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Substance abuse prevention training concludes
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Posted on Sep 27 2008
Nineteen representatives from local agencies completed a substance abuse prevention training workshop Friday.
The training, federally coordinated by the regional Western Center for the Application of Prevention Technologies, brought together people from government agencies, such as the Department of Public Safety, the Public School System and Community Guidance Center, and the non-government sector, such as the Pacific Wellness Center.
CNMI prevention fellow Maggie Untalan said the conference “builds workforce development and introduces the basic knowledge and foundation for prevention.”
There were eight topics covered, including program planning, research prevention, evaluation and media ethics.
The weeklong training had two components: one for participants and one to train future program trainers, Untalan said. A trainer can facilitate future presentations and work with the community.
Participants took part in hands-on activities dealing with issues related to substance abuse. Some of the local issues examined included underage tobacco and alcohol abuse and betel nut abuse.
During a morning recap meeting on Friday, participants shared some of the things they had learned during the week. One participant learned that low income is not always a risk factor for substance abuse. Another participant said programs within the CNMI need to have more evaluation to determine if they are actually working.
Untalan said the training is just one of many that is used to further educate substance abuse prevention workers.
