Opportunities to inform the prenatal through age 25 (P-25) Behavioral Health Strategic Plan
Join the Health Care Authority (HCA) P-25 Section at an upcoming discussion group meeting to inform the development of a strategic plan for P-25 behavioral health.
Discussion group sessions provide opportunities for anyone across the state to engage in the process by learning about project updates, providing feedback on project materials and outputs, and sharing unique perspectives to support the development of the P-25 Behavioral Health Strategic Plan.
Upcoming discussion group meetings
For more information and opportunities to get involved, view the full announcement on The Athena Forum.
Monday, April 14 webinar: New Friends for Life overdose prevention materials and Take Back Day resources
The Friends for Life and Starts with One overdose and opioid misuse prevention campaigns are hosting a joint webinar on Monday, April 14, 2025, 11 a.m. to noon.
Attend this online event to learn about:
- New medications for opioid use disorder treatment and recovery materials and additional resources to help older teens and young adults keep themselves and friends safe from overdose. These new materials were developed recently as part of the Friends for Life fentanyl and naloxone education campaign.
- Resources to promote Prescription Drug Take Back Day (Saturday, April 26) and safe medication disposal in your community. The toolkit includes ready-to-use ads, posters, social media content, and other localizable materials and information.
The first part of the webinar (11 to 11:30 a.m.) will focus on Friends for Life, and the last section (11:30 a.m. to noon) will cover Take Back Day tools.
Register for the webinar. Questions? Email Mariah Johnson.
April's National Drug Take Back Day is coming up!
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency's (DEA) National Drug Take Back (NDTB) Day is coming up on Saturday, April 26, 2025, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. NDTB day is a free, safe, anonymous, and convenient way to dispose of unused or expired prescription drugs and prevent opioid and prescription medication misuse in your community!
In October 2024, 66 collection sites across Washington collected a combined total of 5,736 tons of unused prescription medications! Don't miss your opportunity to get involved in this month's Take Back Day and make a difference.
How to participate
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Host a Take Back Day collection event in coordination with a local law enforcement agency.
- The partnering law enforcement agency must complete the April NDTB Day registration form and email it to the DEA.
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Dispose of unused or expired medication or volunteer at a Take Back Day collection event near you! Visit the DEA’s Collection Site Locator page and enter your location information.
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Help spread the word about Take Back Day! Consider sharing education and awareness resources from HCA's Starts with One campaign safe disposal toolkit, HCA's Friends for Life campaign prevention partners toolkit, and/or DEA’s NDTB Day partnership toolbox.
For more information about Take Back Day and safe medication return in Washington state, view the full announcement on The Athena Forum.
April is National Alcohol Awareness Month
National Alcohol Awareness Month is observed annually in April to increase public awareness about alcohol use disorder and the adverse impacts of alcohol misuse on individuals, families, and communities.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 178,000 people die each year from excessive alcohol use. This includes alcohol-related deaths from chronic conditions, such as cancer, heart disease, and liver disease, as well as alcohol-related deaths from binge drinking or drinking too much on one occasion, including vehicle crashes and alcohol poisonings. Alcohol remains one of the leading causes of preventable death in the U.S.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Surgeon General published an advisory, Alcohol and Cancer Risk, recognizing the link between alcohol consumption and increased risk for at least seven different types of cancer - mouth, throat, larynx, esophagus, breast, liver, colon and rectum. Shareable resources are available to help spread the word!
Alcohol Awareness Toolkit: #ProofIsInTheNumbers
In honor of National Alcohol Awareness Month, the Northwest Prevention Technology Transfer Center launched an alcohol awareness toolkit, #ProofIsInTheNumbers, to raise awareness about alcohol-related harms and the importance of alcohol policies. The toolkit includes weekly themed social media shareables, a policy analysis worksheet, legislator letter templates, and more!
For additional alcohol education and awareness resources, check out the full announcement on The Athena Forum.
Important update: DBHR's 2025 Spring Youth Forum
Thank you for your patience as we considered all possible avenues for hosting this year’s Spring Youth Forum. As the tentative event date approaches, we continue to navigate obstacles on several fronts. Given this, it will not be possible to host an in-person conference this year. We understand how disappointing this decision is, especially for all the youth across the state that have done incredible work to plan and implement prevention projects.
HCA would still like to recognize youth for their hard work, and we encourage youth to continue implementing projects in their communities. While we do not anticipate holding a formal competition, we are looking for meaningful ways to recognize youth who have planned and implemented prevention projects locally, in a virtual setting. We welcome suggestions and feedback via email on meaningful ideas to recognize youth by Friday, April 4.
Please continue to hold Wednesday, May 7 on your calendars as we develop a plan to recognize youth. Thank you for all that you do to make Washington a healthy place for children, youth, and families.
Dedicated Cannabis Account (DCA) scholarship update
The DCA scholarship was established to provide registration fees to prevention providers. Unfortunately, at this time we have decided to pause accepting and processing applications until further notice. Scholarship information and the application form have been archived on The Athena Forum.
We are hopeful that we can resume in the future and will send out notice if/when we are able to reopen the scholarship. Visit our funding opportunities page for information about current internal and external funding opportunities.
The 2025 Washington State Prevention Awards of Excellence nomination survey will be available soon!
Each year at the Prevention Summit, professionals, community members, youth, and coalitions are recognized for their exemplary contributions to substance misuse prevention, problem gambling prevention, mental health promotion and the health of their communities.
The Prevention Awards of Excellence goals are to:
- Identify superior substance use disorder prevention, problem gambling prevention, suicide prevention, violence prevention and mental health promotion programs with exceptional outcomes that can be adopted or adapted by others;
- Recognize outstanding community partners, including youth engaged in prevention efforts as well as honoring Tribal and Urban Indian work in prevention; and
- Focus statewide attention on exceptional prevention work.
Are you interested in nominating someone who has made an impact in your community? The nomination survey for the 2025 awards will be available soon and remain open through Thursday, July 17. Please note, nominations are only accepted via this survey.
For more information, please review the 2025 Prevention Awards of Excellence page on The Athena Forum.
Share your feedback on the Friends for Life campaign
The Friends for Life campaign team wants to hear from you! As Health Care Authority (HCA) continues our work to prevent overdose deaths in Washington, we are looking for feedback from partners who may be using the fentanyl and naloxone awareness campaign in their communities.
Complete this brief online survey to share your feedback. It should take about 10 minutes to complete.
The goal of this survey is to learn more about how partners are using the campaign, hear ideas for new materials and messaging, and gather other valuable input to help the campaign better meet the needs of communities.
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