Healthy communities, healthy states: Developing and nurturing the South Dakota Prevention Network

South Dakota has historically ranked as one of the top states in the nation for problems related to alcohol abuse and dependence, including underage drinking, binge drinking, drinking and driving and alcohol-related crime. In the mid 1990's, the South Dakota Department of Human Services' Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse (DADA) defunded its entire prevention infrastructure due to its inability to demonstrate outcomes. In its place, it established the South Dakota Prevention Network, an extensive, diverse and dynamic consortium of community-based prevention providers and community and campus-community coalitions working to address behavioral and public health priorities through local coalition development and community mobilization. This community-focused orientation has provided an important foundation for building the Network's ability to adopt broad, public health approaches that can achieve significant, population-level outcomes of reduced problems and consequences associated with substance abuse across the State. DADA uses a common funding mechanism to coordinate and allocate a diverse array of funding from Federal and State sources (including the South Dakota Departments of Education, Health and Public Safety) to Network members, who provide a continuum of services ranging from primary prevention to early and intensive intervention. Key areas of Network focus include community mobilization projects, school-based projects, diversion programs, tobacco coalitions, and resource centers dedicated to building workforce capacity and addressing other information and educational needs. This presentation will showcase how diverse and purposeful State and community partnerships can be developed and supported over time.