Northeast Center for the Application of Prevention Technologies

Alcohol and other drug use harms individuals, families, and communities. The Northeast Center for the Application of Prevention Technologies (CAPT), one of five regional centers funded by SAMHSA’s Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, works with state and local agencies to prevent alcohol and drug use across all age groups. The CAPT provides professional development for practitioners on ways to create community change, implement evidence-based programs, emphasize environmental prevention strategies, and conduct needs assessments and evaluation. The CAPT serves the New England states, as well as New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware.

Challenges

There are well-documented ways—based on research from government and private agencies—to prevent substance-related problems. Effective strategies include enforcing policies that limit access to substances; penalizing drunk drivers; and promoting education, early intervention, and collaboration among community organizations. The challenge is to ensure that state and local practitioners learn about and apply these strategies so that they can develop effective programs and services.

Mission

The Northeast CAPT’s mission is to support the application of evidence-based substance abuse prevention at the regional, state, and local levels and to enhance collaboration between and within each level.

Strategies

• Promote an accurate understanding of effective, evidence-based approaches by providing training and technical assistance via a variety of formats and media
• Support the development of those skills necessary to plan and implement effective programs
• Develop and support key, strategic collaborations
• Increase access to and use of technology
• Implement a process and outcome evaluation that can track the extent to which effective prevention strategies are being applied

Activities

• Training: Between its inception in October 1997 and June 2005, the Northeast CAPT held 475 training events attended by 44,863 prevention practitioners. These trainings provide information on such issues as identifying, selecting, implementing, evaluating, and reporting on evidence-based prevention programs. An overwhelming majority of participants report that the trainings are excellent and quite useful.
• Technical Assistance: Since its inception, the Northeast CAPT has provided in-depth technical assistance to thousands of organizations and prevention practitioners. This service is tailored to the unique needs of the client and often focuses on assisting clients in assessing needs and developing capacity to implement effective programs.
• Online Learning: The Northeast CAPT is committed to using technology to advance the prevention field. Since 2003, the Center has delivered a menu of computer-based, interactive, online courses to more than 550 state and community level practitioners and prevention providers from across the country. These facilitated courses allow practitioners to explore current research, obtain practical tools, participate in structured learning activities, and share knowledge, experiences, and perspectives. The CAPT also provides audio conferences and webcasts throughout the Northeast region and the United States
• Northeast CAPT Web site is a resource for people both within the Northeast region and across the country. The site provides a comprehensive inventory of CAPT services, resources, products, and program information and contains a variety of unique features, including state-specific resource pages and a searchable database of evidence-based programs.

Selected  CAPT Trainings

• Success and Sustainability of Effective Coalitions (face-to-face) looks at the qualities and benefits of effective coalition development, as well as strategies for leading and sustaining a coalition initiative. Participants conduct an analysis of the various systems within their state and/or community and develop strategies for identifying and recruiting key organizations and individual members.
• Locating, Hiring, and Managing an Evaluator (face-to-face and online) builds practitioners’ understanding of the value of evaluation and offers practical steps for finding and working with an evaluator.
• Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover: Using Feasibility Assessment to Select Prevention Programs (online) offers a set of “filters” that practitioners can use to assess and choose model programs.
• Measuring Outcomes (face-to-face) builds practitioners’ understanding of outcomes-based prevention.
• Social Marketing (face-to-face and online) presents strategies that can influence community norms and individual behavior. It also includes a 10-step process for developing social marketing campaigns.

In addition, selected strategy trainings are tailored to state and community level prevention practitioners with an interest in collaboration, communications, policy, and enforcement.

Funders:

• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Center for Substance Abuse Prevention
• Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)

Director

Tania García
617-618-2474

Associate Directors

Chelsey Goddard
617-618-2338