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aged youth.113 Resources to support adoption of evidence-based campus programs are available through the Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Drug Misuse Prevention and Recovery (HECAOD) and NIAAA’s College Alcohol Intervention Matrix to help schools identify effective policies and programs.114 Additionally, college health centers can integrate screening for mental health and/or substance use among college student populations and provide connections to community-based resources. HECAOD can also provide guidance on strategies for institutions of higher education to continually evaluate their programs over time, and to continually make refinements to achieve increasingly better outcomes. Federal partners should assess evidence-based programs and explore opportunities to expand reach among the collegiate community. Principle 3: Preventing Youth Substance Use Requires Community-Level Interventions Public health strategies and interventions aimed at preventing and reducing youth substance use must also address the environmental conditions that can often facilitate and/or establish substance use as normative behavior. Grounded in public health research, the implementation of environmental prevention strategies that focus on the broader physical, social, cultural, and institutional factors that contribute to local substance use are effective in creating positive « « « « « « NATIONAL DRUG CONTROL STRATEGY 27 behavior change. The section that follows highlights opportunities across the federal government to strengthen evidence-based efforts aimed at addressing a wide range of environmental and societal factors to create healthy, safe, and drug-free communities. A. Augment youth substance use prevention coalitions implementation of evidencebased prevention strategies across the country. (Agencies Involved: DOJ/OJP; HHS/CDC, SAMHSA) Community coalitions, such as those funded and trained by the Drug-Free Communities (DFC) Support Program, are well positioned to address local risk factors associated with youth substance use and strengthen protective factors. Community coalitions are best suited to establish and strengthen collaboration among various sectors of their communities to implement a comprehensive mix of evidence-based prevention strategies that will address their local needs. By supporting the development of local drug-free community coalitions and establishing collaboration among various sectors of a community, coalitions are capable of achieving long-term sustainable success in preventing local youth substance use. The flexibility and locally-driven nature of community coalitions allow a range of successful responses to local youth substance use issues. Federal agencies should highlight evidence-based youth substance use prevention programs and ensure federal funding opportunities require the implementation of evidence-based prevention strategies. B. Establish a community of practice (CoP) for evidence-based youth substance use prevention and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). (Agencies Involved: HHS/CDC, SAMHSA) Communities of practice provide a collaborative framework for public health professionals to work together and gather input and perspectives from community partners in an effort to identify and leverage best practices and set standards. Through these evolving collaborative efforts and sharing of lessons learned in the community building process, the community of practice approach is being implemented in many public health areas as a model for how public health partners can be most effective together. As communities seek opportunities to implement data driven prevention strategies that focus on the broader physical, social, cultural and institutional factors that contribute to local substance use, a greater focus on ACEs provides youth within these communities’ an environment that promotes their overall health and safety. Federal agencies should work towards the establishment of a CoP for evidence-based youth substance use prevention and adverse childhood experiences and identify specific goals to be accomplished. C. Expand “Talk. They Hear You” to address youth alcohol use and other drugs, including marijuana. (Agencies Involved: DOJ/OJP; DOT/ NHTSA; ED; HHS/ACF, CDC, FDA, NIH, SAMHSA) SAMHSA’s “Talk. They Hear You." (TTHY) Underage Drinking Prevention National Media Campaign empowers parents and caregivers to talk with children early about alcohol and other drug use. High rates of youth alcohol use, shifting state laws regarding marijuana, and the nation’s overdose epidemic are prevalent health concerns that directly affect America’s parents and caregivers. Parents have a significant influence in their children’s decision to experiment with alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs. The TTHY « « « « « « 28 NATIONAL DRUG CONTROL STRATEGY campaign aims to accomplish the following: Increase parents’ awareness of the prevalence and risk of underage drinking and substance use; equip parents with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to prevent underage drinking and substance use. The TTHY campaign involves a complex interplay of formative, process, and outcomes evaluation efforts. Evaluation findings to date suggest that SAMHSA has met many markers for early success, 

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