October is National Youth Substance Use Prevention Month


This October, we honor all those who champion evidence-based youth substance use prevention and recommit ourselves to ensuring that all Americans have the skills, knowledge, and resources to live full and healthy lives. The New England PTTC encourages prevention efforts this month and all year long. We're featuring these tools and events in honor of National Youth Substance Use Prevention Month.


Featured New England PTTC Events: 

• REGISTRATION OPEN: Recovery & Resiliency with Real Students (HHS Region 1) scheduled October 20, 2021, from  11:00 am to 12:30 pm. Learn more and register.
   

• Prevention Domain Video Series Panel and Product Launch (HHS Region 1) scheduled for October 1, 2021, from 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm. Learn more and register.

• Prevention in Action: Cultivating Youth Mattering (HHS Region 1) scheduled October 7, 2021, from Noon – 1:30 pm
. Learn more and register.

Featured New England PTTC Tools:

• Prevention Domain Video Series: What Do Prevention Specialists Do?
 Learn more and watch the videos. 

• In the Air, Graphic Medicine Implementation Guide - A facilitator who implements In the Air as a curriculum should have training on fostering conversation around the content of the story. The story is designed to offer many inroads of conversation, some more subtle than others, over a variety of topics, including substance misuse, dating and dating violence, change, grief, puberty, decision making, social pressures, choice and consequences, family values, and more. View the Graphic Medicine Implementation Guide.
• Request a full version of the graphic medicine novel at
 https://pttcnetwork.org/centers/new-england-pttc/product/air-graphic-medicine-download-preview-request-full-version-paper

Highlighted Prevention Campaigns and Resources:

• The Mountain Plains PTTC has put together resources specific for substance misuse prevention among youth. View related PTTC Resources.

• Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) -  Talk. They Hear You. substance use prevention campaign that helps parents and caregivers start talking to their children early about the dangers of alcohol and other drugs. Learn more.

• The SAMHSA Store houses free publications, apps, and other resources on treatment, prevention, and recovery for mental and substance use disorders. https://store.samhsa.gov/

• Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) - One Pill Can Kill Public Safety Alert - Fake prescription pills are widely accessible and often sold on social media & e-commerce platforms – making them available to anyone with a smartphone, including minors. Learn more and download the fact sheet.

• National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) - Lessons from Prevention Research DrugFacts. Learn more.

• Connecticut Clearinghouse - Offers a variety of resources and fact sheets on prevention. View resources. 

• National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) - Has compiled a list of helpful resources for parents and caregivers, children and teens, mental health providers, child welfare workers, law enforcement professionals, educators and school staff, and policy makers.  View and download resources.

A Proclamation on National Youth Substance Use Prevention Month, 2021

Far too many families across our Nation have been impacted by addiction and the overdose epidemic.  In 2020, more than 93,000 people died from an overdose — 93,000 families forced to bury a piece of their souls.  The impact of this crisis echoes in communities across the Nation, in the empty chairs in classrooms and around kitchen tables.  During National Youth Substance Use Prevention Month, we reaffirm our commitment to helping America’s youth overcome this epidemic and lead healthy, fulfilling lives. 

Read President Biden's full proclamation.