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What is the North Carolina
SPF SIG?
The Strategic Prevention Framework State Incentive Grant
(NC SPF SIG) is SAMHSA’s major demonstration project
of their new Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF) and
CSAP’s flagship initiative. The SIG is a five-year
cooperative agreements from CSAP to states. States receive
up to $2.35 million per year for five years of which
85% must go to communities and 15% for State
administration activities including a state-wide needs
assessment and evaluation. There are several required
components to the SPF SIG including:
- A State epidemiological workgroup
- A State advisory board
- It must be data driven planning to set state/local
priorities
- A funding mechanism for targeting communities
- Must address underage drinking in their needs assessment
- Must focus on outcome-based prevention
In 2005, North Carolina was among the second cohort
of states to receive a SPF SIG grant from CSAP.
National & State SPF SIG
Goals
The overarching National goals of the SPF SIG grants are to:
- Prevent onset and reduce the progression of substance abuse, including underage drinking,
- Reduce substance-related problems in communities,
- Build prevention capacities/infrastructure at State and community level,
and ultimately to,
- Implement a process of infusing data across all SPF steps for improved decision-making
These same goals apply at the state level as well, with a targeted focus on reducing alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes and fatalities. Therefore, all SPF SIG funded communities are using data to build infrastructure and inform the implementation of strategies (including environmental management strategies) that will lead to a decrease in alcohol related motor vehicle crashes and fatalities in their communities.
What is the Strategic Prevention
Framework (SPF)?
The SPF is a SAMHSA-wide planning model for prevention
that is relevant for substance abuse, mental health
promotion, and other prevention areas. It incorporates
the collection and use of data at all steps and requires
that throughout the process, cultural competency and
sustainability of efforts are addressed. It consists
of five basic steps:
- Needs Assessment
- Capacity Building
- Strategic Planning
- Implementation of Evidence-Based Programs, Policies,
and Practices (EBPPPs)
- Evaluation and Monitoring
As can been seen in Figure 1 below, these steps are
part of a circular process. Beginning with the assessment,
States must first conduct a state-wide needs assessment
of indicators and outcomes of substance use including
alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs (ATOD). Next the building
of capacity at the state level is required, then the
development of a strategic plan to address the priorities,
the implementation of the plan, and finally the evaluation.
As with most processes, however, some of these steps
may occur simultaneously with other steps. For example,
capacity building may occur while the needs assessment
is also occurring or the planning is occurring. Data
are used throughout to drive both the focus of prevention
efforts and the types of prevention effort. Both the
process and the outcome are important and data are to
be used to direct, modify, and assess efforts through
out the process.
Figure 1: SAMSHA’s Strategic Prevention
Framework
The State Epidemiological Workgroup
(SEW)
The SEW members invited to take part in the needs assessment
process were selected based on their knowledge of and
ability to work with substance-related data. The workgroup
consists of a broad array of experts—from research
institutions, government agencies, and private organizations—who
have experience working with data that can be used to
track the social and health status of North Carolinians.
Specifically, the group includes members of the North
Carolina Treatment Outcomes & Program Performance
System (NC-TOPPS) initiative, which assesses the treatment
needs in the state, and a staff person responsible for
the state’s Underage Drinking Initiatives. In
addition, the lead evaluator is a member of the SEW
to ensure that data collection efforts are linked to
the evaluation efforts. Membership was also chosen to
reflect as many state agencies as possible, while keeping
the group relatively small. Diversity on the SEW reflects
this effort, with a mix of data analysts, epidemiologists,
prevention experts, and state agency representatives.
Thus, it may be seen that the SEW membership brings
systematic, analytic thinking to the causes and consequences
of substance use in order to effectively and efficiently
use substance abuse prevention resources. The SEW informs
problem identification and goal-setting processes, helps
drive prevention planning and funding decisions at the
state and community levels, and provides critical information
in appropriate formats to federal and state agencies
for ongoing planning, monitoring, and evaluation of
prevention efforts.
The SEW also was charged with determining the state’s
data needs and collecting and analyzing data to highlight
areas of focus, interpreting the analyses and using
them to assist in formulating priority areas. The group
also is responsible for providing data and information
and making recommendations to the SPF SIG Advisory Board
(known in North Carolina as the Cooperative Agreement
Advisory Board, or CAAB) and other key stakeholders.
Finally, the SEW is charged with assisting in community-level
assessment activities.
Cooperative Agreement Advisory
Board (CAAB)
The CAAB is an advisory group for the NC SPF SIG project.
Its role is to provide the Division with ongoing guidance
and input on key project developments and activities.
The CAAB is chaired by Carmen Hooker-Odem, Secretary
of the Department of Health and Human Services. CAAB
members include representatives from the Department
of Public Instruction, Department of Juvenile Justice
and Delinquency Prevention, and the Governor’s
Highway Safety Program, Department of Crime Control
& Public Safety, National Guard, and the North Carolina
Parent Resource Center.
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