RD411 - Governor's Office for Substance Abuse Prevention Annual Report - 2009


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.

GOSAP and the GOSAP Collaborative have been instrumental in building a more formal state-level prevention infrastructure and in strengthening local capacity to deliver and sustain effective prevention in the future. Significant innovations have included a comprehensive, cross-agency prevention Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) that formalized for the first time a full cross-agency agreement to a uniform set of prevention principles and program standards while providing a framework for continued state-level collaboration. GOSAP and the Collaborative then developed and employed a single competitive application process that allowed community coalitions to apply for four types of existing funding that were aligned to address underage drinking. The cross-agency collaborative approach served as a model for Virginia communities, demonstrating how existing resources can be strategically coordinated and mobilized to address underage drinking, a serious threat to the health and safety of Virginia’s youth. The collaborative approach employed by GOSAP and the GOSAP Collaborative to enhance state and local prevention capacity has featured use of the Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF). SPF uses an approach that places a strong emphasis on implementing evidence-based practices while respecting the cultural context and promoting sustainability of prevention programming. It is especially well suited for use in Virginia with its diverse communities and tradition of local autonomy.

Despite budget constraints, federal funding was identified in 2009 to continue three grant programs administered by GOSAP. The Governor’s Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act grants totaling over $647,000 were awarded in four categories to 22 projects to support youth substance abuse and violence prevention efforts in 35 localities. Evaluations of the projects have produced strong evidence of effectiveness including reductions in risky behavior by program participants, improvements in grades, and reductions in disciplinary referrals and in bullying behaviors. The Governor’s Youth Community Service and Civic Engagement Program has provided mini-grants to communities for the purpose of engaging youth at risk for gang involvement with opportunities to perform meaningful service to their communities. To date, well over 1,000 youth participants have provided over 25,000 hours of service to their communities since 2008. The projects have used a positive youth development approach that views youth as resources to their communities. Findings from the comprehensive cross-site evaluation have reflected strongly pro-social attitudes and bonding with their communities which are important indicators of effectiveness. The “Think! ... Don’t Drink” Underage Drinking Prevention Grant Program awarded grants up to $10,000 to support underage drinking prevention programs and activities in 22 Virginia localities. Although awards were made in October 2008, activities of many projects continued in 2009.

GOSAP continues to support community prevention efforts by providing valuable resources including the GOSAP Website which serves as a prevention information clearinghouse and the Virginia Community Profile Database, a web-based, interactive tool that provides easy access to a variety of community-level data and facilitates data-driven prevention planning and evaluation. Although fiscal constraints precluded a state prevention conference, strategic support has been provided for training and other activities to build local prevention capacity.

In 2009, Virginia was awarded federal funding through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Strategic Prevention Framework State Incentive Grant (SPF.SIG) program to support activities to build a state prevention infrastructure. Implementation of the initiative will provide opportunities for GOSAP and the Collaborative to further strengthen Virginia’s state-level infrastructure and to target parallel development in selected high-need communities. An initial award of $2.1 million was made in 2009.

During the first year of SPF.SIG, a statewide needs assessment will be conducted, identifying priorities and communities that demonstrate critical need. After the plan is approved and targeted behaviors and/or communities are identified, a means for distributing funds to localities for local level programming will be completed. Sub-grants will build the local infrastructure and implement culturally appropriate programs and strategies designed to decrease underage drinking, substance abuse, and related problem behaviors while improving community well-being. The state-level Community Profiles Database of epidemiological data will continue to be maintained as it is an important resource for data-driven prevention planning.

Having established a more formal prevention infrastructure and foundation for delivering and sustaining effective prevention, GOSAP looks forward to continuing to provide leadership and coordination for the Commonwealth’s prevention activities consistent with its statutory responsibilities.