Products and Resources Catalog

In this Issue The Importance of 988 Awareness for Substance Use Preventionists Epi Corner: Risk and Protective Factors for Children in Military Families What's Happening Around the Region? What's New at SAMHSA?

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?

COURSE DESCRIPTION As cannabis laws continue to evolve across the country, prevention professionals and community stakeholders are faced with new challenges and opportunities in addressing youth substance use and promoting public health. In this recording, we explore practical strategies and best practices for responding to cannabis legalization at the grassroots level. From community education and policy advocacy to youth prevention programs and enforcement efforts, this training provides valuable insights and actionable steps for effectively addressing the impact of cannabis legalization on their communities.  Select View Resource to watch the recording. Below are the training materials. Navigating the Green Wave Presentation_PPT Navigating the Green Wave Resources PRESENTERS Mariah Flynn is a Certified Prevention Specialist who has worked in the substance misuse field in Vermont for 23+ years as a counselor, a case manager, and for the last 16 years as the Director of the Burlington Partnership for a Healthy Community, a substance misuse prevention coalition serving Burlington, Vermont. She is a founding member of Prevention Works! Vermont, the Chittenden Prevention Network, and the Northwest Regional Prevention Network; statewide and regional efforts to coordinate substance use prevention resources and strategies for the areas, and she serves on the Steering Committee of Prevention Works! VT. Mariah also previously served as the Coordinator of the Tobacco Free College Campus Initiative for the state of Vermont and the Co-Chair of Smart Approaches to Marijuana-Vermont. She completed two Fellowships with the New England Prevention Technology Transfer Center to develop a toolkit for Vermont prevention professionals and communities working on cannabis related policy improvement to use to help support prevention and public health at a community level. In addition to spending as much time with her two teenagers as they will let her, Mariah is also passionate about building communities that provide youth and families with the skills and environment that supports healthy choices.    

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.

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.  

Webinar Recording and Follow-Up Materials   Webinar Description What if college graduates entered the prevention workforce with basic knowledge of prevention science, the Strategic Prevention Framework, and the importance of evidence-based programs, practices, and policies? Despite the interdisciplinary nature of substance misuse prevention, traditional college courses often lack explicit content relevant to this critical field. To address this, the Pacific Southwest Prevention Technology Transfer Center (PTTC) developed curriculum infusion packages that can be easily inserted into existing college-level coursework to engage the pre-professional workforce. This webinar will explore the pressing need for capacity-building within the pre-professional workforce, guide participants through the Pacific Southwest PTTC’s curriculum infusion packages, “The Power of Prevention,” and discuss additional ways they can be utilized to develop knowledge and skills for coalition staff, volunteers, and partners. By the end of the webinar, participants will be able to: Articulate the need to increase exposure to prevention science and application prior to entering the prevention workforce Describe the benefits of curriculum infusion packages as an innovative method of introducing core prevention concepts Discuss how curriculum infusion packages are useful and accessible across professional roles and can increase prevention knowledge regardless of educational background or status   Webinar Recording and Slides Power of Prevention Recording Power of Prevention Slide Deck   Presenters Michelle Frye-Spray, MS, CPS specializes in integrating prevention science, capacity-building, and workforce development to expedite the adoption and diffusion of evidence-based interventions that achieve intended outcomes. With over 30 years of experience in substance misuse prevention, including 15 years focused on managing and delivering Training and Technical Assistance (TTA) services to states, jurisdictions, and tribes across the western region, she has extensive subject matter expertise in designing and delivering learner-centered, skills-based training and consultations to secondary educators, prevention practitioners, pre-professionals, coalition members, including under-served populations and organizations, on the application of prevention science. As part of her work with SAMSHA’s Northwest Prevention Technology Transfer Center (PTTC), she has chaired and co-chaired the Cannabis Prevention and Community, Coalition, and Collaboration Workgroups, and as a member of the Prevention Workforce Development Workgroup contributed to updating the SPF Application for Success Training (SAPST). Britany Wiele, CPS is a Training and Technical Assistance (TTA) Specialist for the Pacific Southwest Prevention Technology Transfer Center (PTTC), administered by CASAT at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR). In this role, she provides direct TTA services to build state, jurisdiction, tribal, and community capacity in the application of data-driven decision-making to the selection, implementation, and evaluation of evidence-based programs and practices to prevent substance misuse within the Health and Human Services (HHS) Region 9. Additionally, Ms. Wiele chairs the National PTTC Cannabis Risk Work Group. Prior to her work with CASAT, she served as Program Manager for Join Together Northern Nevada, a substance misuse prevention coalition serving Washoe County, NV where she implemented effective community-wide youth and adult substance misuse prevention programs, developed informational materials, and delivered presentations relating to prevention, drug trends, and other topics to diverse audiences.   Questions Contact Reagan Hart ([email protected]) if you have additional questions about the content related to this webinar.

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!

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.  

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

        Prevention in Pictures: Using Prevention Graphic Novels to Facilitate Conversations with Youth Sarah Johnson, MA, PS-C, and Scott Gagnon, MPP, PS-C January 10, 2024, 1:00pm-2:00pm EST COURSE DESCRIPTION Join us to learn about a unique prevention tool: Graphic Medicine. Graphic Medicine are evidence-based ways of accessibly communicating health information. In the Air is a graphic medicine built to foster conversations with and among young people around vaping, choices about substance use, and social factors. This graphic novel-styled story of five teens going through high school incorporates the behavioral science of substance misuse prevention with the stories, interests, and ideas of members of the Tobacco Free Rhode Island Youth Ambassadors. The novel has questions to help guide the discussion, a strong research base, and roots in risk and protective factors. During this session, participants will become familiar with the resource, how to use it to facilitate conversations with young people, and how to use the accompanying facilitator guide. Participants will learn how to request copies and learn about an upcoming resource in the same style that addresses youth problem gambling. The audience will have an opportunity to ask questions and explore how this and future products can work to support their prevention work. LEARNING OBJECTIVES Learn what a graphic medicine is and how you can use this format in prevention efforts with young people. Understand the process of creating a graphic medicine through a prevention lens with cultural responsiveness and youth voice as driving factors. Learn about an upcoming resource being designed with this format specifically to foster conversations around youth gambling prevention. Practice facilitating conversations with the tool. PRESENTERS Scott Gagnon, MPP, PS-C New England PTTC Director - Associate Executive Director, AdCare Educational Institute of Maine, Inc.     Sarah Johnson, MA, PS-C Training and Technical Assistance Coordinator, AdCare Educational Institute of Maine, Inc.        

Practical Skills in Prevention: A Series Focused on Soft Skills When it comes to building workforce capacity, some fields overlook the importance of practical or “soft skills” as they are not as tangible as technical or “hard skills.” Soft skills are abilities that relate to how you work and interact with others. Soft skills are transferable, and useful in every domain of life. Soft skills enable you to collaborate, build relationships, and enhance productivity. For prevention professionals, strong communication skills instill confidence to engage with communities, foster meaningful connections and strengthen relationships. Developing soft skills may take time but is essential for advancing in the modern prevention workforce.   Supplemental Resources: Presentation Slides Leading Community Change Handout (Prosper & Partners) Discussion Prompts for Leading Community Change Worksheet (Prosper & Partners)   Session 2: Contagious Leadership! If there is such a thing? Join us for an engaging webinar addressing burnout and high turnover in the prevention field. Prevention leaders face the challenge of attracting and retaining talented professionals in a competitive job market, where expectations are ever-changing. This interactive webinar covered the transformational leadership model and how it can improve team morale and personnel retention. Participants had the opportunity to discuss a case study, which allowed them to actively apply the leadership model and explore its potential applicability within their own work context.   Learning Objectives: Explore the challenges of retaining prevention professionals Define transformative leadership  Brainstorm strategies to motivate and engage prevention professionals   Presenter: Colber Prosper, M.S. Colber Prosper, M.S., is the CEO of Prosper & Partners International Consulting Firm, LLC and authored the book title, No Entry Examining the Powers that Undermine our Full Potential. Colber is an expert in various areas like education, organizational development, community public health and prevention. However, all of this work is centered around building community and creating inclusive spaces for all. He is passionate about spirituality, social justice, humans and South Florida sport teams.  

In this Issue:   The Power of Community Advocacy Additional Policy and Advocacy Resources Epi Corner: Using "Big Data" and other Digital Methodologies to Monitor Substance use Disorders (SUDs) What's Happening Around the Region

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. 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 components of a coalition that has established community support  • Identify strategies to build coalition members’ leadership capacity   • Explain the process of developing a personal plan to avoid burnout as a coalition leader   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 Handout (Tips for Engagement)

After attending this webinar from Dr. Sheryl Ryan, viewers should be able to: 1. Describe the biology of cannabis products and the endocannabinoid system. 2. Explain the adverse short and long-term health effects of cannabis products especially during pregnancy and breast-feeding on fetal and neonatal development. 3. Discuss prevention strategies including multi-sector approaches and recommendations for people who are pregnant, planning pregnancy, or breastfeeding. Slide Deck Available: Here

The Northeast and Caribbean Summer 2023 Newsletter (English | Spanish) is here. This issue highlights resources for professionals in academic settings and parents, as well as, our upcoming trainings.   

Webinar Description This training looked at the importance of Data Informed Decision Making, or DIDM, in strategic prevention planning, and the value of using data within each step of the Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF) to identify priority needs and achieve prevention goals. During this webinar, presenters defined key data-related terminology, described the benefits of using a data-informed prevention planning process, discussed common challenges and barriers to using data to plan and examined data-informed decision making within each SPF step.   Presenter Emily Bhargava is a Training and Technical Assistance Associate with Education Development Center (EDC). She is skilled in facilitation, data literacy, strategic and sustainability planning, and evaluation design. For over 15 years, she has led community-level health promotion efforts. She is an expert in the prevention of substance abuse, violence, suicide, teen pregnancy, obesity, and HIV, guiding the planning and implementation of culturally and linguistically responsive community-level prevention and health promotion efforts across Massachusetts and the United States.   Additional Resources  Flyer  PowerPoint

In this Issue:   *New South Southwest PTTC Prevention Onboarding Roadmap Other PTTC Resources for Onboarding the New Prevention Professional Epi Corner: Using a Multi-faceted Approach to Adolescent Opioid Misuse and Overdose What's Happening Around the Region?

Xylazine: Understanding the Latest Emerging Substance July 25, 2023, 1:00pm-3:00pm EST COURSE DESCRIPTION Xylazine (or “tranq”) is a non-opioid sedative and tranquilizer only approved for use in veterinary medicine. However, over the past several years, human consumption of xylazine has begun rapidly increasing. Although initially only identified in illicit drug supplies in limited areas, xylazine has been found in 48 states as of April 2023. Xylazine is frequently, though not exclusively, used in conjunction with opioids, particularly fentanyl—due to xylazine’s ability to prolong their effects. Xylazine use presents many potential dangers to people, including increased risk of overdose and the development of necrotizing tissue damage. This webinar will bring together experts from across disciplines to discuss the history of xylazine use, what is known about its current scope of use and consequences, the effects of xylazine on people, and wound care and other harm reduction strategies. It will also offer an opportunity for participants to ask questions in a roundtable panel discussion format. LEARNING OBJECTIVES Describe Xylazine and its history of use and consequences. Explain how harm reduction strategies need to be adapted for complications in Xylazine use. Describe the current trends that detail the scope and the extent of the Xylazine issue. PRESENTERS Jason Bienert, RN, CWCN Josh Esrick, MPP   DRUG ENFORCEMENT AGENCY (DEA) GUEST:  Gail Poirier Section Chief, Strategic Intelligence Section (NIT) Jaclyn Iera Program Manager, Office of Forensic Sciences   SAMHSA:        Jeanne Tuono Assistant Regional Director (Region 3)      

Use this simple chart & its key questions to map out, track and achieve your own professional development goals. For additional information, view the associated training here. 

  Use the attached fillable PDF to help develop your "why" and think of ways you can share it.     

  Webinar Description How we as prevention professionals communicate our prevention messages to our intended audience is key to our success in reaching sustainable long term substance abuse prevention outcomes.  While we have many tools at our disposal, harnessing the power of these tools to convey our prevention message and inspiring our audience to see their place at the table is how we know that our communication strategy is effective.     During this two-part series, we: Reviewed communication goals in prevention and dug into the “who” and the “what” as it relates to promoting our prevention message(s) Explored best practices for creating slides, handouts, and newsletters to support prevention efforts Identified practices that help persuade our target audience to engage in our initiative and take action   Session 2 is an opportunity to review using tools such as newsletters, handouts and slides.   Presenters  Clara McCurdy-Kirlis is a multilingual communications and project management professional and has over 15 years of experience in project development, implementation, and management. She has held lead roles in health and education instructional design for adult learners, e-learning design and delivery, higher education curricula development, and interdisciplinary project coordination. McCurdy-Kirlis has also led communities of practice (CoP) with an emphasis on facilitating dialogue in a safe space where participants can share successes, challenges, and brainstorm solutions together. Clara designs virtual and face-to-face training materials and creates tools, blogs, and informational resources for the Northeast and Caribbean Prevention Technology Transfer Center in English and Spanish.   Additional Resources  Flyer  PowerPoint

The Northeast and Caribbean Spring 2023 Newsletter is here. This issue highlights Professional Development for Prevention Professionals and our upcoming trainings. 

Amy Ronshausen is the Executive Director of both Drug Free America Foundation and Save Our Society from Drugs. Both of these national nonprofit organizations work to defeat drug legalization attempts, promote sound drug policies, and prevent drug use, abuse and addiction. Amy is passionate about reducing illegal drug use and drug prevention, coordinating grassroots advocacy campaigns, prevention summits, analyze and track state and federal drug policy legislation, and training prevention professionals at local and national conferences. www.dfaf.org (drug free America foundation)  www.saveoursociety.org (save our society from drugs) https://onechoiceprevention.org/ (One Choice) https://www.listenfirstproject.org/ (Listen First Project) https://learnaboutsam.org/ (Smart Approaches to Marijuana) https://onechancetogrowup.org/ (One Chance to Grow Up) The funder of this project, along with all other products of the Mid-America PTTC is the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Although funded by SAMHSA, the content of this recording does not necessarily reflect the views of SAMHSA. Did you know nearly 700 publications and digital products are available online at https://store.samhsa.gov Learn about the real risks for people who use marijuana, especially youth and young adults, and women who are pregnant or nursing. SAMHSA has online resources available at www.samhsa.gov/marijuana 

Webinar Description This event detailed successful processes for prevention professionals to communicate our prevention messages to the intended audiences and best approaches for using common communication vehicles. Learning Objectives Included: · Review communications goals in prevention · Review best practices to create and share messages that build community support for prevention initiatives · Identify strategic practices to apply in using communications tools to support prevention · Reinvigorate communications messages using a positive prevention frame   Presenter Information Kimberly Elliott is the communications director for Education Development Center's U.S. Division. She is a highly skilled nonprofit leader with 20 years of experience. Kim has been involved with all aspects of crafting meaningful and impactful messaging campaigns. She is a strategic storyteller, a book author, a highly successful grant writer, and is dedicated to helping prevention workforce professionals move our work forward by harnessing the power of words.  Ivy Jones Turner, MPA, CPS is an expert in behavioral and mental health promotion and prevention, is an experienced program leader, technical assistance (TA) specialist, applied researcher, and evaluator. Her expertise includes building the capacity of schools and organizations to research, implement, evaluate, and sustain interventions to prevent substance misuse, suicide, youth violence, and bullying, and to promote social-emotional and mental health. Ivy holds an MA in Public Administration from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and is a certified specialist in prevention and conflict mediation in Massachusetts.   Additional Documents  PowerPoint  Flyer  Supplemental Resource