SPF Application for Prevention Success Training (SAPST)

Training Description

The SPF Application for Prevention Success Training (SAPST) is a hybrid training that blends a pre-requisite, self-paced online course with four full days of training. Grounded in current research and SAMHSA’s Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF), the SAPST provides foundational knowledge and skills necessary to implement effective, data-driven prevention interventions that improve substance-related outcomes, reduce behavioral health disparities, and improve wellness. (Please note: The course is limited to 28 participants in Alaska on a first come, first-served basis for applicants who meet the required criteria.)

What does the SAPST prepare practitioners to do?

• Address substance misuse prevention in the context of behavioral health
• Improve practice by developing a comprehensive approach to prevention guided by SAMHSA’s Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF)
• Reduce behavioral health disparities by identifying the needs of vulnerable populations and improving cultural proficiency
• Sustain prevention by collaborating effectively across sectors to address shared risk and protective factors and improve the health and well-being of communities in a cohesive way

What does the SAPST cover?

Introduction to Substance Abuse Prevention: Understanding the Basics (HealtheKnowledge.org Pre-SAPST online course)

• Basic terminology and facts
• History of substance use and prevention in the U.S.
• Substances and the brain
• Effects and health risks of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs

Setting the Foundation: From Theory to Practice

• Behavioral health
• Spectrum of Behavioral Health Services
• Public health approach
• Risk and protective factors
• Developmental perspective

Application: SAMHSA's Strategic Prevention Framework

• Assessment, capacity building, planning, implementation, and evaluation
• Health disparities
• Cultural competency, sustainability

*This training is using newly updated SAPST material.

This training has a pre-requisite! 

Completion of the 5-hour HealtheKnowledge.org online course, “Introduction to Substance Abuse Prevention: Understanding the Basics (Pre-SAPST Course),” is required prior to the training. Course certificates of completion must be uploaded upon registration. Certificates will be verified before registration is considered complete.

Date and Time

May 7-10, 2024
8:30 am to 5:00 pm Alaska

Location

Dena’ina Center
600 W. Seventh Avenue
Anchorage, AK 99501

Who Should Participate

This curriculum is designed for entry-level (i.e. less than 5 years experience) substance misuse prevention practitioners working at the community, tribal, jurisdiction, and state-level substance misuse prevention practitioners and allied health partners. Participation is limited to practitioners working in the state, communities, or tribes of Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington.

Master Trainers

Albert Gay, MS, CPS, is a national trainer and consultant in the field of substance use prevention. He has worked with governmental agencies, as well as with Indiana University’s School of Public Health as an Education and Training Specialist and Research Associate with the Prevention Insights.  In this position, he coordinates substance use and HIV prevention strategies and training. Nationally, he has trained the behavioral health workforce, the United States military, and diverse population groups and community coalitions in the Strategic Prevention Framework. Locally, Albert was the coordinator for a Communities That Care coalition; and currently, he is the chair of a county council and a key stakeholder for a city-wide coalition (both of which are Drug-Free Communities Coalitions). Besides prevention, his other areas of interest include youth work, faith-based initiatives, mental health promotion, social justice, cultural competence, historical trauma, organizational development, and strategic planning.

Ben Stevenson II currently serves as the Prevention and Harm Reduction Manager for Montgomery County, MD. He is a seasoned prevention professional who has been in the substance abuse prevention field for over 15 years working with thousands of youth, professionals, and parents in various communities across the country.

Prior to his current role, Ben has served as Training Manager with CADCA (Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America) as well as served as a Training and Technical Assistance Associate with the SAMHSA’s CAPT (Center for the Application of Prevention Technologies) with the Southeast Resource Team working directly with states providing training and technical assistance. He has worked in various capacities across the continuum of care throughout his career working in treatment and recovery in addition to his prevention work.  Ben enjoys developing and facilitating prevention programs for youth and adults. He is very passionate about prevention and its ability to impact communities by promoting healthy lifestyles.

Ben is originally from Winston-Salem, NC and graduated from North Carolina Central University in Durham, NC with a BA in Political Science and minor in History. He also holds a MS in Marriage and Family Therapy from Capella University. Ben was first certified in prevention as a Substance Abuse Prevention Consultant in North Carolina and currently is a Certified Prevention Professional in Maryland. He previously served as the western region representative for MAPPA which is the Maryland Association for Prevention Professionals and Advocates.

Certificate of Attendance

Participants will receive two certificates for training hours:

1) 5 hours upon completion of the online course prior to registration
2) 26 hours upon completion of the training.

Participants must complete and attend the full 31-hour training to receive a certificate. No partial credit will be given. These certificates can be submitted to your respective credentialing authority responsible for providing certification or approving continuing education credit.

Certificate of Attendance will be issued within 30 days following the final day of training. Participants can then submit the certificate to their credentialing authority toward certification or re-certification. Please contact your certification board to determine if the SAPST is applicable toward your certification requirements.

The IC&RC Prevention Committee has endorsed the SAPST as an IC&RC-approved curriculum. This endorsement provides assurance that the SAPST is applicable to IC&RC's prevention specialist domains and can be used toward the education/training requirement for IC&RC's Prevention Specialist credential. The SAPST has also been approved by NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals.

Registration

Deadline to Register: April 30, 2024

Register for SPF Application for Prevention Success Training (SAPST)

Cost is Free!

Questions?

Please contact Holly Simak ([email protected]) for any questions related to registration.  For any other questions, please contact Kathy Gardner ([email protected]).