Upcoming Events

This all-virtual training prepares practitioners for the realities of today’s substance misuse prevention environment.

• Focused on the needs of individual practitioners working in the field
• Hands-on and highly interactive with new tools to help practitioners hit the ground running
• Reflects updates to the Substance Abuse Prevention Skills Training (2018) but with a greater focus on community mobilization, communications, and addressing health disparities throughout the prevention planning process
• Designed exclusively for a webinar platform—not adapted from an in-person training
• Endorsed by the International Certification and Reciprocity Consortium (IC&RC)

Dates: June 14, 16, 18, 21, 23: 11:30 am-3:30 pm ET

ADAPT, in partnership with the National Prevention Science Coalition, is pleased to announce the Value of Prevention webinar. This webinar will prepare viewers to: 

• Define the multiple dimensions of cost, cost-effectiveness, cost benefit, and value in prevention.
• Describe the components and process of a cost-benefit analysis for prevention strategies.
• Present an approach to using a cost-benefit analysis when selecting or implementing prevention programs and strategies.
• Provide examples of how cost-benefit analyses have been successfully integrated into the decision-making process for program management, funding, and policy.

Please join the National Center on Early Childhood Quality Assurance for a webinar on increasing access to developmental screenings for children and families. The early childhood (EC) community has a critical opportunity to work together to build a stronger system to help children and families connect to developmental screenings at multiple access points—in child care settings, within home visiting situations, with their health provider, in Head Start or Early Head Start programs, or as part of early intervention services. This webinar will highlight several ways in which EC systems can be leveraged to increase screenings in your state, territory, or Tribe.

The Racial Equity Facilitator Feedback Circles are a series of free events to foster community for an inclusive group of racial justice-minded professionals. We discuss topics, skills, and experiences that are helpful for facilitators as well as share resources amongst the group. The group meets every 6 weeks to convene about a range of subjects selected through a feedback survey for participants. Each meeting will feature an activity and/or speaker that will help guide the conversation. The REF group is open to any person who facilitates conversations about race for clients, organizations, or even on individual levels.

Please email Lia Downing at liad@macdc.org if you would be interested in joining the group.

State laws and policies can sometimes be hard to find and understand, so what are ways we can make this information more accessible to the communities they impact? If you are new to public health or coalition work, this training will help walk you through how to find public policy information in the Massachusetts State House, how policy can be used to support our work, and the ways in which coalitions can empower themselves to engage with their local policymakers in ways that work for their coalition and its members. There are many ways coalitions and their members can insert themselves in each stage of the process of policy change. The trainers will review how coalitions can find state policies and determine where they fit into the policy change process. Through group work and skill-building, participants will walk away with knowledge to increase their effectiveness and impact within the community, and feel confident in bringing their voice into the local policy arena.

While substance use trends shifted during the pandemic, some substance use data collection methods were also temporarily suspended.  At the same time, social media was one way for people to stay connected to one another. In this presentation, Dr. Jessica Cance of RTI will describe her work examining the use of social media to detect substance use trends during the COVID-19 pandemic. This project used social media listening techniques to determine shifts in mention of the use of alcohol and cannabis before, during, and after the national emergency declaration. This presentation will provide insight into the ways substance use trends shifted during the pandemic and how the discussion of substance use on social media may reflect broader social norms.

Prevention funding often requires program evaluation to demonstrate impacts, successes, challenges, opportunities, and efficiencies. However, conducting an evaluation is a science with many steps along the way. Join Public Consulting Group (PCG) on June 23 at 1:00 pm for Part 4 of a four-part webinar series on evaluation for substance use prevention professionals.

Prevention funding often requires program evaluation to demonstrate impacts, successes, challenges, opportunities, and efficiencies. However, planning and implementing an evaluation is a science with many steps and decision points along the way. Join Public Consulting Group, Inc. (PCG) for a discussion on how to use data and evaluation findings to make data-driven decisions for your organization, the fourth session of a four-part series to learn about the evaluation process from why evaluation is important to how to design and conduct an evaluation, and ultimately, how to use your findings to make data-driven decisions for your program.

Prevention funding often requires program evaluation to demonstrate impacts, successes, challenges, opportunities, and efficiencies. However, conducting an evaluation is a science with many steps along the way. Join Public Consulting Group (PCG) on June 23 at 1:00 pm for Part 4 of a four-part webinar series on evaluation for substance use prevention professionals.

This 2-part webinar series is designed to inform and raise awareness of prevention and recovery community professionals about the intersection between substance use disorder (SUD) prevention and recovery approaches. The series will demonstrate how the fields of prevention and recovery share common goals and explore ways professionals can collaborate and coordinate activities that work toward improving community health and wellness.

*PLEASE NOTE: The Intersection of Prevention and Recovery webinar is facilitated over two sessions on June 24th (session 1) and June 29th (session 2). Attendance is required for both sessions. There will be an opportunity to continue the conversation in the upcoming Learning Lab series in July and August. More information on the Learning Labs will be provided at the end of session 2.

The training team will present an interactive program that integrates best practices and principles regarding training for cultural humility (Fisher-Bourne, Cain and Martin, 2015; Betancourt, Green and Carrillo, 2016), while communicating essential knowledge and nuanced understanding regarding Native communities in Massachusetts.

This 2-part webinar series is designed to inform and raise awareness of prevention and recovery community professionals about the intersection between substance use disorder (SUD) prevention and recovery approaches. The series will demonstrate how the fields of prevention and recovery share common goals and explore ways professionals can collaborate and coordinate activities that work toward improving community health and wellness.

*PLEASE NOTE: The Intersection of Prevention and Recovery webinar is facilitated over two sessions on June 24th (session 1) and June 29th (session 2). Attendance is required for both sessions. There will be an opportunity to continue the conversation in the upcoming Learning Lab series in July and August. More information on the Learning Labs will be provided at the end of session 2.

A live, interactive online workshop that looks at how white people can work for racial justice by understanding racial structure, building connections and cross-racial alliances, finding direction to become an effective change agent, and building a personal support network.

July 14, 21 & 28, 7-9 PM ET (3-part program)

This workshop will help you identify characteristics of white organizational culture, understand how it operates in your organization, examine remedies to offset its negative impact, and transform your organization to be truly diverse, equitable and inclusive (DEI).

August 4, 11 & 18, 2021 (7-9PM Eastern)

Join Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Appalachia and the Cross-State Collaborative to Support Schools in the Opioid Crisis for a Summit for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers who support PreK-12 educators and students experiencing trauma.

The two day event will run from 11:00AM - 4:00PM EDT daily.

The purpose of the National Prevention Network (NPN) Conference is to highlight the latest research in the substance use prevention field. It provides a forum for prevention professionals, coalition leaders, researchers, and federal partners to share research, best practices and promising evaluation results for the purpose of integrating research into prevention practice.

At a time when it’s more important than ever for the public health community to share the latest science, best practices and lessons learned, we are planning a 2021 Annual Meeting that offers attendees the choice to gather in person or participate online. 

From increases in substance misuse and suicide, to reduced quality of life among older adults, the impacts of widespread social isolation are all around us. Public health policies and practices can help counter social isolation by strengthening social cohesion and connectedness. And we can showcase examples and stories that bring attention to hopefulness and connected communities and families to counteract isolation and despair. The time is ripe to highlight communities and initiatives across the country working to restore belonging, trust and connectedness and the emerging research and findings of how public health — working alongside other key sectors — can contribute to environments where healing, hopefulness and aspiration can grow.

The 19th in a series of conferences on preventing and reducing alcohol-related problems using public policy strategies.

​The alcohol policy conferences are a series that, from its outset in 1981, has been a forum for researchers, community practitioners, and public officials to meet and exchange findings, explore evidence-based solutions, and consider adoption of policies aimed at minimizing risks associated with alcohol use. The conferences have been organized by governmental, non-governmental and private organizations over the years. AP19 is coordinated by the U.S. Alcohol Policy Alliance, a national coalition of local and state organizations translating alcohol policy research into public health practice and independent of commercial interests. Conference organizers can be reached by email at apconference@alcoholpolicy.org.

The AP19 Conference is co-chaired by Dr. Timothy S. Naimi, Boston Medical Center and Alicia Sparks, Vice Chair of the U.S. Alcohol Policy Alliance, Abt Associates. The co-chairs are joined on the planning committee by Dr. David Jernigan, Boston University School of Public Health, and Nicole Holt, Chair of the U.S. Alcohol Policy Alliance, Texans For Safe and Drug-Free Youth.