Challenge
Substance misuse remains a leading cause of preventable death in the United States. In 2022, nearly 108,000 people died from drug-involved overdose. According to the 2022 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 48.7 million people aged 12 years and older had a substance use disorder in the past year, and nearly a quarter of people aged 12 years or older reported using illicit drugs.
EDC is helping to train the nation’s substance misuse prevention workforce through its leadership of the Strategic Prevention Technical Assistance Center (SPTAC). Funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), SPTAC will provide customized, high-quality training and technical assistance to SAMHSA’s prevention grantees across the country, improving their workforce knowledge and skills to successfully implement SAMHSA’s Strategic Prevention Framework. SPTAC’s efforts will prioritize prevention efforts for people who experience behavioral health inequities due to income, race, gender, disability, and language.
Key Activities
SPTAC will:
- Assess the substance misuse prevention needs of populations, with a focus on underage alcohol and cannabis use and prescription drug misuse
- Prepare prevention systems to address the needs of people who face disparities in accessing culturally and linguistically responsive and effective substance misuse services
- Help grantees develop strategic plans that link identified prevention risk and protective factors to clear and measurable outcomes
- Implement evidence-informed programs, practices, and policies that produce sustainable change and improve the health of communities
- Evaluate the effectiveness of prevention efforts implemented
Impact
SPTAC works with more than 800 SAMHSA grantees across all 10 Health and Human Services regions.
Learn More
PROJECT DIRECTOR
EDC Staff
DURATION
FUNDED BY
PARTNERS
Carnevale Associates, LLC; HeadSpin Software; Synergy Enterprises; University of Oklahoma—Southwest Prevention Center; University of Nevada-Reno, Center for the Application of Substance Abuse Technologies