Documents
2024 Region 6 Training and Technical Assistance Needs Assessment Results
By Nicole Schoenborn, SSW PTTC Evaluator
Each year, the South Southwest Prevention Technology Transfer Center (SSWPTTC) conducts a training and technical assistance (T/TA) needs assessment to help us capture the training needs of the field and inform our overall process for creating the work plan for the region. Our first needs assessment was developed during the COVID-19 pandemic as we saw emerging T/TA needs in the workforce. After 6 years, it has expanded into a comprehensive assessment of needs across the Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF), with additional sections around onboarding, health equity, and data literacy.
In the past year, the needs assessment informed live events such as the Unraveling Connections: Social Determinants of Health and Substance Misuse Prevention and the Alcohol, Equity, and Social Justice: Breaking the Silence. Services in the South Southwest region had a stronger emphasis last year on building the capacity of substance misuse prevention professionals to address gaps in prevention with services for underserved communities. Themes that have strongly surfaced for next year’s services continue to address Social Determinants of Health, underserved communities, and cultural humility and responsiveness. In addition, evaluating programs and communicating data using visualization methods will be a focus area for data-related services in this next year of the SSW PTTC.
To view the data and findings, select the links below.
Read more about the SSW PTTC Needs Assessment
Needs Assessment 2024 PowerPoint
Published: December 12, 2025
Multimedia
Explore a comprehensive collection of resources aimed at understanding and addressing the diverse needs of various populations through data-driven insights. Each resource provides practical strategies for prevention and support across different communities.
A Closer Look at Opioid-Related Mortality: A Focus on American Indians and Alaskan Natives
Charting Paths to Prevention: Mapping Social Vulnerability and Alcohol-Related Deaths Lunch and Learn
Emerging Drug Trends in the South Southwest
Fostering the Resilience of Children
Identifying Opioid Misuse Risk and Protective Factors for Hispanic/Latino Populations
Measuring Community Level Trauma
Swimming Upstream with Data, Prevention Data Sources Series, for Military, Rural, and LGBTQ+ Interest Groups
The Syndemic Framework: Enhancing Understanding of the Root Causes of Disease
Women and Alcohol: Drinking to Cope
Youth in the Juvenile Justice System
Published: December 17, 2024
Multimedia
This list of resources provides support for the prevention professional working with a variety of interest groups. Each resource is designed to provide practical and effective strategies for work across diverse communities.
Addressing Rural Health Disparities
Alcohol, Equity, and Social Justice: Breaking the Silence
Alcohol Availability is a Social Justice Issue
Building Resilience in Military Families
Celebrate Love. Celebrate Joy.
Community Trauma and Systemic Intervention Strategies
The Cultural Adaption Continuum
Culture is Prevention: Celebrating Hispanic Latino Heritage Month
Enhancing Cultural Competency to Reduce Health Disparities (scroll down to the epi corner)
Elevate Your Work: Accessibility for Prevention Professionals
Embracing Equity
Next Steps for Building the Resilience of Immigrants, Refugees, and Asylum Seeking individuals through Prevention
Part 1 of 2, Substance Misuse Among Students with Disabilities-Identifying Promising Equitable Approaches
Part 2 of 2, Students with Disabilities, Substance Misuse, and Incarceration-Triangulating the Issues
Promising Approaches for Reducing Substance Misuse-Related Health Disparities in a Rural Context
Reducing Community Trauma, Repairing Communities
Substance Misuse Prevention and Support for Immigrants, Refugees, and Asylum-Seekers in the South Southwest
Substance Misuse Through the Lens of Black History Month
Substance Use Disorders in People with Disabilities
Understanding Stress and Substance Use Among LGBTQ+ Adolescents
Unraveling Connections: Social Determinants of Health and Substance Misuse Prevention
Published: December 17, 2024
Multimedia
Explore resources dedicated to fostering leadership and partnerships in prevention efforts. Each resource is designed to build leaders and strong partnerships, enhancing prevention services across diverse communities.
A Focus on Tribal Behavioral Health Providers: The Need to Advocate for the Wellbeing of Generations
Apps for Veterans and Those Working With Veterans Addressing Trauma
Culture is Community
Humility, Respect, Understanding, and Inclusion: Working with Indigenous Peoples
Mental Health Care For All: Let's Make It A Reality
Mobilizing Marginalized Communities to Prevent Substance Misuse
Part 2 of 3 Supporting Youth and Building Leadership in Prevention: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Part 3 of 3 Youth and Prevention: Building Authentic Youth and Adult Partnerships
Published: December 17, 2024
eNewsletter or Blog
In this Issue
Enhancing the Collaborative Efforts of Communities to Address Homelessness
Epi Corner:Adolescent Health Literacy and Substance Use
What's Happening Around the Region?
What's New at SAMHSA?
Published: November 21, 2024
eNewsletter or Blog
In this Issue
Navigating the Green Wave and Protecting Youth in the South Southwest Region
Additional Resources on Youth Substance Use Prevention
Epi Corner: Implicit Bias and Algorithms Generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI)
What's Happening Around the Region?
Webinar: Reducing Youth Substance Misuse by Implementing Mental Health initiatives
New from SAMHSA
Substance Use Prevention Month: Telling the Prevention Story
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month
Published: October 17, 2024
Multimedia
Description:
This two-hour training explores Harm Reduction strategies, or interventions aimed at reducing negative consequences related to substance use or other risk behaviors. Session reviews misunderstandings and barriers to helping people who actively use substances and informs on the 8 principles of harm reduction and how they apply in behavioral health."
Presenter:
Diana Padilla, MCPC, CARC, CASAC-T, is a Research Project Manager at New York State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University Medical Center. She is a senior staff trainer for the Northeast & Caribbean Addiction Transfer Technology Center Network (NeC-ATTC), and a member of the ASAP-NYCB Trainer Registry. As a cultural agent, Ms. Padilla promotes an equity lens in trainings for engaging diverse communities in need, aligning with evidence and strength-based strategies within behavioral health, addiction, prevention, and recovery supports fields and professional capacities.
Published: September 9, 2024
Multimedia
Equity in Action: Crafting Inclusive Prevention Communication
How to incorporate racial and cultural equity into prevention messaging, training, and other communication.
This interactive skill-building workshop will explore the use of culture in Substance Use Disorder (SUD) prevention communications. We will explore how the enhanced National Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) Standard – Communication and Language Assistance provides guidance on improving:
Trust Among Various Populations
Participant Comfort and Satisfaction
Program Effectiveness
Positive Participant Outcomes
Supplemental Resources:
Presentation Slides
Resource Handout
Learning Objectives:
Review Cultural Humility.
Explore the enhanced National Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) Standard – Communication and Language Assistance.
Learn how to incorporate racial and cultural equity into prevention messaging, training, and other communication.
Practice methods to incorporate racial and cultural equity into prevention messaging, training, and other communication.
Develop a plan to incorporate racial and cultural equity into prevention messaging, training, and other communication.
Share experiences and learn from others.
About the Workshop:
It is an interactive, educational, and mutual learning session designed to create specialized results and products. This 3-hour workshop is longer than the typical webinar and requires more preparation beforehand.
This workshop will include collaborative activities, allow for time to work on your community’s issues, and participants will work on a process that will generate a product that can be used in their communities.
Participants are urged to participate as a team (at least two members of a program) to ensure that the workshop will lead to the desired result. There are hands-on interactive activities.
Presented by Michael Browning:
Michael Browning, nationally recognized public health and Substance Use Disorder program developer, policy analyst, and trainer, has a passion for constituent-led community advocacy. He has provided support to several governmental agencies by providing alcohol, tobacco, and other drug prevention proven practices in capability building, training, and day-to-day technical assistance to assist the departments in planning, grantee support and technical assistance and community engagement. Including and not limited to: US Federal government, State of California, District of Columbia, Atlanta, County of Los Angeles, Kern County, the County of San Bernardino, and other CA counties. He is a proven grant writer and program developer. He was a senior administrative analyst for the University of California, Berkeley - Institute for the Study of Social Change (now: Institute for the Study of Societal Issues, Prevention by Design). He is currently the Interim president of the Insight Center for Community Economic Development.
Browning was an executive director of a non-profit community coalition and deputy director at another. He has over 35 years of local, state, and national substance use disorder (SUD) prevention and tobacco control and prevention, early intervention and treatment, youth services, community organization, early childhood education, violence prevention, HIV/AIDS, public health, cultural proficiency development, program planning, development and evaluation, public policy advocacy, and strategic planning experience. His former employers include community-based programs in Pasadena, Inglewood, Los Angeles, and Michigan. Browning provided direct support to President Jimmy Carter’s “The Atlanta Project” and the Hilton Foundation’s Project Alert. Browning was a master trainer at CADCA for over 20 years. He is the former president of the Van Nuys Neighborhood Council, member of LAPD’s Van Nuys Division Community Police Advisory Board, health chair of the San Fernando Valley NAACP, and chair of the USC COVID-19 Community Advisory Board. Browning is a graduate of the University of Southern California and was a fellow at Boston University.
Published: August 9, 2024
Online Course
The goal of this 1 hour presentation is to effectively introduce the MY-SBIRT Project and outline the main components & best practices for implementing universal substance use screening for adolescents using the CRAFFT 2.1 + N and Rapid Assessment for Adolescent Preventive Services tools. While this presentation is specific to the screening protocol developed for School-Based Health Centers through the MY-SBIRT Project, the key elements for administering screening, engaging adolescents in motivational interviewing & brief negotiated interview techniques, and best practices for connecting individuals identified as higher risk to appropriate support & treatment can be applied to any clinical environment that serves adolescents.
Published: August 8, 2024
Multimedia
Webinar Description:
As prevention professionals, facilitation in both virtual and face-to-face spaces is an integral part of our work. The ability to convene partners -- whether in meetings, trainings or events – and lead them through collaborative decision-making and other processes is essential to the success of community-based change efforts. This session looked at the art and science of facilitation, the skills needed for successful facilitation and discussed real-world tips and techniques for consensus-building with groups and managing group dynamics.
Session Learning Objectives included:
Describing the facilitation skills prevention practitioners need
Identifying techniques for managing group processes and dynamics
Identifying strategies for handling challenging situations as a facilitation
Presenter Info:
Sandra Puerini Del Sesto, M.Ed, ACPS is a consultant and master trainer in behavioral health
and strategic planning for states and non-profits. For over thirty-five years, Ms. Del Sesto has
provided training throughout the United States in all areas of prevention practice.
Jess Goldberg, MSW, MPH, CPS, is a Training and Technical Assistance Specialist with Education
Development Center. She specializes in building capacity to improve
behavioral health at the national, state, regional and local levels.
Published: August 5, 2024
Multimedia
From Tokenism to Empowerment: Building a Sustainable Youth Coalition
Rikki Barton, MAPS, IC&RC
July 23, 2024, 1:00pm-2:30pm EST
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Effective community prevention work involves youth engagement at all stages of the Strategic Prevention Framework – that is, Assessment, Capacity, Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation. Unintentional tokenism is a barrier to youth reaching their full potential with prevention work; instead, youth can and should be engaged in leadership opportunities, strategic discussions, and solutions to the identified problems. An effective way to engage youth in prevention is to build a youth coalition that empowers them to take the lead for their peers and the community. This interaction session will help you understand the essential nature of youth involvement, how to make prevention work attractive to youth, and practical steps to building a youth coalition.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Understand why youth involvement is essential for substance use prevention work.
Build skills around recruiting, retaining, and appropriately engaging youth in prevention work.
Implement practical steps to building a sustainable youth coalition.
PRESENTERS
Rikki Barton, MAPS, IC&RC, has a passion for communicating essential messages to move individuals and communities onward in their goals. She is the Founder/Lead Consultant of Onward Consulting and holds the Missouri Advanced Prevention Specialist certification as well as international IC&RC certification. Rikki has nearly 15 years of prevention field experience and currently serves as a consultant to assist organizations, coalitions, and state/federal agencies in the areas of substance use prevention, suicide prevention, and mental health promotion. She has extensive experience working with community coalitions, providing training, grant writing, managing funding sources, and leading a team of preventionists. Rikki trains for several national organizations including National Council for Mental Wellbeing, CADCA (youth and adult programs), and the National Coalition Institute. She also volunteers with a human trafficking prevention and awareness coalition, serving on leadership for the last 12 years, with particular focus on empowering youth to stay safe on social media and teaching adults how to protect young people from online grooming. Rikki holds a Bachelors degree from Pennsylvania State University and a Masters degree from Liberty University.
Published: July 23, 2024
eNewsletter or Blog
In this Issue
The Importance of Accessibility: 5 Simple Steps
Resources Highlighting Accessibility and Disabilities
Epi Corner: Social Network Analysis: A Helpful Tool in the Prevention Toolbox
What's Happening Around the Region?
Webinar: Elevate Your Work: Accessibility for Prevention Professionals
Webinar: Reducing Youth Substance Misuse by Implementing Mental Health Initiatives
New From SAMHSA
National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month
Get Involved with National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month - A Toolkit
Published: July 17, 2024
eNewsletter or Blog
In this Issue
Systems Thinking for Prevention Professionals
Epi Corner: Addressing Parental Loss in Children of Overdose Victims
What's Happening Around the Region?
Webinar: Elevate Your Work: Accessibility for Prevention Professionals
Exciting Updates! HealtheKnowledge Online Learning Platform
An Important Announcement from the Blueprints Registry
New Products and Resources from the South Southwest PTTC
New From SAMHSA
Published: June 19, 2024
eNewsletter or Blog
The Great Lakes Current is the e-newsletter of the Great Lakes ATTC, MHTTC, and PTTC.
The June 2024 issue features content celebrating Pride Month, PTSD Awareness Month, and Intersection of Addiction and Racism: A Curated Bibliography‒a new comprehensive resource created by AMERSA, the ATTC NCO, and the PTTC NCO. You will also find links to upcoming trainings focused on the therapeutic benefits of humor in treatment and recovery, prevention efforts in rural communities, and trauma-informed care for transition-age youth.
Make sure you're subscribed to our email contact list so you never miss a month of The Great Lakes Current newsletter, and thank you for reading!
Published: June 6, 2024
eNewsletter or Blog
In this Issue
A Focus on Tribal Behavioral Health Providers: The Need to Advocate for the Wellbeing of Generations
Epi Corner: Building Resilience in Military Families
New! Swimming Upstream with Data: Military Individuals and Families
What's Happening Around the Region?
Webinar: Charting Paths to Prevention: Mapping Social Vulnerability and Alcohol-Related Deaths
Webinar: Principles for Prevention Professionals Across the Spectrum
Free Logic Model Technical Assistance
We're hiring: Data Training and Technical Assistance Specialist
Published: May 16, 2024
eNewsletter or Blog
The Great Lakes Current is the e-newsletter of the Great Lakes ATTC, MHTTC, and PTTC.
The May 2024 issue features content celebrating Mental Health Awareness Month, Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, Hepatitis C Awareness Month, and National Prevention Week. You will also find links to upcoming trainings focused on the therapeutic benefits of humor in treatment and recovery, prevention efforts in rural communities, and trauma-informed care for transition-age youth.
Make sure you're subscribed to our email contact list so you never miss a month of The Great Lakes Current newsletter, and thank you for reading!
Published: May 10, 2024
eNewsletter or Blog
The Great Lakes Current is the e-newsletter of the Great Lakes ATTC, MHTTC, and PTTC.
The April 2024 issue spotlights content celebrating National Minority Health Month and Alcohol Awareness Month. It also features links to upcoming trainings focused on supporting Black students experiencing racial trauma, harnessing AI for substance misuse prevention, and process improvement.
Make sure you're subscribed to our email contact list so you never miss a month of The Great Lakes Current newsletter, and thank you for reading!
Published: April 12, 2024
eNewsletter or Blog
The Great Lakes Current is the e-newsletter of the Great Lakes ATTC, MHTTC, and PTTC.
The March 2024 issue spotlights content celebrating Women's History Month and National Social Work Month. It also features updated versions of the Sustainability Planning in Prevention Guidebook and Sustainability Planning in Prevention Toolkit, as well as upcoming trainings focused on provider well-being and culturally responsive services for Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) clients. As always, you will also find links to all scheduled events and trainings hosted by the Great Lakes ATTC, MHTTC, and PTTC!
Make sure you're subscribed to our email contact list so you never miss a month of The Great Lakes Current newsletter, and thank you for reading!
Published: March 18, 2024
Multimedia
The Fundamentals of Understanding and Using Data in Prevention
Part 3: DIY Data for Prevention Professionals
Jamie Comstock, MURP, PS-C, and Robin Carr, PS-C
February 29, 2024, 11:00am-12:30pm EST
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Looking for tips and tricks on how to present your data in a way that catches people’s attention and is easily understood? Don’t miss this opportunity to learn about the Five C’s of Data: Chart, Color, Context, Clutter, and Composition. Through learning about the Five C's, participants of this virtual training will gain skills to present data in a manner that best resonates with their audiences.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Choose the most effective chart for their data
Use color for emphasis and action
Show data in context for maximum (and realistic) impact
Reduce clutter so data insights can be easily understood
PRESENTERS
Jamie Comstock, MURP, PS-C and Robin Carr, PS-C founded Info Inspired in 2014, after many years of designing and giving presentations with no formal training in this area, and watching their public health colleagues struggle with the same skills gap.
Both are certified prevention specialists with 30 years’ combined experience in the field.
They’ve spent the last several years researching and testing ways to not only capture and hold an audience’s attention, but to also inspire audiences. They’ve spent countless hours refining the presentation planning process, identifying free resources, and learning how to maximize the tools they already had.
It’s also important to know that they aren’t graphic designers, artists, or especially tech savvy. Everything they do, you can do too.
They’ve presented at the Community Anti Drug Coalitions of America’s Leadership Forum, the Maine Public Health Association Annual Meeting, the New England Institute of Addiction Studies, the New England School of Best Practices, and provided training and technical assistance to non-profit organizations throughout New England. They have been featured on the Organizing for Change podcast and have an on-demand webinar available through the New England Prevention Technology Transfer Center.
Published: February 29, 2024
eNewsletter or Blog
In this Issue:
Substance Misuse Through the Lens of Black History Month
Alcohol Availability is a Social Justice Issue
Epi Corner: The Syndemic Framework: Enhancing Understanding of the Root Causes of Disease
What's Happening Around the Region?
Free Logic Model TA
Webinar: Alcohol, Equity, and Social Justice: Breaking the Silence
What's New?
Published: February 27, 2024
Multimedia
Webinar Description
This interactive two-hour training discussed how cognitive bias develops, contributes to inequitable outcomes for persons of color, and informed on bias reducing techniques for enhancing the provider-client interactions and outcomes for marginalized communities.
Presenter Information
Diana Padilla, MCPC, CARC, CASAC-T, is a Research Project Manager at New York State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University Medical Center. She is a senior staff trainer for the Northeast & Caribbean Addiction Transfer Technology Center Network (NeC-ATTC), and a member of the ASAP-NYCB Trainer Registry. As a cultural agent, Ms. Padilla promotes an equity lens in trainings for engaging diverse communities in need, aligning with evidence and strength-based strategies within behavioral health, addiction, prevention, and recovery supports fields and professional capacities.
Additional Documents
PowerPoint
Flyer
Published: February 23, 2024
Multimedia
Webinar Description
This interactive presentation reviewed the dynamics of culture in substance use prevention and recovery support services. Additionally, content considered cultural humility key components and how they translate in practice for person-centered care and enhance the opportunities that build trust and rapport.
Presenter Information
Diana Padilla, MCPC, CARC, CASAC-T, is a Research Project Manager at New York State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University Medical Center. She is a senior staff trainer for the Northeast & Caribbean Addiction Transfer Technology Center Network (NeC-ATTC), and a member of the ASAP-NYCB Trainer Registry. As a cultural agent, Ms. Padilla promotes an equity lens in trainings for engaging diverse communities in need, aligning with evidence and strength-based strategies within behavioral health, addiction, prevention, and recovery supports fields and professional capacities.
Additional Documents
PowerPoint
Flyer
Published: February 23, 2024
Multimedia
Webinar Description
Tailored for early career practitioners looking to elevate their prevention practice, this session explored the foundational prevention competencies that every prevention professional should build toward, where to find professional development opportunities to support growing those capacities, and best practices for planning your personal approach to professional development. Appropriate for individuals intending to pursue prevention certification, are seeking career advancement or simply want to improve their skills and abilities. Our presenters shared practical insights and valuable resources to support the professional development journey.
Session Learning Objectives included:
Defining key foundational competencies important for early prevention practitioners to develop
Listing sources (e.g., organizations, websites) providing professional development opportunities for prevention professionals
Describing the process for developing a personal approach to professional development
Presenter Information
Sandra Puerini Del Sesto, M.Ed, ACPS is a consultant and master trainer in behavioral health and strategic planning for states and non profits. For over thirty five years, Ms. Del Sesto has provided training throughout the United States in all areas of prevention practice. She is a member of the advisory boards of the New England Prevention Technology Transfer Center (PTTC), the National Latino PTTC and the New England School of Addiction Studies. Sandra serves as the RI delegate to the International Certification and Reciprocity Consortium (IC&RC).
Jessica Goldberg is a Training and Technical Assistance Specialist with Education Development Center. For over a decade, Jess has specialized in building capacity to improve behavioral health at the national, state, regional and local levels. Her areas of expertise include preventing youth substance use; promoting cross sector collaborations; addressing health disparities; strategic planning, logic model development, and sustainability planning. Jess is a Certified Prevention Specialist and holds an MSW and an MPH from Boston University.
Additional Documents
PowerPoint
Flyer
Personal Professional Development Action Plan Starter
Published: February 23, 2024
Multimedia
Webinar Description
This 1.5 hour interactive session looked at cultivating community support for prevention coalitions and explored how to transform local leaders to prevention champions. As managing a coalition effectively is an art, it requires excellent communication skills and the ability to build both individual and organizational prevention capacity. It also involves establishing and maintaining close working relationships with community members and collaborating with them to select and implement community and culturally appropriate substance misuse prevention interventions. In a post-Covid world, the ways in which we work and communicate have shifted in meaningful ways, but the fundamental principles informing that work remain the same.
Learning Objectives:
Identify key organizational functions and resources necessary to support effective coalitions
Discuss strategies to build organizational capacity
Describe key strategies for a plan to continually monitor organizational capacity
Presenter Information
Charlotte Carlton brings over 30 years of experience leading and implementing substance use prevention programs at the community, state, regional, and national levels. She is currently working with multiple Education Development Center (EDC) teams to provide support for prevention efforts in Health & Human Services Regions 1 and 2. Previously, she served as the Director of the Southeast Center for the Application of Prevention Technologies (CAPT) and as a Senior Program Director for the Pacific Institute of Research and Evaluation (PIRE). She has done extensive research on the subject of program sustainability, most recently applying that research to the sustainability of community coalitions. She is the co-recipient of the 2002 Science to Practice award presented by the Society for Prevention Research and the 2001 Award of Excellence for outstanding contributions to the prevention field from the National Prevention Network.
Additional Documents
PowerPoint
Flyer
Extra Resource - NeC-PTTC Resources Coalitions Post Covid
Extra Resource - NeC-PTTC Coalitions Post Covid - Tips for Engagement
Published: February 23, 2024