New SAMHSA Administrator Sworn In

The new Administrator for the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) was sworn in this week. Pamela S. Hyde, J.D., brings more than 30 years of health and human services experience to the post. Hyde previously served as secretary of the New Mexico Human Services Department, and director of the Ohio Department of Mental Health, the Ohio Department of Human Services, and the Seattle Department of Housing and Human Services. She also has worked as a CEO of a private nonprofit behavioral healthcare organization. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius says "Pamela Hyde has worked tirelessly on behalf of the people of New Mexico to expand access to health and human services programs and improve their quality…. Pamela's health policy expertise and management experience will be invaluable to our department." SAMHSA is the federal agency that provides most of the funding for prevention in WV. Additional info is available at www.samhsa.gov.

Happy Anniversary Prevention Research!

2009 marks the 35th anniversary of The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Created by Congress in 1974, NIDA brought "the power of science" to the field of substance abuse. NIDA Director Nora Volkow summarizes their accomplishments at www.nida.nih.gov/NIDA_notes/NNvol22N6/DirRepVol22N6.html.

Welcome to the New PrevNET

Welcome to the new PrevNET.org. We hope you like the new design and find the reorganization helpful. In addition to revamping the "face" of PrevNET, we have added a new feature. Prevention WV Online, which is what we are calling this blog, will bring you the latest in WV prevention news. It is intended to complement our Prevention WV television show and also replace PrevNet Magazine.

Share The Vision 2009 - Keynote Video Clips

Share The Vision 2009 - WV's 17th annual statewide substance abuse prevention conference - brought together hundreds of individuals from across WV Nov 17 and 18 at the Charleston Civic Center. Bringing Home the Governor's Plan To Address Substance Abuse was the theme of this year's two-day learning and networking event. This year’s conference followed the 2009 Governor’s Drug Summit, which unveiled Governor Manchin and the WV Partnership To Promote Community Well-Being’s Comprehensive Strategic Plan to Address Substance Abuse in WV. Share The Vision Conference keynotes and workshops provided information and skills needed to implement the Governor’s Plan at the community level. Video clips from several keynote speakers have been posted on the STV - Keynote Speakers webpage.

Share The Vision is coordinated by the WV Prevention Resource Center (WVPRC) and funded with federal Substance Abuse Prevention & Treatment Block Grant funds administered by the WV DHHR’s Bureau for Behavioral Health & Health Facilities. Additional support for the 2009 conference is being provided by the WV Prescription Drug Abuse Quitline.

Additional information including presenter handouts is available at www.PrevNET.org/stv.

Governor Manchin Unveils Substance Abuse Plan

Governor Manchin unveiled today his Comprehensive Strategic Plan To Address Substance Abuse in West Virgina. Substance abuse is arguably the most pervasive problem facing WV and the nation. In WV, substance abuse problems cost us more than $1.8 billion in direct and indirect costs in 2006 alone. Addressing substance abuse is therefore a crucial issue for WV and its communities. Governor Joe Manchin and The WV Partnership To Promote Community Well-Being have developed a plan to guide all substance abuse efforts in our state.

Drug Free WV Grants Available

The WV Partnership to Promote Community Well-Being is pleased to announce the availability of Drug Free WV Grants available through Purdue Pharma Asset Forfeiture Funds. Additional information is available by contacting Melissa Crawford.

Substance Abuse Costs WV Healthcare $116M

More than $116 million of West Virginia’s healthcare system budget was consumed to address drug and alcohol related diseases in 2007, according to a new reportreleased this month by the WV Partnership to Promote Community Well-Being. The report also projects the cost could increase to more than $201 million by 2017.

“The Financial Burden of Substance Abuse in West Virginia: The Healthcare System” examines the impact of drug and alcohol use on West Virginia’s healthcare sector, which includes hospitals, prescription providers, substance abuse treatment centers, prevention providers, behavioral health providers, and federally qualified health centers.

It is the second in a series of reports examining the cost of drug and alcohol use in WV. A comprehensive report, incorporating estimates from criminal justice, health care, education, child welfare, and workforce systems, will be produced at the end of the project.

The reports are part of a larger Family Funding Study project, which is funded with U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Block Grant money administered by the WV Division of Criminal Justice (DCJS).

“Now is the time to invest sufficient state monies in a unified, carefully planned comprehensive approach to the problem in order to implement strategies that are proven effective in combating substance abuse,” said Mike Lacy, Chair of the WV Partnership to Promote Community Well-Being and Director of Probation Services for the WV Supreme Court of Appeals.
“Some might say we can’t afford to allocate new state funds to the problems of substance abuse. The fact is we can’t afford not to,” said Lacy.”

The WV Partnership to Promote Community Well-Being is WV’s Governor-appointed substance abuse prevention planning body. The Governor and the WV Partnership will release their comprehensive, strategic plan for addressing substance abuse at a drug summit next month.

This latest funding study report was produced by the WV Partnership to Promote Community Well-Being’s staff at the WV Prevention Resource Center. The WVPRC is an affiliate of Marshall University and funded through various grants including a federal Substance Abuse Prevention & Treatment Block Grant administered through the WV DHHR's Bureau
for Behavioral Health and Health Facilities and a federal Strategic Prevention Framework State Incentive Grant and the Governor’s Drug Free WV Grants administered through the WV Division of Criminal Justice Services.

It's Time To Talk To Your Kids

Back-To-School time is the perfect time to talk with your kids about drugs. The Partnership for a Drug Free America has a new tool to help. Transitions & Teens: A Guide For Parents is available online. The tool kit includes scripts to help you figure out what to say and how to say it, and the information is tailored to different age groups. The approach for grade school kids, for example, is a little different than when talking with kids heading off to college.

Substance Abuse Costs WV's Criminal Justice System More Than $330 Million Each Year

More than $330 million of WV’s criminal justice system budget was consumed to address alcohol and drug involved offenses in 2008, according to a new report released this month by the WV Partnership to Promote Community Well-Being.

Updated Directory of Drug/Alcohol Abuse Treatment Programs Now Available

A new, updated guide to finding local substance abuse treatment programs is now available from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The National Directory of Drug and Alcohol Abuse Treatment Programs 2009 provides information on thousands of alcohol and drug treatment programs located in all 50 states.