The Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF) changes the approach to prevention, and helps move the vision of a healthier US to state and community-based action. The SPF is built on a community-based risk and protective factors approach to prevention and a series of guiding principles that can be utilized at the federal, State/tribal and community levels.
The SPF requires States and communities to systematically:
- Assess their prevention needs based on epidemiological data,
- Build their prevention capacity,
- Develop a strategic plan,
- Implement effective community prevention programs, policies and practices, and
- Evaluate their efforts for outcomes.
In 2006, DMHAS was awarded $10,465,000 in the form of a Cooperative Agreement with the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) to be utilized over a five year period to promote and provide outcome based prevention services to the citizens of New Jersey. The main priority of New Jersey's SPF-SIG is to reduce the harmful consequences of alcohol and drug use among 18-25 year olds.
DMHAS has funded eleven communities to adopt and implement the SPF to deliver and sustain effective substance abuse prevention and mental health promotion programs in their communities by institutionalizing a data-driven planning process to decrease both underage drinking and the harmful consequences of alcohol and drug use among 18 to 25 year olds at the community level. The NJ SPF is a public health, outcomes-based prevention approach that uses data to drive prevention decision-making. The goals and objectives of the NJ SPF are being achieved through strong collaborations among State, community, and academic partners, who work together to implement the NJ SPF, and develop prevention expertise and infrastructure to sustain the process in selected communities.
