Prevention Conference

ACT Missouri Celebrates 25 Years

ACT Missouri celebrated their 25th Anniversary at the 2016 Prevention Conference. ACT Missouri was incorporated as a private, not-for-profit association on August 16, 1991. To celebrate this occasion, members of the prevention community came together to hear about ACT Missouri’s history. It was a fun evening of reminiscing for some and learning new things about ACT Missouri for others!

Chris Davis from Community Partnership of the Ozarks spoke about ACT Missouri's beginnings and when the agency was formed.	Peggy Quigg, former Executive Director of ACT Missouri spoke about the agency's formative years.
Kimberly Nelson from SAMHSA discussed ACT Missouri's national partnerships.	Scott Breedlove from the Missouri Credentialing Board discussed the history of the prevention credentialing process.
Mark Stringer from the Department of Mental Health shared the importance of ACT Missouri to prevention in Missouri, and how the two agencies work together.	Diana Wilhold, Board President of ACT Missouri, and the Board of Directors presented the current staff with a plaque commemorating 25 Years.

Katrina, Angela, Alicia, Chuck, and Natalie

2016 Prevention Conference Highlights

A record breaking 250 prevention specialists, coalition members, educators, law enforcement officers, counselors and healthcare professionals convened at the Lodge of Four Seasons in Lake Ozark for the 2016 Prevention Conference. This year’s theme, Your Actions Matter! Prevention is Everyone’s Business, was the culmination of the underage drinking campaign and legislative fact sheet project from the spring of 2016.

The event started with a Pre-Conference that included a (Youth) Mental Health First Aid Summit for certified instructors to gain new insights and hone their skills. After the summit, a panel of experts presented on the top four substances used by Missouri’s youth: alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and prescription drugs. Following the panel, groups gathered by Regional Support Center/Coalition to analyze county specific MO Student Survey data and start strategically planning which local ordinance would most benefit their area; underage drinking policies, Tobacco 21, Marijuana Resolutions to prevent marijuana dispensaries, and local PDMPs. Nicole Schoenborn from the Southwest Center for the Application of Prevention Technologies facilitated the groups.

Attendees had twenty breakout sessions to choose from including substance specific topics, coalition building, and communications. On Tuesday, ACT Missouri awarded two Prevention Emeritus Awards to Donna Chapman, from Morgan County CLEAR, and posthumously to the family of Jamie Scott, for years of service in prevention. On Wednesday, participants attended “Super Sessions”: We’re the Same, but Different: Connecting Prevention and Treatment, or Poverty 101: Engaging Low Income Individuals.

This year, we proudly honored several Coalition Milestone Awards to Lee’s Summit CARES, St. Louis area CRUSH, and Osage County Anti-Drug Community Action Team. The St. Joseph Youth Alliance received this year’s prestigious Coalition of the Year Award, and Senator Doug Libla presented the 2016 Champion of Change for Prevention Award to Charleston C2000’s Lester Gillespie. Each award winner also received a signed Resolution from their Senator.

The closing keynote was Joe Eberstein from San Diego’s Marijuana Prevention Initiative. He infused humor, his experience as a law enforcement officer, and the latest trends and data available on youth marijuana use. The evaluations summed up the conference’s success with 56% rating the conference as “excellent” and 36% rating it “good”. Many attendees exclaimed that this was the best conference to date!

2016 Prevention Award Winners Honored at Statewide Prevention Conference

2016 Champion for Change of Prevention
Lester Gillespie

This award is given to someone who supports community efforts to address substance abuse prevention, increase education and outreach, and integrate primary and behavioral health. As leader of the Charleston C2000 Coalition for over 16 years, Lester has worked tirelessly facilitating, creating, and implementing youth and adult community services in Mississippi County. His dedication and passion has contributed greatly to many individual persons and program successes. Individual successes are clear when you talk to youth and adults that refer to Lester as their friend, greatest supporter and confidant. Program successes include running a strong year around, multifaceted after-school program for At-Risk youth. The great programs built by the coalition with his leadership include substance abuse & violence prevention education, social skill set learning, tutoring, community service projects, as well a great physical activity component.

2016 Coalition of the Year
St. Joseph Youth Alliance

The Coalition of the Year award celebrates a coalition’s sustained level of excellence. Since 1991, Youth Alliance has worked alongside member organizations to prevent teen substance abuse, to help create quality early childhood education opportunities and to help teens find ways to serve their community while learning new job skills. They have dedicated 20 years of time, talent and resources from their partners and members toward placing their youth on top as a community asset. Together, they are setting the tone for their community by promoting youth asset development, community engagement and responsibility and the value of early childhood education. The Youth Alliance’s mission is to engage with community partners in practical ways in order to improve the lives of children and families.

2016 Milestone Award
C.R.U.S.H. St. Charles

The Milestone Award celebrates a coalition’s specific success in FY2016 in the area of outreach, advocacy, media, education, or training. CRUSH (Community Resources United to Stop Heroin) has worked tirelessly to advocate for environmental and policy changes. Due to the composition of CRUSH and the weight member agencies carry within the communities they serve, the St. Louis area has been able to see numerous positive changes. St. Louis has become Missouri’s leader in policies addressing opioid misuse. In the past year, the region has passed a first in the nation municipal prescription drug monitoring program in 2 municipalities, equipped every officer in Missouri’s largest law enforcement agency with naloxone, passed a municipal Good Samaritan law, and established the first prescription drop box in the City of St. Louis. These environmental changes constitute a comprehensive approach to addressing the opioid epidemic, and in some cases is already saving lives. CRUSH has truly reached a milestone achievement that other community organizations can and will emulate.

2016 Milestone Award
Lee’s Summit CARES

The Milestone Award celebrates a coalition’s specific success in FY2016 in the area of outreach, advocacy, media, education, or training. Lee’s Summit CARES has spent a tremendous amount of time creating a safe environment for the youth in their community while strengthening youth resilience to refuse alcohol, tobacco, marijuana and other drugs. They have done an excellent job educating their community and training volunteers on the impact of substance use on youth brain development, academic achievement, motivation, potential for addiction and related youth-impact topics. Lee’s Summit CARES has worked with volunteers to mobilize residents, state legislators, county governments, and local municipalities to work within current federal law to prevent the spread of marijuana distribution and use in Lee’s Summit. Their dedication to this issue and it’s effect on the community proves that they truly believe in their mission statement to “direct, support and actively coordinate efforts of the community to prevent and reduce youth substance abuse, promote youth safety and thereby improve the health and well-being of the community”. Lee’s Summit CARES is aware that the legalization of marijuana directly impacts their youth-focused mission and they have shown their determination to do something about it.

2016 Milestone Award
Osage County Anti-Drug Community Action Team

The Milestone Award celebrates a coalition’s specific success in FY2016 in the area of outreach, advocacy, media, education, or training. OC-ADCAT has only been in existence since November 2015, but the coalition is a well-known driving force within Osage County. OC-ADCAT is a grassroots organization serving over 13,700 residents, of those there are over 3,600 students within Osage County. OC-ADCAT was created as an essential resource for substance abuse prevention, education, and recovery: Changing lives, Saving futures. OC-ADCAT is a registered coalition with the Missouri Department of Behavioral Health. OC-ADCAT held one of its first events at the Osage County Community Center in January that provided information on Rx drugs and its effects on the brain as well as critical information from the LANEG( Lake area Narcotics Enforcement Group) on the prevalence of drugs in the area and how parents/caregivers can recognize them. The Linn Police Department and the Osage County Sheriff’s Department were also in attendance to answer questions. Out of this Town Hall, the coalition put together their next steps in the “Fight For a Drug Free O.C.”

Prevention Emeritus Award
Donna Chapman

This award is given to individuals who have dedicated their careers to prevention in Missouri. Donna of Morgan County CLEAR, Community Leaders Educating About Resistance, has dedicated her life to supporting her community in its efforts to increase education, to promote healthy behaviors, and to reach out to all segments of their county’s diverse population. Prior to retiring to become MC CLEAR’s grant coordinator, Donna was a teacher, a Summer School Director, a Vice principal, a Principal and Title 1A Coordinator. She has spent her life working with youth and working to provide healthy, safe opportunities for youth. Even in retirement Donna has not left the schools and the students she worked so hard for during her career. As grant coordinator of MC CLEAR since its inception in 2006 and as Planning Director for Citizens for Health and Wellness since 2010, Donna’s commitment to her county, to its citizens and especially to its youth in promoting healthier homes, healthier schools, and healthier workplaces has made her their local Champion.

Prevention Emeritus Award
Jamie Scott

This award is given to individuals who have dedicated their careers to prevention in Missouri. Jamie Scott was always the professional who was dedicated to the prevention of substance use throughout Missouri. Jamie was awarded a Masters of Social Work from the University of Missouri and spent 15 years at the Department of Mental Health in the Certification Division, the Medical and Clinical Review Unit, and the Quality Improvement and Managed Care Section. In 2004, Jamie joined ACT Missouri as the Director of Contracts and Collaborations. This position enabled many community coalitions to access funding to provide the best prevention services possible throughout Missouri. She was a Missouri Advanced Certified Substance Abuse Prevention Professional through the Missouri Credentialing Board. She had a strong passion for prevention because, like many of us, had addiction in her family. She loved working with communities to change the environment in which our children are raised. Jamie was a funny, witty, and just a kind soul. Jamie lost her battle with cancer in July 2015. Her husband Buddy Scott accepted the award on her behalf.

We’re the Same, Only Different: Connecting Prevention and Treatment

Finally! A training to help prevention and mental health focused community members and experts better understand what happens when a person seeks treatment for substance use situations. Treatment professionals actually engage in activities similar to prevention efforts. However, different jargon and outcomes measurements end up leaving these specialists on both side of the situation wondering, “What do they DO, anyway?” Many preventionists believe (mistakenly) if a youth has used alcohol or other drugs, “I can’t help.” All the while treatment staff are absolutely uninformed about the effectiveness of community/environmental prevention. Come, connect prevention and treatment; build bridges for a safer, healthier community.

Poverty in Missouri

Session 1:
Poverty is an everyday reality for more than 46 million Americans but often very misunderstood and riddled with myths and
misconceptions. This session is a “Poverty 101” workshop. We will offer some history and answer questions like: How is
“poverty” defined? How is the poverty level calculated? As well as Missouri specific information. We will also talk about the toxic
stress, trauma, and poverty.
Session 2:
Substance Abuse Prevention, Education, and Poverty: How to engage your community
As professionals it may be hard to connect the dots between services that you offer and the larger problem of poverty. In this
session we will discuss how to engage low income individuals in local activities. As well as how do you educate the community
to support these initiatives. We will offer concrete examples of strategies as well as having a discussion about what works in
local communities.

Make it matter in your community by attending our free Pre-Conference Session!

Build your community’s prevention equity on the top four substances of abuse for MO teens. Join us for an in-depth course to learn from experts on locally lead initiatives to reduce youth use, assess data from your community to formulate your business plan, and assemble YOUR community to have a vested interest in prevention.

Alcohol is the leading substance of abuse for Missouri teens, however, underage drinking laws vary from city to city. Nancy McGee, JD, will discuss how to address underage drinking at the local level, assist with evidence based interventions, and help communities decide their best defense.

Marijuana has had so much media hype and big tobacco-like support, our youth’s perception of harm from marijuana is dwindling fast. A community member from Clay County will discuss how they passed an ordinance to prohibit marijuana dispensaries, educate on its danger, and defend young brains from lasting damage.

Prescription drugs’ popularity is souring as more and more youth turn to them to relieve stress, feel better, or perform better. Since the MO Senate has failed to pass a PDMP for several years straight, St. Louis County has worked together to devise a local PDMP. Spring Schmidt will discuss how they formulated and funded their program and offer suggestions on how this can be done in your county.

Tobacco usage rates among MO teens remain higher than the national average. Tobacco 21 is a local ordinance that requires everyone to be 21 to purchase tobacco. Columbia has successfully become a T21 city. Leah Martin, from the American Lung Association, will discuss the initiative and give pointers on how your community can be a T21 city too.

Using county-specific provided data, interpretive assistance from Susan Depue from MIMH, and a facilitator from SAMHSA’s Center for the Application of Prevention Technologies, Southwest, each community will decipher which substance to address, formulate an action plan to sustain a community wide ordinance, and leave with a blueprint for change.

Prevention works best at the community level, and according to Jeff Linkenbach: “There is tremendous freedom in knowing that the solutions organizations and communities seek to their problems already reside within these entities.” ACT Missouri is happy to provide an avenue to this freedom!

Signs of Suicide

As a certified facilitator for SOS or Signs of Suicide, I will lead an in depth discussion on warning signs of suicide, risk and protective factors of suicide, terms, beliefs, and behaviors that help reduce the stigma of death by suicide. As a group we will decipher between facts and myths of suicide and through presented stories decide on interventions for characters we believe are suicidal. A short video will be presented introducing right and wrong ways to address suicidality in a friend and the SOS acronym of ACT (Acknowledge, Care, Tell) to aid future interactions with someone in distress. Lastly, a thought activity on reducing means to suicide will be discussed.

Presenting: Going from Terrified to Dynamic

Most people aren’t looking for the perfect presentation. They are looking for someone to relate to and learn from, someone to connect with and feel inspired by the passion that exists within them. Presenting can be paralyzing for some and invigorating for others. This workshop will appeal to both ends of that spectrum, offering excellent tips to overcome anxiety and put together an engaging presentation with well-practiced delivery.

Taking Prevention Past the Final Bell

School-based Prevention is not just confined to when the bell rings. Research shows that the most effective prevention programs include community and family components. This presentation will offer education on how to assess the connection between your community and its school-based prevention efforts, including how to collaborate and utilize already existing programs to include the community and family. Real life examples will be shown on how this can be achieved.

SPF Sound Bytes — Making strategic planning user friendly!

“A skeptic once called coalitions and partnerships ‘unnatural acts between unconsenting adults’” — It doesn’t have to be that way! The SPF elements that are essential to build strong coalitions are key to building any strong, solid organization, but understanding those elements and communicating them to well-intentioned and eager community members can sometimes seem daunting and unnatural. “SPF Sound Bites – Making coalition building user-friendly!” works to break down the strategic prevention framework into understandable, easy-to-follow steps. Whether working with a new coalition, or working to sustain an established partnership, members of all organizations can benefit from these short, concise and user-friendly SPF explanations and applications.

Taking ACTion to Build a Healthy Missouri

ACT Missouri Celebrates 25 Years

2016 Prevention Conference Highlights

2016 Prevention Award Winners Honored at Statewide Prevention Conference

2016 Champion for Change of Prevention
Lester Gillespie

2016 Coalition of the Year
St. Joseph Youth Alliance