Contact Us:

Southwest Prevention Center
1639 Cross Center Drive
Room 254
Norman, OK 73019

Toll free: (800) 853-2572
Phone: (405) 325-1454
FAX: (405 ) 325-7092
Email

Prevention Resource Links:

GENERAL

Growing Up Strong (GUS)
http://www.growingupstrong.org GROWING UP STRONG®, or GUS, is a research-based, adaptable, and affordable mental wellness and substance abuse prevention curriculum for use in early childhood. GUS assists children with the acquisition of life skills such as problem solving, accepting responsibility, and developing social and emotional competence through age appropriate activities.

Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA):
http://www.casacolumbia.org - CASA, based at Columbia University, is the only national organization that brings together under one roof all the professional disciplines needed to study and combat abuse of all substances in all sectors of society. CASA has three divisions: (1) Health and Treatment Research and Analysis; (2) Policy Research and Analysis; and (3) Program Demonstration.

Center for Disease Control (CDC):
http://www.cdc.gov - The CDC has a wide range of information about many health and safety topics, including public health and disease prevention research and trends.

Center for Substance Abuse Prevention:
http://prevention.samhsa.gov/ - CSAP is the sole Federal organization with responsibility for improving accessibility and quality of substance abuse prevention services. The Center provides national leadership in the development of policies, programs, and services to prevent the onset of illegal drug use, underage alcohol and tobacco use, and to reduce the negative consequences of using substances.

National Clearinghouse for Alcohol & Drug Information (NCADI):
http://ncadi.samhsa.gov/ - NCADI is the Nation's one-stop resource for all the latest information about substance abuse prevention and addiction treatment. NCADI is one of the largest Federal clearinghouses, offering more than 500 items to the public, many of which are free of charge. These include the latest studies and surveys, guides, videocassettes, and other types of information and materials on substance abuse from various Federal agencies.

National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA):
http://www.drugabuse.gov - NIDA supported science not only addresses questions about drug abuse, but it is also involved in tracking emerging drug use trends, understanding how drugs work in the brain, and developing and testing new drug treatment and prevention approaches. NIDA's website provides information and resources for researchers, health professionals, parents, teachers, students, young adults (many resources are also available in Spanish).

Prevention Overview:
http://wch.uhs.wisc.edu/01-Prevention/01-PreventionMain.html - The web page
(sponsored by the Wisconsin Clearinghouse for Prevention Resources) provides links to resources including videos, web casts, guides and articles on environmental approaches to substance abuse prevention.

Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools (OSDFS):
http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osdfs/index.html - The OSDFS administers, coordinates, and recommends policy for improving the quality and excellence of drug and violence prevention programs and activities in elementary, secondary and institutions of higher education. This involves financial assistance, policy and legislative formulation, collaboration/partnership with other Federal agencies, citizenship and civics education, and national leadership.

RADAR Network:
http://ncadi.samhsa.gov/RADAR - The RADAR Network, sponsored by SAMHSA's National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information, is the largest substance abuse prevention and treatment network of its kind. The purpose of the Network is to strengthen communication, prevention, and treatment activities, among a broad range of organizations to address problems related to substance abuse.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA):
http://www.samhsa.gov/index.aspx - SAMHSA's mission is to build resilience and facilitate recovery for people with or at risk for substance abuse and mental illness. SAMHSA includes three Centers that engage in program activities focusing on substance abuse treatment, mental health service, and substance abuse prevention. The Office of Applied Studies is the focal point for the collection, analysis and dissemination of national data on practices and issues related to substance abuse and mental disorders.

ASSESSMENT

Brain Damage Risks:
http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/9416.html -
This summary report by the American Medical Associate provides information on alcohol’s adverse effects on the brains of children, adolescents and college students.

Community-Level Indicators:
http://faculty.washington.edu/cheadle/cli/ - This website describes community-level indicators for assessment, monitoring and evaluation. It describes a lower-cost alternative to surveys that involves observations of factors within a community rather than of individuals.

Key Informant Interviews:
http://www.aces.uiuc.edu/%7EPPA/KeyInform.htm - These pages on the University of Illinois Extension website provide an overview that includes: using key informant interviews, tips for managing a key informant survey, conducting the interview, writing the introduction for the interview, how to ask open-ended and probing questions, and recording and summarizing results.

A Manual for the Use of Focus Groups:
http://www.unu.edu/unupress/food2/UIN03E/UIN03E00.HTM - This manual on how to do focus groups is designed to help individuals use qualitative research methods. These methods may be used instead of social survey research methods, or they may supplement other methods. Qualitative research methods, including interviewing, observations and focus groups, are valuable methods for understanding about ideas and beliefs, practices and behaviors.

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism:
http://www.niaaa.nih.gov - NIAAA provides national leadership in an effort to reduce alcohol-related problems by: conducting and supporting research in a wide range of scientific areas; coordinating and collaborating with other research institutes; collaborating with organizations engaged in alcohol-related work; and translating and disseminating research findings to health care providers, researchers, policymakers and the public.

Population Reference Bureau:
http://www.prb.org – The Population Reference Bureau informs people around the world about population, health, and the environment. Its DataFinder database contains data on 136 population, health, and environment variables for more than 220 countries, 28 world regions and sub-regions, and the world as a whole.

Stop Alcohol Abuse:
http://www.stopalcoholabuse.gov/ - StopAlcoholAbuse.Gov is a comprehensive portal of Federal resources for information on underage drinking and ideas for combating this issue. People interested in underage drinking prevention—including parents, educators, community-based organizations, and youth—will find a wealth of valuable information here.

Tobacco Control:
http://www.lungusa.org/site/pp.asp?c=dvLUK9O0E&b=22937 - These pages on
the American Lung Association website provide fact sheets about tobacco and smoking, legislative information, statistics and other information on tobacco and teens, and smoking and lung disease among minority groups.

Tools for Community Assessment: http://preventiontraining.samhsa.gov/Cti01/mod4b6tr.htm - This site provides tools that partnerships can use to examine important aspects of community development and mobilization. Theses tools can be used to focus partnerships on ensuring community ownership and sustained support for grassroots community prevention efforts.

CAPACITY

Action Coalition for Media Education (ACME):
http://acmecoalition.org/ - ACME’s approach to media education involves teaching people of all ages how to more effectively access, analyze, evaluate and produce media. ACME works to teach media skills, knowledge and activism in an engaging way.

Center for the Advancement of Collaborative Strategies in Health:
http://www.cacsh.org - Part of The New York Academy of Medicine, the Center engages in applied research on how collaboration works, and what partnerships can do to realize the full potential of their collaborative efforts. The website includes a link to a free and easy-to-use, web-based Partnership Self-Assessment Tool (http://www.partnershiptool.net), that provides a way to assess the collaborative process, and to identify ways to make the process more effective.

Coalition Evaluation Inventory:
http://prevention.sph.sc.edu/tools/CoalitionEvalInvent.pdf - An inventory of measurement tools for evaluating community coalitioncharacteristics and functioning published by the Prevention Research Center,Norman J. Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina.

Collaboration Framework - Addressing Community Capacity: http://crs.uvm.edu/nnco/collab/ - Collaboration is a process of participation through which people, groups and organizations work together to achieve desired results. Starting or sustaining a collaborative journey is exciting, sometimes stressful, and even new for many. The information presented here utilizes the knowledge and expertise of specialists from the National Network for Collaboration to provide a guide to begin, strengthen and sustain the collaborative journey, for the building and sustaining of positive change.

Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America:
http://cadca.org/ - CADCA's mission is to build and strengthen the capacity of community coalitions to create safe, healthy and drug-free communities. The organization supports its members with technical assistance and training, public policy, media strategies and marketing programs, conferences and special events.

Community-Campus Partnerships for Health:
http://www.ccph.info - This nonprofit organization promotes health through partnerships between communities and higher educational institutions. These partnerships are viewed as powerful tools for improving health professional education, civic engagement and the overall health of communities.

Community Engagement:
http://www.health.state.mn.us/communityeng/index.html - This website provides information, strategies, resources, links and tools related to engaging community members in problem-solving solutions to issues that affect them.

Community Organizing - A Comprehensive Regional Approach:
http://www.alcoholpolicypanel.org/ - At the request of the OJJDP, the SDSU Foundation's Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws Program developed five Action Kits in order to share technologies developed in San Diego County. Each kit is intended to serve as a guide for communities to conduct regional environmental prevention efforts that involve the enforcement of underage drinking laws as an integral component.

The Health Advocacy Tool Box:
http://www.cthealthpolicy.org/toolbox/Default.htm - The Toolbox is built to give people the skills they need to address the problems they are facing. The goal is skill development that consumers can use to benefit their own issues.

Inter-Association Task Force on Alcohol and Other Substance Abuse Issues:
http://www.iatf.org - The Task Force is a coalition of organizations that collaborate on issues relating to substance abuse prevention efforts within the higher education community. Task Force members communicate on key areas of research and programming efforts for student alcohol and other drug issues.

How Alcohol Outlets Affect Neighborhood Violence:
http://resources.prev.org/documents/AlcoholViolenceGruenewald.pdf – This article by the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation (PIRE), discusses the fact that neighborhoods where bars, restaurants and liquor and other stores that sell alcohol are close together suffer more frequent incidences of violence and other alcohol-related problems.

National Network for Collaboration (NCCO):
http://crs.uvm.edu/nnco - Through a variety of resources and links, this site utilizes the knowledge and expertise of specialists from the National Network for Collaboration to provide a guide to begin, strengthen and sustain the collaborative journey, for the building and sustaining of positive change.

Strategizer 49, Community Briefings – A prevention Tool for Communities:
http://www.mediacampaign.org/pdf/community_briefings.pdf – This publication provides a step-by-step explanation of the planning process for a community briefing (also called a town hall meeting or community forum), including tips on how to organize and promote them, how best to utilize the information gained from the meeting, and real-life examples of how community briefings can build community awareness.

STRATEGIC PLAN

Adult Accountability for Underage Drinking – The Case for Social Host Laws: http://www.publicstrategies.org/pdfs/East_Social_Host_5_03.pdf - This brief by the Institute for Public Strategies details the problem of social hosting – adults providing alcohol or allowing underage drinking to occur in private settings – and proposes a social host ordinance as a solution.

Alcohol Sales Licenses:
http://www.marininstitute.org/alcohol_policy/alcohol_licenses.htm –
This page on the Marin Institute website, provides information about how local municipalities can protect public health by regulating the location, type and density of alcohol outlets.

Back to the Future: Smoking in Movies in 2002 Compared With 1950 Levels:
http://www.smokefreemovies.ucsf.edu – In this 2004 article in the American Journal of Public Health, the authors found that despite declining tobacco use and increasing public understanding of the dangers of smoking in the real world, smoking in movies has returned to levels observed in 1950, when smoking was nearly twice as prevalent in reality as it was in 2002. They state that the pro-tobacco influence of the high smoking levels in recent movies will continue to be a pro-tobacco influence on teenagers for years to come unless remedial action is taken.

Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids:
http://www.tobaccofreekids.org - The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids is fighting to free America's youth from tobacco and to create a healthier environment. The Campaign is one of the nation's largest non-governmental initiatives ever launched to protect children from tobacco addiction and exposure to secondhand smoke.

Center for Media Literacy (CML):
http://www.medialit.org – CML promotes and supports media literacy education as a framework for accessing, analyzing, evaluating, and creating media content. CML works to help citizens, especially the young, with skills needed to live fully in the 21st century media culture. It’s ultimate goal is to make wise choices possible.

The Center for Media Studies:
http://www.mediastudies.rutgers.edu/ - The Center for Media Studies at Rutgers, the State University of new Jersey, is concerned with the impact of media on contemporary society. Through research, teaching, public events and outreach, the Center seeks ways for the media to better serve the public interest.

Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY):
http://camy.org - The Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth at Georgetown University, monitors the marketing practices of the Alcohol Industry. It focuses attention and action on industry practices that jeopardize the health and safety of America's youth.

College Tobacco Prevention Resource (CTPR):
http://www.ttac.org/college/ - CTPR aims to provide practical information, ideas, and guidance to assist college leaders with planning, implementing, and evaluating effective campus tobacco policies and programs. CTPR favors a comprehensive approach to prevention that combines traditional education and cessation programs with efforts to create a physical, social, and policy environment that supports tobacco-free campuses.

CSAP's Southwest Center for Application of Prevention Technologies:
http://captus.samhsa.gov/ - The Southwest CAPT's mission is to support the exchange of knowledge between researchers and practitioners, increasing the application of science-based prevention programs, practices, policies, and principles at regional, state and local levels. The website provides information on funding resources, training and events, science-based prevention, research, publications and other resources.

Drug Watch International:
http://www.drugwatch.org/index.html - Drug Watch International is a volunteer non-profit drug information network and advocacy organization that promotes the creation of healthy drug-free cultures in the world and opposes the legalization of drugs. The purpose of Drug Watch International is to provide policymakers, the media, and the public with current information, factual research, expert resources, and to counter drug advocacy propaganda.

Effects of Price and Access Laws on Teenage Smoking Initiation – A National Longitudinal Analysis:http://www.impacteen.org/generalarea_PDFs/AccessLaws.pdf – This 2001 research paper addresses the limitations of the previous studies on smoking initiation and examines the impact of cigarette prices and youth access laws on adolescent smoking initiation.

Guide to Community Preventive Services – Tobacco:
http://www.thecommunityguide.org/tobacco - This web page is provides an overview, as well as links to interventions, publications and additional resources related to community-based tobacco interventions within the areas of preventing initiation, increasing cessation, and reducing exposure to environmental tobacco smoke. The page is sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Hechos y Cifras Sobre Las Drogas:
http://usinfo.state.gov/espanol/drogas/ - This page is from the Spanish language website for the U.S. Department of State's International Information Programs. This page focuses on the national drug control strategy, the counter-drug campaign, and related information.

The Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse and Violence Prevention: http://www.higheredcenter.org/ - The Center’s purpose is to help college and community leaders develop, implement, and evaluate programs and policies to reduce student problems related to alcohol and other drug use and interpersonal violence. The Center favors a comprehensive approach to prevention. Central to this approach is a mix of environmental management strategies to address the institutional, community, and public policy factors that contribute to these problems.

Join Together Online (JTO):
http://www.jointogether.org/home/ - JTO is a pioneer in using the Internet to support people working on substance abuse and gun violence issues. JTO’s website provides information about how to take action, what’s in the news, current issues, resources, and how to find help. JTO also provides free, e-mail news services to which anyone can subscribe.

LaAntiDroga.com:
http://www.laantidroga.com/ - This is Spanish language website for the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy's National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign ("Parents. The Anti-Drug"). The site provides articles and advice about parenting and substance abuse prevention; science-based information about drugs; resources for community action; and news.

LasDrogas.info:
http://www.lasdrogas.info/ - This is the website of the Instituto para el Estudio de las Adicciones of the Canary Islands. It provides international information on drugs and drug addiction including legislation and news.

Leadership to Keep Children Alcohol Free:
http://www.alcoholfreechildren.org/en/text/index.cfm - This organization is a coalition of governors’ spouses, Federal agencies, and public and private organizations, working to prevent the use of alcohol by children 9 to 15. The website includes general prevention information, statistics, research, prevention resources, legislation, etc.

NACCHO's Tobacco Prevention and Control Project:
http://www.naccho.org/topics/hpdp/tobacco/overview.cfm - This project of the National Association of County & City Health Officials, aims to strengthen local health departments’ capacity to address tobacco use. These web pages provide information about funding, partner organizations, news, statistics, research, programming and other resources.

National Conference of State Legislatures:
http://www.ncsl.org - The National Conference of State Legislatures was founded in 1975 with the conviction that legislative service is one of democracy's worthiest pursuits. NCSL is a bipartisan organization that serves the legislators and staffs of the nation's 50 states, its commonwealths and territories. NCSL provides research, technical assistance and opportunities for policymakers to exchange ideas on the most pressing state issues. NCSL is an effective and respected advocate for the interests of state governments before Congress and federal agencies.

The National Social Norms Resource Center:
http://www.socialnorm.org - The National Social Norms Resource Center supports, promotes and provides technical assistance in the area of the social norms approach to health, safety and social justice issues, including alcohol-related risk-reduction and the prevention of tobacco abuse. It is the only national center devoted exclusively to the understanding and use of the social norms approach.

Office of Tobacco Control:
http://www.otc.ie/ - The role of the Office of Tobacco Control is to support the policy of taking effective action to reduce this burden of disease and death caused by tobacco, by discharging a variety of functions which includes conducting research into tobacco and communicating the findings, organizing a national inspection programme and enforcing the tobacco control laws generally.

Partnership for a Drug Free America:
http://www.drugfree.org/ - The Partnership is a nonprofit coalition of communication, health, medical and educational professionals working to reduce illicit drug use and help people live healthy, drug-free lives. Its research-based, educational campaigns are disseminated through all forms of media, including TV, radio and print advertisements and over the Internet.

RAND Drug Policy Research Center (DPRC):
http://www.rand.org/multi/dprc/index.html - The DPRC conducts research to help community leaders and public officials develop more effective ways of dealing with drug problems. In doing so, the DPRC brings an objective, pragmatic perspective to this often emotional and fractious policy arena. The Center's goal is to provide a firm, empirical foundation on which sound policies can be built. (The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit research organization providing objective analysis and effective solutions that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors
around the world.)

IMPLEMENTION

Community How To Guides (on multiple topics):
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/alcohol/Community%20Guides%20HTML/ Guides_index.html - This service of guides details how coalitions and organizations can effectively work to impact underage drinking. Topics include Coalition Building, Needs Assessment & Strategic Planning, Evaluation, Prevention & Education, Enforcement, Public Policy, Media Relations, Self Sufficiency.

The Electronic Prevention Community Organizer (ePrevco):
http://www.eprevco.com/ - This site helps communities implement policy-based alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drug prevention strategies targeting youth. The site provides resources such as: interviews with experts in the prevention field; a list of prevention conferences and events happening throughout the country; a database of existing prevention policies and laws on which to model; and a resource library of information ranging from peer-reviewed articles to links to other organizations.

Too Smart to Start:
http://toosmarttostart.samhsa.gov/ - Too Smart To Start is a public education initiative that provides research-based strategies and materials to professionals and volunteers at the community level to help them conduct an underage alcohol use prevention program. The materials are designed to educate 9- to 13-year-olds about the harms of alcohol use and to support parents and caregivers as they participate in their children’s activities.

Underage Drinking Enforcement Training Center:
http://www.udetc.org/Publications.htm - UDETC develops publications to assist states and communities in their efforts to enforce underage drinking laws and prevent environmental conditions that contribute to underage drinking. All publications are available for downloading through the use of Adobe Acrobat Reader. To view a description of any publication, move your cursor over the publication title.

EVALUATION

American Evaluation Association (AEA):
http://www.eval.org – The AEA is an international professional association of evaluators whose mission is to improve evaluation practices and methods, increase evaluation use, promote evaluation as a profession, and support the contribution of evaluation to the generation of theory and knowledge about effective human interaction.

Making Information Work for You – A Guide for Collecting Good Information and Using it to Improve Comprehensive Strategies for Children, Families and Communitites:
http://www.ed.gov/inits/americareads/resourcekit/MakingInfo/title.html – This guide demonstrates that evaluation should occur within the context of project development. Instead of viewing evaluation as an activity that determines whether something worked - and therefore as something to do late in the life of a project - this guide book defines evaluation more broadly, as the ongoing production of information for continuous improvement of a comprehensive strategy. (NOTE: To access consecutive sections of this report, go to the bottom of the page and click “next.”)

Basic Guide to Outcomes-Based Evaluation in Nonprofit Organizations With Very Limited Resources:
http://www.mapnp.org/library/evaluatn/outcomes.htm - This document provides guidance toward basic planning and implementation of an outcomes-based evaluation process (also called outcomes evaluation) in nonprofit organizations. This document provides basic guidance - particularly to small nonprofits with very limited resources.

Center for Substance Abuse Research (CESAR):
http://www.cesar.umd.edu/cesar/about.asp - CESAR, at the University of Maryland at College Park, is dedicated to informing policymakers, practitioners, and the general public about substance abuse—its nature and extent, its prevention and treatment, and its relation to other problems. CESAR conducts policy-relevant research and evaluation studies, disseminates statistical and other information, assists in training students in substance abuse research methods and policy analysis, and provides technical assistance to agencies and organizations working in substance abuse related fields.

Community Research Network (CRN):
http://www.loka.org/crn/index.htm - The CRN is a network of research and grassroots organizations conducting community-based research for social change. CRN’s mission is to create a system through which grassroots, worker, and public-interest organizations, and local governments can find solutions to social and environmental problems, and participate more effectively in public policy.

Collaborative, Participatory and Empowerment Evaluation:
http://www.stanford.edu/~davidf/empowermentevaluation.html - The Collaborative, Participatory, and Empowerment Evaluation group is part of the American Evaluation Association. This is a page of resources for evaluation colleagues, ranging from online survey software to self-help manuals.

Community-Based Project Evaluation Guide:
http://ag.arizona.edu/fcs/cyfernet/cyfar/stst_guide.pdf – This guide, by the University of Arizona Institute for Children, Youth and Families, will take you through the steps of a process that will help you evaluate community-based programs. The links between theory and research base, program goals and objectives, measures, variables and program implementation are discussed.

Conducting Focus Group Interviews:
http://www.usaid.gov/pubs/usaid_eval/pdf_docs/pnaby233.pdf – This guide from the U.S. Agency for International Development, answers questions about when to use focus groups, and provides information on conducting focus group interviews.

CYFERnet’s Evaluation Section:
http://cyfernet.ces.ncsu.edu/cyfres/browse_2.php?search=Evaluation - This page on the website of the University of Arizona’s Children Youth and Families Education and Research Network, includes practical tools for evaluating community-based programs, information on how community programs can be sustained, and assessments of organizational support for work in the areas of children, youth and families.
Innovation Network: http://www.innonet.org – The Innovation Network is a nonprofit organization working to share planning and evaluation tools and know-how. We provide consulting, training, and online tools for nonprofits and funding sources.

The Evaluation Exchange:
http://www.gse.harvard.edu/hfrp/eval.html - Harvard Family Research Project's evaluation periodical, The Evaluation Exchange, addresses current issues facing program evaluators of all levels, with articles written by the most prominent evaluators in the field. Designed as an ongoing discussion among evaluators, program practitioners, funders, and policymakers, The Evaluation Exchange highlights innovative methods and approaches to evaluation, emerging trends in evaluation practice, and practical applications of evaluation theory. It goes out to its subscribers free of charge 3–4 times per year.

Harvard Family Research Project (HFRP):
http://www.gse.harvard.edu/hfrp/ - HFRP's work strengthens family, school, and community partnerships and early childhood care and education, promotes evaluation and accountability, and offers professional development to those who work directly with children, youth, and families. The audiences for HFRP's work include policymakers, practitioners, philanthropists, and concerned individuals.

Lessons in Evaluating Communications Campaigns - Five Case Studies:
http://www.mediaevaluationproject.org/HFRP2.pdf - This paper presents five case studies of completed communications campaign evaluations. Each case study includes a set of lessons about what can be learned and applied from the evaluation. The paper concludes with a set of general lessons gleaned from these evaluations and others.

Online Evaluation Resource Library:
http://oerl.sri.com/ - Sponsored by the National Science Foundation, this library was developed for prefessionals seeking to design, conduct, document, or review project evaluations. OERL provides (1) a large collection of plans, reports and instruments from past and current project evaluations in several content areas; and (2) guidelines for how to improve evaluation practice using this websites’s resources.

Program Development and Evaluation (PDE):
http://www.uwex.edu/ces/pdande/index.html - PDE, of the University of Wisconsin-Extension, is charged with providing leadership and capacity building in program evaluation through in-service education, resource material development, consultation, administrative support and managing high priority evaluations. PDE’s main areas include: internal capacity development, community-based capacity development, research and development. This website provides a variety of resources, including evaluation publications, workshops and presentations, evaluation instruments, on-line evaluation courses, related links, etc.

User-Friendly Handbook for Mixed Method Evaluations:
http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/1997/nsf97153/start.htm – This handbook, by the National Science Foundation, was initiated because of the recognition that by focusing primarily on quantitative techniques, evaluators may miss important parts of a story. Experienced evaluators have found that most often the best results are achieved through the use of mixed method evaluations, which combine quantitative and qualitative techniques. This handbook is intended to provide more information on qualitative techniques and discuss how they can be combined effectively with quantitative measures.

Using Focus Groups for Evaluation:
http://ag.arizona.edu/fcs/cyfernet/cyfar/focus.htm – This page describes what a focus group is, what they can and cannot tell you, advantages and disadvantages, and how to conduct a focus group.

W.K. Kellogg Foundation Evaluation Handbook:
http://www.wkkf.org/Pubs/Tools/Evaluation/Pub770.pdf - This handbook is guided by the belief that evaluation should be supportive and responsive to projects, rather than become an end in itself. It provides a framework for thinking about evaluation as a relevant and useful program tool. While this handbook was written for W.K. Kellogg Foundation-funded projects, the contents are widely applicable.

Wading Through the Data Swamp:
http://pathwayscourses.samhsa.gov/eval201/eval201_toc.htm – This intermediate level online course from the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, provides modules on descriptive statistics, subgroup analysis, variables, correlation, and the t-test of difference between means.

SUSTAINABILITY & CULTURAL COMPETENCY

Asset-Based Community Development Institute (ABCD):
http://www.northwestern.edu/ipr/abcd.html - The ABCD Institute is built upon three decades of community development research by John Kretzmann and John L. McKnight. The ABCD Institute spreads its findings on capacity-building community development in two ways: (1) through extensive and substantial interactions with community builders, and (2) by producing practical resources and tools for community builders to identify, nurture and mobilize neighborhood assets. The ABCD Training Group (http://www.abcdtraininggroup.org) focuses on knowledge and practical skills for putting Asset-Based Community Development into action.

Capaciteria:
www.capaciteria.org - An excellent peer reviewed/rated website for non-profits designed to help learners help themselves. Topic categories include finance, grants, personnel, technology, legal, management, facilities, marketing, volunteering and public relations. Each category contains subcategories allowing visitors to drill down to more specific information, tools and resources. Need a communications toolkit? Develop a crisis communications plan? Basic writing skills? Learn to listen actively? Write a position paper? Developing a website? The topics continue. The website is free although registration is required.

Finding Common Ground for Effective Campus-Based Prevention:
http://www.silvergategroup.com/terminology/common-ground.pdf - This commentary reviews the controversy over use of the term "binge drinking" to describe college student alcohol consumption, argues for abandoning the term, and explains how doing so will help unify and reinvigorate campus-based prevention work.

Hispanic/Latino Initiative:
http://hablemos.samhsa.gov/ - Hablemos en Confianza is your bilingual fountain of recourses. Here you will find articles about the most commonly abused substances and information that will help you talk to your children about alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs.

National Alliance for Hispanic Health:
http://www.hispanichealth.org/ - The mission of the Alliance is to improve the health and well-being of Hispanics. It is the nation's oldest and largest network of Hispanic health and human services providers. The programs of the Alliance: inform and mobilize consumers; support providers in the delivery of quality care; improve the science base for accurate decision making; promote appropriate use of technology; and, promote philanthropy.

National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities –
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD): http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/fas/ - This page on the Centers for Disease Control website, includes information on FAS, guidelines for referral and diagnosis, as well as CDC activities related to FAS.

National Dialogue on Co-Occurring Mental Health and Substance Abuse Disorders: http://www.dualdiagnosis.org/index.php?id=12&pid=1 - This report: (1) describes in brief the characteristics of the population and some historic barriers to providing care for people with co-occurring disorders; (2) outlines and describes a conceptual framework for considering both the needs of individuals with co-occurring disorders and the system requirements designed to address these needs (3) outlines desirable characteristics of a comprehensive system of care for people with co-occurring disorders; and (4) presents recommendations for future strategies designed to translate the theoretical underpinnings of the conceptual framework into practice.

The Provision of Culturally Competent Services in the School Setting:
http://www.nasponline.org/culturalcompetence/provision_cultcompsvcs.html -
This page describes steps educators and related services personnel can take to: (1) ensure awareness and respect for the importance of the values, beliefs, traditions, customs and parenting styles of the children and families they serve; (2) understand the impact of their own culture on their interactions with others; and (3) take all of those factors into account when planning and delivering services to children and their families.

Sustaining The Effort: Building a Learning Community:
http://www.well.com/user/bbear/sustain.html - This article focuses on how to sustain the transformation of a community, and addresses the following subject matter: Governance, Structure, Leadership, Process, Maintaining Participation, Resources, Transferring Knowledge and Capacity, Measurement and Celebration.

Working With Diverse Cultures:
http://ohioline.osu.edu/bc-fact/0014.html - This fact sheet discusses the dimensions of diversity in a coalition, and what needs to be considered when identifying, selecting and recruiting prospective coalition members. The fact sheet provides tips on how a heterogeneous group can work together effectively on mutual goals and objectives through consensus and cooperation.