The online tool is a resource for municipalities, individuals, organizations, community coalitions, and other groups who are implementing prevention efforts aimed at preventing and reducing the non-medical use of prescription drugs (NMUPD) among high school-age youth in Massachusetts, including those whose efforts are funded by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s Bureau of Substance Abuse Services and, more specifically, the grantees of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Partnership for Success (PFS 2015) grant program.
The PFS 2015 initiative is part of a comprehensive approach to substance misuse and abuse prevention in Massachusetts, which includes the Massachusetts Opioid Abuse Prevention Collaborative (MOAPC) and Massachusetts Substance Abuse Prevention Collaborative (SAPC) grant programs. All initiatives implement evidence-based environmental strategies that can be sustained through local policy, practice, and systems change to prevent and reduce substance misuse and abuse problems in Massachusetts communities. In addition, these initiatives support increases in the number and capacity of Massachusetts communities who are able to effectively address these issues.
Substance misuse is a complex problem that requires comprehensive, coordinated, evidence-based solutions. This online planning tool is intended to help communities in Massachusetts develop and implement effective, data-informed, and culturally competent strategies that will have a measurable and sustained effect on preventing and reducing NMUPD.