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April Newsletter
Strategic Prevention Framework, Step 2: Capacity
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Maintaining Community Involvement by Building Capacity
A question often asked about coalition building is how to maintain the momentum of a coalition and keep members involved. Program coordinators will often take on the responsibility and the burden of the work of the coalition leadership alone. This approach can lead to a loss of interest from the coalition membership and an exhausted prevention team. If any of this sounds familiar, and you want to turn things around in your community, there is good news! This month we have provided many resources in the newsletter on capacity and leadership building.
Throughout the country, many of us are working from home to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. This may be an opportunity for you to consider some of the organizational, membership, and leadership needs of your coalition. Do you have representation in your coalition from a variety of different aspects of the community (i.e., youth, law enforcement, schools, religious organizations)? Do any of these organizations or individuals have more time right now to commit to coalition work? Can you continue to have virtual coalition meetings to keep or gain momentum? How can you utilize the resources provided in this newsletter to train new leadership right now? What additional knowledge or skills should you develop to help build capacity now and, in the future, (i.e., designing infographics, social media best practices, facilitating meetings, etc.)? How long has it been since you have completed an evaluation of your coalition?
Whether you are starting to build your capacity efforts around your prioritized problem, or you have been working with a well-seasoned group, there’s something for you this month in the variety of resources provided in this newsletter.
Our best wishes to you, your family, and your community for safety and security at this time. Soon we will all be back in our communities doing the great work we know best, but there are many things that can be done right now to maintain the ground you have already gained.
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Podcast: Episode 5: Build the Community to Build the Capacity
Mid America Prevention Technology Transfer Center
In this podcast, the Mid America PTTC unpacks their motto, "Build the Community to Build the Capacity." They share a fun story about spaghetti, marshmallows, and kindergartners showcasing ways to strengthen communities.
Podcast: Episode 4: Iowa’s Alliance of Coalitions for Change
Mid America Prevention Technology Transfer Center
In this episode, the Mid America PTTC is speaking with Angie Asa-Lovstad from Iowa’s Alliance of Coalitions for Change. (
AC4C for short
) AC4C works to unify Iowans to reduce substance misuse on a state and community level. Angie pulls from her 20 years’ experience working with coalitions to share the first steps for a new coalition, how to build your team, and working with the Golden Circle to unify your team efforts.
Webinar Recording: Building the Prevention Workforce Skill-Base (Webinar Series) Part 3 of 6: How to Build Capacity
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Step 2 of the Strategic Prevention Framework
Central East Prevention Technology Transfer Cente
r
This webinar discusses ways to identify new funding, training opportunities, and collaborative partnerships. It also walks through ways that technology can be used to support the capacity building process.
Webinar Recording: Understanding the Prevention Specialist Certification Process
Southeast Prevention Technology Transfer Center
This interactive webinar reviews the basic credentialing requirements and provides an opportunity for discussing the importance of credentialing for the prevention workforce.
Capacity Primer: Building Membership, Structure and Leadership
Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA)
This primer provides clear guidelines to help your coalition build the capacity needed to develop and carry out a comprehensive community plan to reduce substance abuse rates.
Community Toolbox
Center for Community Health and Development – University of Kansas
- Coalition Building I: Starting a Coalition
Learn how to organize a group of individuals and professionals around a common cause, working together to achieve a unified goal.
- Coalition Building II: Maintaining a Coalition
Learn how to maintain and sustain a coalition and its mission over time. This site answers these important questions about maintaining your valuable efforts.
Webinar Recording: Built to Sustain: Identifying, Engaging and Retaining Volunteers to Build Effective Coalitions
This is a one-hour webinar recording developed by the Southwest Center for Applied Prevention Technologies for the state of Missouri on engaging, managing, and retaining volunteers to build effective substance use/ misuse prevention coalitions and promote sustainability. It uses the steps of the Strategic Prevention Framework to show best practices for recruiting and retaining volunteers.
Developing Effective Coalitions: An Eight Step Guide
Prevention Institute
The Eight Steps to Effective Coalition Building is a framework for engaging individuals, organizations and governmental partners in addressing community concerns.
Free Online Training Series: Coalition Core Essentials
Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA)
Coalition Core Essentials is an online course intended for coalition leaders, staff, volunteers, and partners. Based on CADCA's National Coalition Academy, this online course consists of 10 interactive modules that each take 30-60 minutes to complete. You will be required to set up an account before you’ll gain access to the online courses offered by CADCA.
Quality Improvement Organizations
- Video: Running an Effective Coalition Meeting - Leadership & Organizing in Action (LOA)
This video reviews tactics on how to run an effective coalition meeting and ensure your group stays on track to meet its goals
.
- Video: Collective Decision Making - Leadership & Organizing in Action (LOA)
This video describes a method called the Collective Decision Making Process to help a group make the best choice together.
- Video: Making a Strong Ask - Leadership & Organizing in Action (LOA)
This video reveals 5 steps to making clear, powerful requests for help and support to ensure you get the assistance you need and reach your common goal.
Coalitions Online in Action
Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA)
Read articles and watch videos about coalitions that have been successful amid various challenges, including coalitions thriving after losing funding, youth coalition involvement to address vaping, and engaging the faith-based sector.
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What's Happening Around the Region?
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Webinar Series: PFS Academy 2020: Making the Steps of the Strategic Prevention Framework Work for You
Each webinar will begin 8:00 PT / 9:00 MT / 10:00 CT / 11:00 ET
The Mid America PTTC, in collaboration with the South Southwest PTTC, will be offering a seven-part webinar series on the SPF beginning in February.
SAMHSA’s Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF) provides practitioners with comprehensive guidance to more effectively address substance misuse and related behavioral health problems in their communities. This seven-part webinar series will explore this five-step, data-driven process to identify genuine prevention needs, build capacity and plans to address those needs, implement effective programs and interventions, and evaluate and continually improve prevention efforts.
At each step of the SPF, and in separate sessions, practitioners will learn to incorporate the guiding principles of cultural competence and sustainability to help support the implementation of SAMHSA’s Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF).
Prevention contact hours available to those who register and complete this webinar.
- May 19, Part 4: Implementation, will provide participants with the tools needed to implement prevention programs, policies, and practices with fidelity and effectiveness.
- June 23, Part 5: Evaluation, will offer helpful guides for the collection and analysis of prevention strategies and teach participants how to modify programming for future enhanced results.
- July 21, Part 6: Sustainability, will provide participants with the elements of a sustainable prevention program and how to integrate sustainability into each step of the SPF.
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Identifying Drug Endangered Children: A Collaborative Approach
Date:
May 19
Who Should Attend
: Child Welfare, Law Enforcement, District Attorneys, Probation/Parole, Treatment, Ongoing Service Providers, Education, Fire, EMS, Judges, Community members, and other First Responders who have a job which impacts children and families.
You will gain
awareness about drug endangered children and the risks they face and understand the many opportunities (often missed) to identify children living in dangerous drug environments. Learn the benefits of intervention at the earliest possible point to reduce physical and psychological harm to children. Learn what a multidisciplinary collaborative response looks like and how it incorporates the unique resources within a community and applies them in a manner that provides better care for drug endangered children
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Drug Endangered Children: June Peer Sharing Call
Date:
June 11
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Drug Endangered Children: September Peer Sharing Call
Date: September 3
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Listen to our most recent podcast!
Podcast Episode 28: Transitioning to Virtual Services
This episode talks about:
- What can we do right now to ensure that rich training opportunities continue?
- How can we collaboratively plan the transition back to in-person services to make it as smooth as possible?
- How can we, as leaders, continue to engage staff to build on each other’s success, troubleshoot challenges, and collectively care for each other in times of stress and discomfort?
- How do we continue to stay active in the execution of plans we already have in place, so they do not stall out?
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NEW Self-guided Learning Courses
Informing Prevention: Adolescent 6-part Webinar series
- Informing Prevention: Understanding Adolescent Development (1 of 6)
- Informing Prevention: Effectively Engaging Adolescents in Interventions (Part 2 of 6)
- Informing Prevention: Effective Use of Epidemiological Data (Part 3 of 6)
- Informing Prevention: Effectively Using Technology for School-Based Prevention (Part 4 of 6)
- Informing Prevention: The Effects of Drug Use on Adolescent Brain Development (Part 5 of 6)
- Informing Prevention: Vaping Among Adolescents (Part 6 of 6)
Today’s Marijuana: Stronger, More Edibles, Confusing Information about Driving
Early Childhood Development: Toxic Stress and Adverse Childhood Experiences
Online Courses
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Check out the Mid America Prevention Technology Transfer Center
website
for additional resources and training!
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The Mid-America Prevention Technology Transfer Center (Mid-America PTTC) is designed to serve as a prevention catalyst, empowering individuals and fostering partnerships to promote safe, healthy, and drug-free communities across Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas. Our services are evidence-based, culturally competent, and locally focused. We provide intensive technical assistance to support organizations' and systems' efforts to implement evidence-based prevention strategies. The Mid-America PTTC also forms partnerships with local and regional stakeholders to ensure that the training needs of the region are identified and met.
The Mid-America PTTC goals are to:
- Accelerate the adoption and implementation of evidence-based and promising substance misuse prevention strategies.
- Heighten the awareness, knowledge, and skills of the workforce that addresses substance misuse prevention.
- Foster regional and national alliances among culturally diverse practitioners, researchers, policymakers, funders, and the local communities.
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Epi Corner
Iris E. Smith, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Building, Growing and Sustaining Prevention Capacity
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As I am sure many of you realize by now, assessment has an important role to play at each step of SAMHSA’s Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF). The first step of the SPF focuses on gathering information about the nature, severity and scope of the substance abuse problems in the community. The data collected during this first step will inform the development of a strategic plan including the appropriate prevention focus and potential strategies that may fit the community conditions. It is also important to gather information about the community’s readiness and capacity to address the identified substance abuse issues. The information collected during the capacity and needs assessment will help you to identify areas where capacity building might be needed. Some of the questions that might guide the readiness and capacity assessment:
- What is the level of awareness of substance abuse problems among key community stakeholders and within the community as a whole?
- What experience have they had in selecting and implementing evidence-based interventions? What was the outcome of those efforts?
- Are there existing coalitions or partnerships that might support a community-wide intervention?
- What potential prevention resources currently exist, for example, professional expertise, material resources such as financial, technological or in-kind support such as meeting or event venues, or “cultural brokers” knowledgeable about various community sub-populations?
Step 2 of the SPF is focused on building prevention capacity by identifying and engaging community stakeholders and opinion leaders in order to both raise awareness of the issues facing the community, and build a cohesive and effective prevention team. Every effort should be made to engage stakeholders from diverse segments of the community such as community advocacy groups, the faith community, education, law enforcement, corrections, and medical providers and emergency medical services. These potential partners will bring their own perspectives on the issue and some will be able to add to the data already collected. Once your team has identified the key stakeholders (individuals and groups), it may help to brainstorm what resources or expertise each stakeholder could contribute to the prevention effort (see Table 1).
Table 1: Identifying Prevention Partners
(Click the table below for a downloadable worksheet)
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Thinking through the benefits to the potential partner or stakeholder as well as their value to the prevention team is an important step toward sustainability. The greater the perceived benefit, the more likely that the partner will remain engaged and motivated. This type of brainstorming exercise could lead to a very extensive list of potential stakeholders and collaborators. As part of this exercise, it will be helpful to think through the level of needed/desired involvement of each individual or organization as well as the role they might play as part of the prevention team. As you implement your selected prevention strategies, you may identify the need for additional, perhaps more specialized expertise.
Capacity building also means raising the level of community awareness. While it may be challenging for busy community opinion leaders to attend regular planning meetings of the coalition, key informant interviews and periodic face to face meetings to keep them informed of prevention activities is one strategy to keep them engaged. As you continue to explore potential partners, also consider how various partners can support community education efforts through their existing communication channels such as newsletters and planned events. Data compiled during the assessment phase can be used to mobilize and inform potential partners and their constituents.
Last but not least, it is important to periodically assess the effectiveness of the coalition as well as the satisfaction of coalition members with their role and the overall function of the coalition.
Resources
Schroepfer, T A., Sanchez, G V., Lee, K J, Matloub, J, Waltz, A and Kavanaugh, M (2009)
Community Readiness Assessment: The Scoring Process Revisited.
Journal of Community Practice,17:3
,269 — 290
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Iris E. Smith, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Iris Smith is Associate Professor Emeritus of Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health where she has taught graduate courses in Program Evaluation, Substance Abuse, Social Determinants of Health, and the Mental Health Capstone course. In addition to teaching Iris also served as principal or co-investigator for numerous studies on the prenatal effects of alcohol and other drugs and treatment and interventions with substance abusing women, including a treatment demonstration grant for pregnant and parenting addicted women and their children (1979-1999). From 2004-2011 she was Co-investigator for the Emory Prevention Research Center and from 2007 to 2010 she served as the lead evaluator for the Atlanta Clinical Translational Science Institute.
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