Scott M. Gagnon, MPP, PS-C is the Regional Director serving Region 1: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont and 10 sovereign Tribal Nations. Scott is a Certified Prevention Specialist and has been a professional in the field of substance use prevention for over 18 years. Scott’s roots are in community-based prevention beginning his career at Day One, where he coordinated several prevention programs and initiatives, including the Natural Helpers of Maine, peer-to-peer support program. He then was the Substance Use Prevention Manager at Healthy Androscoggin, a public health organization that served all of Androscoggin County, Maine. There Scott oversaw multiple prevention initiatives, including a Safe Schools/Healthy Students grant and a Drug-Free Communities Support Program. Scott lead the successful adaptation of the evidence-based prevention program, Families In Action, for delivery to New Mainer families who had resettled to Lewiston, Maine from Somalia. He also served as a lead on the highly successful drug take-back programs for the Lewiston/Auburn area.
Before coming to SAMHSA, Scott was the Associate Executive Director of AdCare Educational Institute of Maine, Inc., headquartered in Augusta, Maine. There, Scott oversaw an agency that coordinated multiple public health administration and training and technical assistance programs for the State of Maine. These programs included the Maine Behavioral Health Workforce Development Collaborative, Maine Prevention Workforce Development services, Public Health and Emergency Preparedness program, Maine Problem Gambling Services, and educational services for the Driver Education and Evaluation Program. Scott launched and was the inaugural Director of SAMHSA’s Prevention Technology Transfer Center covering Region 1. Scott lead an innovative and nationally renowned PTTC team that developed cutting edge, evidence-based prevention technical assistance programs and products such as the Prevention Workforce Mentoring Program, Prevention Onboarding Guide, and Prevention Project ECHO learning communities.
Scott has extensive subject matter expertise in the area of cannabis policy and prevention. He has created and delivered multiple trainings and talks on these topics at local, state, and national levels, while also providing consultation internationally. Scott also has experience in gambling addiction and problem gambling. He was the first coordinator of Maine’s Gambling Treatment Reimbursement Network, previously served as the President of the Maine Council on Problem Gambling and oversaw the administration of Maine Problem Gambling Services for over six years.
Scott has a master’s degree in Public Policy from the Edmund S. Muskie School of Public Service at the University of Southern Maine. He also holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Environmental Policy, with a Minor in Economics from the University of Maine at Machias.