efforts.
Those numbers represent progress toward something bigger: a country where substance use disorder is understood and treated as a medical condition rather than a source of judgment or shame.
11. Equipping Healthcare Providers to Deliver Better Care
Policy can change what healthcare systems require. Education can change what patients experience.
Through programs such as Provider’s Pathway, Shatterproof has created practical, evidence-based resources that help healthcare professionals better understand substance use disorder, reduce stigma and improve the care they provide.
12. Closing Dangerous Public Health Loopholes
The substance use landscape continues to evolve, and prevention efforts must evolve with it.
Shatterproof helped close the federal loophole that allowed intoxicating hemp products to be sold with limited safeguards, including products easily accessible to young people. We also supported closing the de minimis shipping loophole, which had allowed large numbers of small packages to enter the U.S. with limited inspection and created a pathway for fentanyl and precursor substances.
Both victories demonstrate the role targeted policy can play in reducing exposure and protecting communities before harm occurs.
13. Turning a Mission Into a Movement
The Shatterproof Walk to End Addiction, launched in 2017, brings together people and families to honor loved ones lost to addiction, celebrate recovery and stand alongside those affected by substance use disorder.
Year after year, these gatherings are a reminder that no one affected by addiction should have to face it alone. Registration is now open for the 2026 Shatterproof Walk to End Addiction. Find a Walk near you, or Walk Your Way from wherever you are, and join the movement.
The Work Continues
These 13 accomplishments represent more than milestones. They represent people finding treatment, healthcare providers delivering better care, families gaining trusted information, communities receiving stronger protections and millions of Americans encountering a different message about addiction - one rooted in science, compassion and hope.
We sincerely thank the advocates, families, people with lived experience, healthcare professionals, policymakers, partners, donors and supporters who have made this progress possible.
Thirteen years have shown just how much can change.
And there is still so much more to do.
“Thirteen years of impact have shown what’s possible when people come together to create change. I’m incredibly proud of the progress Shatterproof has made – expanding access to quality care, enacting laws, educating families and communities and reducing stigma, but our work is far from over. Every person impacted by addiction deserves access to care they can trust, the opportunity to recover, and we will keep pushing for the change needed to make that a reality.”
— Pam Jenkins, CEO, Shatterproof
