The mission of the Washington Association for Substance Misuse And Violence Prevention (WASAVP) is to unite prevention advocates in Washington State to create safe and healthy communities through prevention of substance misuse and violence.
Prevention First! for Safe and Healthy Communities.
Good Policy Is Good Prevention.
Policies come in many forms. Here are four types of policies that prevention is often involved with. Starting from the left:
* Local school district student conduct policy.
* Rule-making order.
* City ordinance.
* Bill passed by the legislature.
These are four different kinds of policy enacted by different levels of government. The commonality between these policies, rules, and laws is that they affect the entire community or - in some cases - the entire state. So, good policy is good prevention.
What is prevention policy work?
Prevention policy work involves creating and implementing guidelines, practices, and systemic changes to stop negative events or conditions from occurring in the first place. This kind of work often – but not always – involves working with some level of government because that’s where laws, policies, and ordinances are developed and enforced. But it can also involve working with private employers or non-profits to implement changes in their policies. Click here for more information.
Why is prevention policy work important?
Providing prevention education for a group of students is extremely important, but the benefits of that instruction are generally limited only to the students receiving it. Being involved with policy change affects everyone in a community.
WASAVP Blog and Other Resources Tell You What You Need to Know
What can preventionists do with policy work?
Some prevention providers have concerns about being involved in policy work. This is because there are some things that cannot be done, especially for those prevention initiatives that receive government funding. However, there are many ways that preventionists can be involved with policy - even if they receive government funding.
It is important to be clear what can be done and what can’t be done.
Education - It is perfectly acceptable to provide policy makers like city council members, county commissioners or state legislators with education about substance misuse or violence problems in community. This could be as simple as distributing one-page briefing documents that use Healthy Youth Survey data to document that there is a continuing problem with youth use of cannabis. Of it could be more involved, such as preparing and delivering a presentation with that type of information.
Advocacy – This is where a particular prevention program or approach is shown as being successful in addressing youth cannabis use and then saying that program or approach needs more funding to reach more young people.
Lobbying – Lobbying involves trying to influence how a policy maker – city, county, or state – will vote on a particular issue. And this is specifically forbidden for prevention efforts receiving government funding.
Other considerations – A key first step before pursuing any prevention policy work is to clarify what your organization’s and fiscal agent’s policies are regarding policy work. Some jurisdictions, for instance, have very clear policies that designate a small handful of people who can talk with policy makers like city councilmembers, county commissioners, or state legislators. Others may require getting permission from a supervisor to proceed with policy work. Whatever your local policy is, follow it.
