Collective Action – Collective Impact: Changing the Way a State Addresses Substance Misuse

This session will demonstrate the way a statewide collective action plan based on the convergence of  policy and practice resulted in widespread implementation of three best practices from the field of addiction science.  The convergence established a robust prevention and early intervention system within the state that relies on a foundation of best practice standards and adequate resources, technical assistance and trainings to support implementation which has led to the emergence of communities of practice committed to implementation fidelity, quality improvement, and measurable outcomes at the state and community level. 

In this roundtable session, panelists speaking from their experiences implementing three best practices  will discuss their perspective on the influence of implementation standards; resources, TA and training; and communities of practice with their adherence to evidence-based practice, quality improvement monitoring, and outcome measures. 

Presentations will include a) the manner in which a state level commission established, communicated and resourced a collective impact plan with recommendations based on the knowledge of prevention science in order to drive best practices; and b) the use of technical assistance, training and other resources available to community systems to develop the necessary skills and readiness to implement relevant strategies from the state plan.

Panelists will highlight three of the plan’s recommendations that are influencing policy and systems change, the successes and challenges of implementation, and the methodology and value of measuring change as a result of policy and practice adoption.  These three are: 1) Student assistance programming in middle and high schools as a primary and secondary prevention practice using Project Success, a best practice endorsed by SAMHSA’s National Registry for Effective Practices and Programs; 2) Screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment protocols in primary care, a best practice endorsed by SAMHSA, the World Health Organization, and the American Medical Association; and 3)  Alternative Sentencing and Diversion, an approach to addressing substance use as an underlying cause of juvenile delinquency and criminal behavior that provides support services, assessment, counseling, and community restitution as an alternative to traditional sentencing.  Approaches to alternative sentencing and diversion vary based on the target population; several models are endorsed by the U.S. Office of Justice Programs.

The presentation will demonstrate one state’s journey from understanding and promoting prevention and early intervention science to establishing state-level policy to resourcing effective implementation for three evidence-based practices.