Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration

Creating communities where individuals, families, schools, faith-based organizations, and workplaces take action to promote emotional health and reduce the likelihood of mental illness, substance abuse including tobacco, and suicide. This Initiative will include a focus on the Nation’s high-risk youth, youth in Tribal communities, and military families

Leading Change: A Plan for SAMHSA's Roles and Actions 2011 – 2014 (pdf | 778 kbytes)

WHAT WE ARE DOING

• Suicide Prevention
  • Facebook provides first-of-a-kind service to help prevent suicides. SAMHSA and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline collaborate with Facebook to help those in crisis.
  • The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline - 1-800-273-TALK (8255) - a free, 24-hour hotline available to anyone in suicidal crisis or emotional distress.
  • Suicide Prevention Resource Center - provides prevention support, training, and resources to assist organizations and individuals to develop suicide prevention programs, interventions and policies.
  • National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention public/private partnership that catalyzes planning, implementation, and accountability for updating and advancing the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention.
  • Toolkit: Promoting Emotional Health and Preventing Suicide: A Toolkit for Senior Living Communities - Equips senior living staff with resources to promote mental health and prevent suicide and encourage active participation among residents.
  • Other Suicide Prevention Resources and New Publications
• Mental Health
  • Find Youth Info - promotes the goal of positive, healthy outcomes for youth.
  • Resource Center to Promote Acceptance, Dignity, and Social Inclusion - enhances acceptance and social inclusion by ensuring that people with mental health problems can live full, productive lives within communities without fear of prejudice and discrimination.
  • What a Difference a Friend Makes - helping encourage, educate, and inspire people between 18 and 25 to support their friends who are experiencing mental health problems.
  • National Registry of Effective Programs and Practices - a searchable online registry of more than 160 interventions supporting mental health promotion, substance abuse prevention, and mental health and substance abuse treatment.
  • Getting Through Tough Economic Times - provides practical advice on how to deal with the effects financial difficulties can have on your physical and mental health.
• Substance Abuse
  • Stop Underage Drinking - a comprehensive portal of Federal resources for information on underage drinking and ideas for combating this issue.
  • The Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF) uses a five-step process known to promote youth development, reduce risk-taking behaviors, build assets and resilience, and prevent problem behaviors across the life span.
  • Find Youth Info - promotes the goal of positive, healthy outcomes for youth.
  • Safe Schools/Healthy Students - a grant program designed to prevent violence and substance abuse among our Nation's youth, schools, and communities.
  • Too Smart to Start - helps youth, families, educators, and communities prevent underage alcohol use and its related problems.
  • Building Blocks for a Healthy Future - provides parents, caregivers, and teachers of children aged 3 to 6 the opportunity to find lots of great tips, materials, and ideas for spending time with their children and learning together.
  • National Registry of Effective Programs and Practices - a searchable online registry of more than 160 interventions supporting mental health promotion, substance abuse prevention, and mental health and substance abuse treatment.
  • Communities That Care (CTC) - a coalition-based community prevention operating system that uses a public health approach to prevent youth problem behaviors including underage drinking, tobacco use, violence, delinquency, school dropout and substance abuse.
  • Prevention Management Reporting and Training System - provides substance abuse prevention resources, data collection, and reporting services.
  • Center for the Application of Prevention Technologies - provides responsive, tailored, and outcomes-focused training and technical assistance to prevent and reduce substance abuse and associated public health issues across the lifespan.
  • Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders - information and resources about the prevention and treatment of FASD.
  • Drug-Free Workplace - addressing substance abuse prevention in the workplace through comprehensive drug-free and health/wellness workplace programs.
  • Native American Center for Excellence - a national resource center for up-to-date information on American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) substance abuse prevention programs, practices, and policies.
  • Medication Assisted Treatment - the use of medications, in combination with counseling and behavioral therapies, to provide a whole-patient approach to the treatment of substance use disorders.
  • Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) is a comprehensive, integrated, public health approach to the delivery of early intervention and treatment services for persons with substance use disorders, as well as those who are at risk of developing these disorders. Primary care centers, hospital emergency rooms, trauma centers, and other community settings provide opportunities for early intervention with at-risk substance users before more severe consequences occur.
• Tobacco / Synar Program
  • Tobacco / Synar Program - The Synar Amendment requires states to have laws in place prohibiting the sale and distribution of tobacco products to persons under 18 and to enforce those laws effectively.
• Tribal Affairs
  • SAMHSA Office of Indian Alcohol and Substance Abuse (OIASA) is collaborating with DOI and DOJ to determine the scope of the ongoing problem -- identifying and assessing national, state, tribal, and local alcohol and substance abuse programs and resources; and creating standards for programs. An interdepartmental coordinating committee will guide the overall direction of the new government efforts to improve its work with tribal communities. 

Last updated: 8/24/2011