CSAP's Central CAPT Success Stories
May 2009 - Lansing, MI Student Youth Summit
Central CAPT provided training and technical assistance to the Lansing school district in early May. This helped develop capacity in their youth for their future and continuous prevention efforts. Thirty-seven youth leaders from 5 different schools participated in the Youth Summit. Working from a strategic plan that was developed earlier by the Making a Difference Everywhere (M.A.D.E.) Student Leadership group, youth further assessed their issues and needs. They further prioritized those needs, and then developed action plans for each school. Some of the plans involve creating school student leadership groups to change social norms, and reviewing and improving school substance abuse policies.
April 2009 - Faith-based Prevention for African American Populations Workshop
West Virginia’s National Prevention Network designee Lisa Bruer requested assistance from CSAP’s Central CAPT to meet a request received from Rev. James Patterson representing the African American faith-based community in Charleston. Rev. Patterson had previously completed the Substance Abuse Prevention Specialist Training (SAPST) and felt that the principles of the strategic prevention framework should be more widely understood and used by leaders in the faith community. With the help of Central CAPT, Lisa and Rev. Patterson organized a two-day training to introduce the SAPST curriculum to religious community leaders and learn from them whether modifications are needed to make the training materials more culturally specific for African American participants. Albert Gay, a CAPT Associate who has worked with Central CAPT and who has done the SAPST extensively as a master trainer in the past, traveled to West Virginia to facilitate the training. He, Rev. Patterson, and Central CAPT Director Tracy Johnson had created special components for the event. The new information stemmed, in part, from Central CAPT’s group of Special Initiatives developed in 2008, namely the one on prevention of substance abuse for leaders of African American faith-based organizations.
The twelve participants in the training represented African American churches and organizations in four separate communities in and around Charleston. The participation among those attending was very enthusiastic. They discussed at length ways to capitalize on faith-based organizations’ well-proven protective value against substance abuse, particularly for young people and that in African American communities’, faith-based organizations, which have historically inspired change and have been champions for justice. The group also discussed and rejected the sometimes-heard objection that faith-based and evidence-based prevention are in conflict. In other words, conflict between faith and science, agreeing that if faith-based organizations adopt a science-based prevention program, the result will have the strength of both.
As the second day ended, participants stated emphatically that they want to continue receiving training in substance abuse prevention and develop a comprehensive plan for the African American faith-based community in Charleston for prevention work that will be integrated into their other activities. Lisa and Rev. Patterson agreed to discuss the next steps to make that happen.
Webinars: Identifying and Selecting Evidence-based interventions
In March, Central CAPT provided three webinars on the revised "Identifying and Selecting Evidence-based Interventions" guidance document from CSAP. The webinars were an opportunity for CAPT to highlight key points of the document and encourage discussion among states and state partners about the guidance. Through the webinars, we realized how critical the guidance on selecting evidence-based interventions is for states. They want guidance and an opportunity to determine how to implement the guidance in their prevention systems.
Through the sessions, it became apparent how much the states needed and benefited from the opportunity to digest the information from CSAP. The sessions were well received. Participant comments include “The presenter was very knowledgeable and the powerpoint included good information.” “Information, as a whole, will help us as we hopefully implement a SPF-SIG grant.” “Found the information very informative and useful as I work with providers who have the SPF-SIG grant.”
Service to Science Academy
The 2009 Central CAPT Service to Science Academy was held March 10 and 11, 2009 in Bloomington, MN. Eleven programs from the Central Region attended the Academy including programs from South Dakota (2), Ohio (2), Michigan (2), Iowa (2), Illinois (1), Red Lake Nation (1), and Indiana (1). Examples of programs in attendance include an American Indian program focused on traditional tobacco use, a college-based program on alcohol poisoning, and a program focused on the spoken word for African American male youth. Central CAPT followed a centralized Academy format. A portion of the two days included presentations on topics such as NREPP and logic models, while the remainder included one-on-one consultation time with evaluators.
Surveys completed at the end of the two days indicated 100% of participants were either somewhat or very satisfied with the Academy. Following the academy a participant
e-mailed staff to say, “I just wanted to let you all know how much I appreciate the opportunity to attend the ‘Service to Science’ Academy. It was so helpful and I cannot thank you all enough for the knowledge, experience and hospitality while I was there.”
Native American SAPST, Peshawbestown, Michigan
At the request of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians (SPF-SIG grantee) to grow its Native American Substance Abuse Prevention Specialist Training (SAPST) Training of Facilitators (TOF) process, CSAPs Central CAPT staff and associates provided this phase one training of the SAPST. The Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians Tribe expressed this need for evidence-based prevention strategies and skills geared for Native American communities. Twenty-eight tribal members working in the field of substance abuse prevention attended and participated in this training. Interest to become trainee trainers of the Native American SAPST curriculum was shown by some of the participants.
The Native American Substance Abuse Prevention Specialist Training (SAPST) was requested by the Grand Traverse Band of Indians, and provided to 28 participants representing Michigan tribal communities and agencies. The intent is to grow its Native American SAPST Training of Facilitators (TOF) process.
The CAPT associates/trainers reside from Wisconsin, Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indian Tribe and the Little River Band of Ottawa.
This training provided an opportunity to present and teach the newly adapted sessions on Native American culture and traditions, including historical trauma, the medicine wheel, traditional use of tobacco and the sacred medicines, and the spirit of life culture of prevention. The cultural teachings allowed opportunities for open discussion, therefore allowing the participants to offer additional stories/teachings that could be incorporated into the final writing of the Native American SAPST curriculum. The training content/materials and the individual trainers were well received by the participants, with most stating the importance of combining culture with prevention. Some of the participant comments follow.
“Thank you so much for this training opportunity; we are so lucky to have this chance to fine-tune our skills and learn. I am very pleased by how much I learned and the outcome of the training.”
“This type of training would be good for all of our staff and for others within our community.”
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