For over 30 years, the Southwest Prevention Center (SWPC) has delivered outcomes-driven training and technical assistance (T/TA) to support the behavioral health goals of regions, states, tribes, grantees, and communities. There are two divisions within the SWPC State and National Projects and Regional Projects.

Through the State and National Projects division, the SWPC leads state-wide, multistate, and national projects that bring research to practice in the behavioral health and public health fields. These projects include leading the South-Southwest Prevention Technology Transfer Center for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), which serves Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arkansas, and Louisiana; being a major partner in the implementation of SAMHSA's Suicide Prevention Resource Center, and serving on the Prevention Stakeholders Committee for the national Opioid Response Network funded by SAMHSA's State Targeted Response Technical Assistance (STR-TA).

The SWPC State and National division convenes the Prevention Advisory Council (PAC.) for the multistate South-Southwest Region as well as the Higher Education Council (HEC.), which focuses on integrating prevention science into curriculum and degree programs for institutions of higher education in Health and Human Services (HHS) Region 6.  SWPC State and National projects staff members developed and have served as faculty for OU’s Master of Prevention Science degree program.  They have recently worked on State, regional, and national projects with the OU School of Social Work, OU Department of Sociology, the OU School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science, and the OU Data Institute on Societal Challenges, including contributions to funding proposals and a Big Idea Challenge grant funded by the OU, Vice President for Research and Partnerships to address suicide and opioid overdose-related deaths in rural communities. The same staff members participate in OU’s Opioid Research Group and serve as a partner to the OU Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

The Regional Projects division of SWPC aims to build the prevention infrastructure and capacity at the community level serving multiple counties in central Oklahoma. Projects funded by the Oklahoma Department of Mental and Substance Abuse Services (ODMHSAS) follow the SAMHSA Strategic Prevention Framework to guide local coalitions in identifying and addressing the risk and protective factors that seem to be driving the substance use issues and related behaviors in each community related to marijuana and opioid use.  Projects funded through SAMHSA and the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) include the Strategic Prevention Framework-Partnerships for Success (SPF-PFS) and the Sober Truth on Preventing Underage Drinking Act (STOP Act), both focusing on underage alcohol use in Cleveland County.  This work highlights the Red Cup Q&A, a University of Oklahoma campus-wide media campaign that answers student questions regarding alcohol to dispel myths with facts. https://www.instagram.com/redcupqa/

One of the division's newest projects is the SAMHSA, and the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) funded Strategic Prevention Framework-Prescription Drugs (SPF-Rx) designed to provide resources to help prevent and address prescription drug misuse within local communities.  As a Drug-Free Communities Support Program (DFC), funded by the Office of National Drug Control (ONDC) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), SWPC serves as the lead agency for the Community Alliance of Resources for Everyone (CARE) Coalition in McClain County. The DFC brings together diverse community partners to address youth substance use/misuse and strengthen partnerships locally.

The SWPC Regional Projects division supervises the OK Child Assistance Program (PCAP) implementation component in partnership with the OU Department of Sociology.  PCAP aims to help mothers build healthy families and prevent future births of children exposed prenatally to alcohol and other drugs through an intensive case management model developed at the University of Washington.  SWPC also serves as a practicum site for the OU School of Social Work and the OU.  College of Public Health.  Students obtain real-world experience and learn directly in the field as they engage in the projects of SWPC.  SWPC's areas of expertise include strategic planning and implementation science; epidemiology; instructional design and facilitation; behavioral health workforce needs assessment; program development and quality improvement; reducing health disparities and building health equity; trauma-informed prevention practice; opioid overdose prevention; and creating partnerships and collaborations, including state and tribal coordination. The SWPC has leveraged this expertise to provide thousands of hours of capacity-building services that include:

• Enhancing the ability of states, tribes, and communities to use data on opioid misuse and related consequences to target where and how to allocate prevention resources
• Increasing the number of credentialed prevention professionals by developing accurate, up-to-date, and effective entry-level workforce training curricula
• Supporting tribal programs to document how youth participation in traditional cultural practices protects youth from substance misuse and other problems.

Across all these projects and activities, the SWPC has enjoyed productive relationships with university departments, state leaders, grant directors, tribes and tribal prevention programs, and national and international professional organizations.