The SPF Competency Series is a five-module course that covers the five steps of the Strategic Prevention Framework: Assessment, Capacity Building, Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation. The training modules can be taken individually or as a whole series, to best meet your needs.

Module 1: Assessment


This training is from the Core Competencies section. It is the first module, and focuses on assessing need, resources, and readiness in a planning process. The goal of this training is to increase your ability to plan and implement prevention strategies that are well-targeted to identified needs in your community.

Module 2: Capacity Building

The goals of this training are:

  • To increase your ability to identify, engage and organize the important community stakeholders in AOD prevention planning.
  • To increase your ability to provide the necessary leadership to planning partners that will result in a sound prevention plan that is aligned with prevention theory.

Module 3: Planning

This module looks at thought processes and tools that support planning in substance abuse prevention.

  • First, we’ll discuss logic models, and their role in prevention planning, implementation, and evaluation.
  • You will then discuss strategic planning and demonstrate how the plan and logic model come together.  We will also discuss the important step of planning for the sustainability of your prevention activities.
  • Lastly, we’ll discuss the use and utility of work plans and evaluation plans.

Module 4: Implementation

In this module:

  • We will discuss characteristics of good strategies, and sources of ideas for strategies.
  • We’ll discuss the issues of fidelity and adaptation as applied to implementing evidence-based strategies
  • Finally, we’ll consider examples of strategies that are being used with various populations.

Module 5: Evaluation

Our goal in the Evaluation module is to increase your ability to:

  • Develop evaluation questions that are well-targeted to your information needs.
  • Choose evaluation designs and strategies.
  • Select data collection methods that suit your needs and resources.
  • Make an informed decision about completing an evaluation internally or externally by using an external consultant.
  • Apply evaluation findings to enhance prevention activities.