RD129 - Governor's Office for Substance Abuse Prevention Annual Report - 2008


Executive Summary:
The Governor's Office for Substance Abuse Prevention (GOSAP) is authorized under §2.2-118, Code of Virginia, enacted by the 2000 Virginia General Assembly. Responsibilities of GOSAP are "to assist in the coordination of substance abuse prevention activities of the Commonwealth, review substance abuse prevention expenditures by agencies of the Commonwealth, and determine the direction and appropriateness of such expenditures."

GOSAP provides leadership for the GOSAP Collaborative, Virginia’s primary vehicle for prevention system planning and collaboration at the state level. The Collaborative, formally established by Governor Kaine in Executive Directive 4, is charged with responsibilities in three areas: 1) collaboration to enhance capacity, improve efficiency and produce results; 2) infrastructure to sustain and integrate prevention practice; and 3) data to target resources and monitor results.

Activities of GOSAP and the GOSAP Collaborative in 2008 focused on carrying out responsibilities set forth in Executive Directive 4. A collaborative approach aimed at enhancing state and local prevention capacity has been maintained and features the use of the Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF), an overarching framework for prevention planning at the state and local levels. SPF uses a five-step approach and emphasizes implementing evidence-based practices.

GOSAP compiled Virginia’s first epidemiological profile report on substance use in Virginia in 2007. In 2008, work continued to produce statewide and city/county epidemiological profiles. Local profiles are scheduled to become available online in March 2009 and will provide quick, easy access to consistent, comparable data for use in assessing and prioritizing needs, planning and implementing evidence-based strategies, allocating funding and other resources, and monitoring trends to improve results. The Epidemiological Reports Project seeks to establish and maintain a system that facilitates data-driven decisions and is closely aligned with the policy priorities and goals of the Council on Virginia’s Future.

A 2007 study of the feasibility of a statewide survey of youth found that the lack of youth survey data constitutes a severe information gap that impedes data-driven management of Virginia’s limited prevention resources and places Virginia at a disadvantage in competing for federal prevention dollars. In 2008, Virginia took a substantial first step in obtaining youth survey data when the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) was awarded a grant from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to coordinate the implementation of a survey based on a representative sample of youth. The survey will yield reliable state-level data but not local-level findings. The need for local-level youth survey data has been well documented and the lack of such data remains a significant challenge.

Other challenges identified are the lack of stable funding for prevention and fragmented funding mechanisms that contribute to piecemeal approaches to prevention at both the state and local level.

Underage drinking is a widespread and persistent public health and safety problem. To address this threat to the health and safety of Virginia’s youth, GOSAP and the GOSAP Collaborative developed “Think! … Don’t Drink,” a component of the Governor’s Prevention Comes First Initiative. The approach coordinated existing resources to mobilize and support community efforts to prevent and reduce underage drinking; the importance of this cost-effective approach as a model has grown as economic conditions have worsened in recent months. Specifically, GOSAP and the Collaborative aligned existing sources of funding to make available simultaneously several sources of funding to support community efforts to prevent and reduce underage drinking; leveraged a broad range of existing resources to create a focus on underage drinking to support local efforts; and produced Virginia-specific informational resources designed to support local efforts.

In addition to its responsibilities for coordinating substance abuse prevention activities at the state level, GOSAP administers three grant programs that directly support local community prevention and provides tools and resources including GOSAP's Website that serves as a prevention information clearinghouse and the Virginia Community Profile Database that provides online access to state-and locality-level data critical for prevention needs assessment and planning.

The Governor’s Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Program supports evidence-based programs to prevent youth substance abuse and violence. Evaluations have demonstrated a broad range of positive outcomes. The Governor’s Youth Community Service and Civic Engagement Program provides mini-grants to communities to engage at-risk youth for gang involvement in meaningful service to their communities. To date, nearly 900 youth have contributed over 15,000 hours of service to well over 100 different community agencies and organizations. Importantly, feedback from both youth participants and community agencies has been strongly and consistently positive.

GOSAP will continue to provide leadership and coordination for the Commonwealth’s prevention activities consistent with its statutory responsibilities and the Governor’s Executive Directive 4. In the coming year, activities will focus on further strengthening Virginia’s prevention infrastructure through promoting the Strategic Prevention Framework, coordinating activities to make state and local epidemiological data available through the Community Profile Database, and supporting local efforts through grants and other resources.