Vision: A commonwealth of empowered individuals free of substance abuse, sustained by community partnerships.

Mission: To strengthen communities' efforts to reduce substance abuse and its consequences by using the Strategic Prevention Framework.

Background

In October of 2004, the the Prevention Branch of the Division of Mental Health and Substance Abuse was awarded a five-year, $11.5 million Strategic Prevention Framework State Incentive Grant (SIG) from the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP). The project name that was chosen for this initiative is the Commonwealth Alliance for Substance Abuse Prevention.

The Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF) is a five-step process designed to increase the effectiveness of substance abuse prevention on both the state and local levels through collaborative interagency planning. See the "SPF Graphic" link in the Related Links box for a graphic of the framework.

To this end, Kentucky's initiative brings together all the components of the state substance abuse prevention system, as well as a number of state agencies (Kentucky Office for Drug Control Policy, Regional Prevention Centers, Champions, Operation Unite, and the Kentucky Agency for Substance Abuse Policy) to assist in implementing the SPF as the new statewide substance abuse prevention planning model.

In addition, formal partnerships have been established with six agencies to draft a statewide strategic plan and to work through their local agencies in targeted communities to implement evidence-based prevention programs and strategies. The partner agencies are the Department for Public Health, the Department of Education, the Department for Juvenile Justice, the Department for Mental Health and Mental Retardation Services, the Department of Family Resources and Youth Services, and the Governor's Highway Traffic Safety Initiative.

Each of these partner agencies is represented by a "home team" leader who is responsible for directing SPF efforts within his or her respective agency. Forming sustainable state and community partnerships will allow the Commonwealth Alliance to direct resources toward the same goals, to use the most effective strategies, and ultimately to create healthier community environments.

Goals

CSAP's three major goals for the SPF are:

• Prevent the onset and reduce the progression of substance abuse, including underage drinking.
• Reduce substance abuse-related problems in communities.
• Build prevention capacity at both the state and community levels.

Key Accomplishments

• Created the State Infrastructure to Implement the Strategic Prevention Framework.
• Completed the state Needs and Resource Assessment (see Related Links box).
• Conducted Literature Review and drafted Report on Community Readiness Instruments.
• Created the SPF Master Trainer System.
• Created an online training system.
• Identified state priority substances and target communities.
• Drafted the Kentucky Strategic Prevention Framework State Plan (see Related Links box Executive Summary).
• Completed the Commonwealth Alliance Data Warehouse.
• Drafted Target Community strategic plans.
• Allocated initial funds to Target Communities (see Related Links box).

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