ABHPC Prevention Pathways Monthly Bulletin for March 2025

Women’s History Month

Women’s History Month is recognized annually in March. Each year the National Women’s History Alliance (NWHA) chooses a theme for Women’s History Month. This year, the theme is Moving Forward Together – Women Educating and Inspiring Generations. Per the NWHA, “this theme celebrates the collective strength, equality, and influence of women who have dedicated their lives to education, mentorship, and leadership, shaping the minds and futures of all generations.” The NWHA created a toolkit for this year’s theme that outlines ideas for educators, parents/caregivers, volunteers, and community organizers to celebrate Women’s History month and incorporate the theme into their activities.

International Women’s Day (IWD) is celebrated annually on March 8th and is supported and organized by the United Nations (UN) and UN Women. This year the theme for IWD is Accelerate Action, which acknowledges disparities in gender equality and calls for increased action to addressing systemic barriers faced by women. IWD has a library of planning resources and toolkits to help you plan. You can also search for IWD events in your area here.

Transgender Day of Visibility

International Transgender Day of Visibility occurs annually on March 31st. The event celebrates the lives and contributions of transgender and non-binary people as well as the experience of loss and discrimination in the transgender community. The day was founded by trans advocate Rachel Crandall in response to the overwhelming amount of violence faced by transgender people being reported in media. Although research on transgender health is limited, evidence suggests that trans people face discrimination in healthcare systems, higher risk of violence than cisgender people, and bills that effect safety and privacy for trans people in education, healthcare, and other settings. 

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) website has resources for education and supporting transgender initiatives. The HRC Foundation’s Trans Justice Initiative supports community-based civic engagement efforts and leadership development for trans and non-binary people. HRC also has resources for parents and caregivers of transgender youth including how to navigate healthcare and school systems. GLAAD has a list of resources for and about transgender people, including fact sheets, tips for allyship, and more. 

Vaping Awareness and Prevention

Vaping prevention has been an area of ongoing focus, especially for youth and transition age youth. Recent data from the National Youth Tobacco Survey indicates a decline in tobacco use and e-cigarette use for youth. However, factors such as accessibility, marketing, perceptions of attitudes towards vaping, and beliefs that vaping is “low risk” contribute to the popularity of vaping. Effective vaping prevention will need methods to address each of these factors. 

Efforts to reduce accessibility and appeal of vaping and tobacco products in California include banning flavored tobacco, prohibiting online sales, and restrictions for marketing and displays inside tobacco retailers. School-based vaping programming should be designed to address youth perceptions around vaping, providing facts about vaping, and teaching refusal skills. Methods to avoid include “scare tactics” or events without intentional follow up – these and other methods are shown to be ineffective for prevention. 

The Office of Disease Prevention and Control has a list of evidence-based resources to address adolescent tobacco use. The California Department of Education’s Tobacco-Use Prevention Education Office and the Tobacco Education Resource Library have resources for teachers, students, caregivers, and preventionists for vaping prevention and education.

National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week

National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week (NDAFW) will take place this year from March 17th to the 23rd. NDAFW is a yearly event organized by the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) that aims to spread information on substance use research and science, overdose awareness and prevention, and supporting youth to make healthy, informed decisions around substance use.

NDAFW events and activities include teaching youth facts about substance use, stress management, refusal skills, overdose recognition and response, and others. NDAFW activities provide opportunities to engage youth and transition age youth (youth aged 16-25) in prevention planning, collaboration, and program ownership. NIDA’s #MyWhyNDAFW video activity highlights youth voices and encourages independent youth engagement in activity development.

Below are additional resources for learning more about NDAFW and how you can get involved:

• View NDAFW events happening around the United States: https://nida.nih.gov/research-topics/national-drug-alcohol-facts-week/ndafw-events-map
• Find activity ideas for NDAFW: https://nida.nih.gov/research-topics/national-drug-alcohol-facts-week/get-activity-ideas
• Learn about how youth involvement benefits substance use prevention: https://substanceabusepolicy.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13011-023-00582-7

Strategic Prevention Framework: Planning

The Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF) was created by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to provide prevention planners with a guide to comprehensively understand and address substance use and misuse in their communities. The steps of the SPF include assessment, capacity, planning, implementation, and evaluation. Cultural responsiveness and sustainability are woven throughout each step of the SPF.

Planning occurs after the Capacity Building step, during which communities address gaps in resources. In an effective planning process, communities engage with diverse community partners, review data and envision the outcomes they would like to see. Community planners consult with registries of evidence-based programs and practices to see what has worked for others and what might work for them. Communities end up creating a comprehensive, evidence-based prevention action plan and logic model that can address priority substance use/misuse problems and meet their intended outcomes.

Community Spotlight: California Mentoring Partnership

Mentorship offers a variety of benefits for both mentors and mentees, including improved outcomes for behavioral health, career success, and personal well-being. California Mentoring Partnership (CMP) has supported mentoring services to youth state-wide as well as training and technical assistance for organizations implementing mentoring services for over 25 years. CMP contributes to research to advance evidence-based practices and structures in mentoring and to evaluate the state of mentoring in California. To get involved with CMP including requesting training and technical assistance services, registering your mentoring program, or becoming a mentor/mentee, check out the CMP website: https://camentoringpartnership.org/.

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DHCS Announcements and Updates

DHCS Substance Use Disorder Integrated Care Conference – Call for Proposals

Deadline for proposals is April 4, 2025. Don’t miss your chance to present at this year’s 2025 DHCS SUD Integrated Care Conference, August 19-21, 2025, at the Hyatt Regency Long Beach. DHCS invites community-based organizations, providers, state agencies, and subject matter experts in the behavioral health field to submit proposals. Topics should focus on innovative and effective strategies in SUD prevention, treatment, recovery, and harm reduction and other opportunities that advance the integration of behavioral health services. Visit the Call for Proposals webpage for submission requirements. If you have questions about the SUD Integrated Care Conference, please email DHCSPrevention@dhcs.ca.gov.

State of California Online Accountability Tool

On February 24, 2025, Governor Newsom announced the unveiling of a new online tool accountability.ca.gov “which brings together thousands of locally reported data points to provide an accurate picture of local communities’ work to address homelessness, create housing, and create behavioral health supports.” Additionally, the “tool will allow Californians to quickly and clearly assess the progress being made by their local governments on these pressing issues, and learn more about the process and funding provided to communities by the state.”

DHCS support for behavioral health plans, programs, and facilities affected by the wildfires

DHCS is implementing key administrative flexibilities to protect access to care for individuals with behavioral health needs.

• For information on disaster waivers and flexibilities for behavioral health programs/facilities that are licensed or certified by DHCS, please see BHIN 25-002.
• DHCS is also working with affected county behavioral health plans to provide flexibilities, to the extent possible, regarding the implementation and oversight of Medi-Cal benefits and services. Guidance is forthcoming and questions about Medi-Cal flexibilities may be directed to CountySupport@dhcs.ca.gov.
• For DHCS resources beyond the behavioral health-specific information below, please visit DHCS Southern California Wildfire Response.

Mental Health Support

Experiencing wildfires can be emotionally challenging, leading to stress, anxiety, and other mental health concerns. It’s important to seek support during such times.

• CalHOPE offers free, confidential emotional support to Californians, including those affected by the Los Angeles fires. The Warm Line is a 24/7 peer-run hotline connecting callers with trained counselors who provide compassionate, non-judgmental support and can guide you to additional resources.
  • English: (833) 317-HOPE (4673) 
  • Spanish: (833) 642-7696 
  • Live Chat: CalHOPE Connect
• BrightLife Kids: Provides free, safe, and confidential mental health support for California families with children ages 0–12.
• Soluna: A free mental health app from CalHOPE designed for youth and young adults ages 13–25.
• SAMHSA Disaster Distress Helpline (DDH). The DDH provides free, confidential crisis counseling and support to people in distress due to natural and human-caused disasters. The DDH is available 24/7, on all days of the year, via talk or text.
  • Disaster Distress Hotline: 1-800-985-5990 (Spanish speakers please press 2)
  • DDH information is available in 30 commonly spoken languages.
• 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is a source of support available 24/7 to people in crisis, including people experiencing challenging reactions to disasters. Call 988 for support in English or Spanish. https://988lifeline.org.

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We invite you to join us for our 2025 Action Lab Regional Training Events! In the Spring of 2025, Advance Behavioral Health Prevention California will be hosting two three-day regional hybrid events Advancing Behavioral Health: Courage, Dialogue, and Perseverance at no cost.

Together we will focus on the expansion and sustainability of the prevention workforce, share our prevention stories and narratives, enhance our health equity focus in prevention services, and advocate for prevention’s role in behavioral health.

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If you are interested in having your organization or prevention program featured in an upcoming bulletin, email Olivia Shrago at oshrago@cars-rp.org to get started!