Prevention

Prevention Services seek to encourage and promote the development of strengths and potentials in general and at-risk populations. It is the goal of prevention services to enhance protective factors and reduce risk factors for youth and their families. 

Prevention Services offer positive experiences through programs in our schools and communities. Services are designed to promote the development of healthy youth and strong families. Parents and/or caregivers can attend parent education programs at convenient community locations.

Prevention Services are available to all residents in our service area. Prevention groups are offered in our local school in collaboration with school counselors. Prevention partners with other service providers and coalitions to maximize resources, identify gaps in service and reduce substance abuse and related problems in our community. 

Prevention Services provide a wide range of programs to meet consumer's needs. Services include:

• Community-based Prevention Groups
• Parent Education
• Substance Use Prevention
• Violence Prevention
• Community Education
• Inter-agency Collaboration

Prevention Services are operated out of our Child & Adolescent Services Office:

921 Capitol Landing Road
Williamsburg, Virginia 23185

Phone: 757-253-4074
Fax: 757-253-4018

Click here to contact a Prevention Specialist.

We offer prevention programs for groups of five to 25 youth participants. Groups can be single session but are most often multi-session. Topics usually covered are social skills, feelings management and friendship skills. We have many programs designed for small groups and can accommodate most needs. If you would like to schedule a small group program please contact us.  

In our speaker series, lectures, workshops and seminars are provided on a variety of topics. We also partner with other agencies to provide additional speakers and resources. If you would like more information or have a speaking engagement you would like us to attend please contact us.  

A strength of prevention work is having a strong connection to the community we serve. Our program offers to attend community events and can participate in a variety of ways. Participation can include informational tables, activities for youth and group presentations. If you would like us to participate in a community event contact us.

We offer several parent education classes. We offer a single session Parenting Through Divorce workshop as well as multi-session parenting classes. If you would like to host a parenting class at your site or would like to participate in a class contact us. 

The Prevention program partners with local agencies to address prevention needs in our community. This team is need-based and action oriented. Topics such as childhood obesity and suicide prevention have been focus areas. If you are interested in joining our team or sharing prevention resources contact us. 

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• "Said No Teen Ever"
• Above the Influence
• Partnership for Drug-Free America
• Parents: the Anti-Drug
• The Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY)
• Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI)
• Monitoring the Future
• National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
• Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)

• Do Something
• Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD)
• Youth Leadership Institute (YLI)
• Youth Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Project (YADAPP)

Just as CPR helps you assist an individual having a heart attack, Mental Health First Aid helps you assist someone experiencing a mental health or substance use-related crisis. In the Mental Health First Aid course, you learn risk factors and warning signs for mental health and addiction concerns, strategies for how to help someone in both crisis and non-crisis situations, and where to turn for help.

If you are interested in hosting or participating in a training, please contact us.

Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) is a two-day interactive workshop in suicide first aid. ASIST teaches participants to recognize when someone may have thoughts of suicide and work with them to create a plan that will support their immediate safety. Although ASIST is widely used by healthcare providers, participants don't need any formal training to attend the workshop—anyone 16 or older can learn and use the ASIST model.

If you are interested in hosting or participating in a training, please contact us.

QPR stands for Question, Persuade, and Refer — the 3 simple steps anyone can learn to help save a life from suicide.  Just as people trained in CPR and the Heimlich Maneuver help save thousands of lives each year, people trained in QPR learn how to recognize the warning signs of a suicide crisis and how to question, persuade, and refer someone to help. Each year thousands of Americans, like you, are saying "Yes" to saving the life of a friend, colleague, sibling, or neighbor.

If you are interested in hosting or participating in a training, please contact us.

Talk Saves Lives is a community-based presentation that covers the general scope of suicide, the research on prevention, and what people can do to fight suicide.  Attendees will learn the risk and warning signs of suicide, and how together, we can help prevent it.

If you are interested in hosting or participating in a training, please contact us.