Teaching What Matters: Relevant and Resonant Substance Use Prevention Education and Evidence-Based Services
Thursday, September 18, 2025
1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. PT
Enhancing Prevention Efforts:
Prevention Application Community of Practice
Overview:
Prevention Application Community of Practice spaces will support the continuing education of prevention professionals in a manner that is engaging, focused on skill building, dynamic, and in line with statewide goals. Together we will “unpack” what has been learned in professional competency training events, thus supporting the application of skills and development of sector partnerships and networking. Prevention Application spaces are intended to be a collective learning space with reflection opportunities for participants.
September Topic:
Thursday, September 18 • 1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. PT
How do we make substance use prevention education both evidence-based and deeply meaningful for the communities we serve? Together we will unpack the CSAP Education Strategy into practice, guiding participants through relevant examples of how to deliver prevention education that resonates across diverse youth and family populations. Using the Strategic Prevention Framework as a foundation, we’ll explore how to assess and adapt existing curricula to reflect the cultural values, lived experiences, and linguistic needs of the community. Together we will develop concrete strategies to co-create educational content with youth and caregivers, incorporate trauma-informed teaching practices, and integrate social-emotional learning and protective factors into programming. We’ll look at case examples from school partnerships, peer-led workshops, and youth-serving organizations that have successfully shifted from compliance-based education to engagement-centered learning. Whether you’re delivering Too Good for Drugs in a rural classroom or hosting family nights in urban communities, this session provides practical tools for making your prevention education relevant, relational, and responsive.
About the Presenters
Charlie Seltzer (he/him) was the Substance Use Disorder (SUD) prevention coordinator for the Mendocino County Public Health Department for 10 years. When he retired from full time work, he became a consultant for CARS. Now, he gets to consult with people all across the state, assisting them to design and implement strategic plans and build capacity for their local prevention work. He enjoys offering SUD prevention trainings to the field and has led numerous Prevention-101 trainings, trainings on environmental prevention, the Strategic Prevention Framework, social determinants of health, conducting focus groups, designing logic models, and Diversity/Equity/Inclusion/Belonging issues for LGBTQ+ individuals, the disabled and rural populations. When he’s not working in the SUD prevention field, Charlie enjoys playing the piano, gardening, reading, cooking, hiking the beautiful hills of Mendocino County, and being home with his husband and their cat.
Amanda Montgomery (she/her) is a highly experienced professional with a strong track record of over 20 years in community and system change. She received the NASADAD National Award for Innovative Substance Abuse and Mental Health Prevention Programs, Practices, and Policies. The award recognized her exceptional contribution to co-authoring three youth-driven prevention programs and school-based curricula. Applying Risk and Protective factor theory and research, she designs prevention and early intervention models and curricula that demonstrate organizational change and student impact.
Amanda’s expertise spans various fields, including higher education, early childhood mental health services, substance use disorder prevention, K-12 schools, and child abuse and neglect prevention efforts. In her most recent work in higher education, Amanda focuses on system change to bridge equity gaps and bring California’s Community College’s Vision for Success into reality through the Guided Pathways framework. Her unwavering dedication to improving economic mobility and addressing social drivers of education highlights her passion for ensuring equitable opportunities and success for all.