The Office of Behavioral Health, Community Prevention and Early Intervention Programs (OBH-CPEI) is committed to promoting the health and safety of Colorado citizens by working with our community partners to improve access to high quality primary prevention of substance use programs. OBH-CPEI works in partnership with key policymakers, prevention providers, various state level organizations, families, individuals and, most importantly, communities to promote and strengthen the Colorado substance abuse primary prevention infrastructure throughout the state.
Local communities are paramount to the success of prevention programming throughout the state, and it is with the communities where the real work happens. OBH-CPEI funds local communities throughout the state to implement a wide range of community level, empirically based prevention programming aimed at preventing the misuse of legal and illegal substances, while reducing risk factors and increasing protective factors associated with substance misuse and general wellness.
According to the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), an annual average of 11.5 percent of Colorado adolescents aged 12-17 initiated alcohol use for the first time in the past year from 2011 to 2015. The annual average for initiated marijuana use in the past year was 7.7 percent , and an annual average of 5.2 percent initiated cigarette use in the past year.
Colorado will often rely on the data from the Healthy Kids Colorado Survey and the NSDUH to do the following:
- Determine prevalence of health behaviors among youth
- Assess youth behavior trends over time
- Examine the occurrence of youth health behaviors
- Provide comparable national, state, regional and local youth health data
- Provide comparable health data among subpopulations of youth
A comprehensive approach to behavioral health also means seeing prevention as part of an overall continuum of care. The Behavioral Health Continuum of Care Model recognizes multiple opportunities for addressing behavioral health problems and disorders.(Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration, 2017)
- Prevention Programs
- Early Intervention Programs
- Prevention Resources
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- Putting Prevention Science to Work: Colorado's Statewide Strategic Plan for Primary Prevention of Substance Abuse (2019-2024)
- Making the Wise Investment: Statewide Needs Assessment of Primary Prevention for Substance Abuse (February 2018)-The Colorado Office of Behavioral Health (OBH)contracted with the Colorado Health Institute to conduct a statewide needs assessment from June 2017 to February 2018 to identify gaps in substance abuse primary prevention program funding. The findings informed a state substance abuse primary prevention priority setting and strategic planning exercise for future statewide community funding allocations.
- Putting Prevention Science to Work: Colorado's Statewide Strategic Plan for Primary Prevention of Substance Abuse (2019-2024)
- Contacts
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For more information about substance abuse prevention and early intervention programs and services, please contact:
Claudia Zundel, Director of Community Prevention and Early Intervention Programs
Office of Behavioral Health
claudia.zundel@state.co.us | 303.866.7528Sharon Aragon, Program Assistant
Community Prevention and Early Intervention Programs
sharon.aragon@state.co.us | 303.866.7430Bonnie Holladay, Community Prevention Programs Coordinator
Office of Behavioral Health
bonnie.holladay@state.co.us | 303.866.7503Sharon Liu, Community Prevention Programs Manager
Prevention and Early Intervention Programs
Office of Behavioral Health
sharon.liu1@state.co.us | 303.866.7507Jodi Lockhart, Community Prevention Programs Manager
Prevention and Early Intervention Programs
Office of Behavioral Health
jodi.lockhart@state.co.us | 303.866.7497Ari Stillman, Evaluation Data Manager for Community Prevention and Early Intervention
Office of Behavioral Health
ari.stillman@state.co.us | 303.866.7550Kyle Pacqué, School/Training Prevention Specialist
CDHS Office of Behavioral Health / Colorado Department of Education
kyle.pacque@state.co.us