Questions and Answers from SAPC Webinar on July 16, 2015

Does the 13% lifetime use of Rx drugs (for MA HS students according to YRBS 2013) exclude Rx drugs for actual medical use?

  • Yes. Survey asks about use of Rx drugs not prescribed by a doctor and/or not their own; it excludes medical use.

The downward trend with the rates of use increases substantially starting in 2007, corresponding with the start of the last recession. Do we have any data on whether youth alcohol use is correlated with the youth having worked at a job?

  • For more information on the relationship between youth employment and substance use, begin here: [Note: copy and paste link into browser if ctrl+click doesn’t work from this document.]
  • You can also put this article into Google Scholar and find articles that cited this article. Just let Scott Formica() or MassTAPP know if you want more on this. I don't know that it has been linked to the recession, but the relationship (in general) has been explored.

What is polydrug?

  • Use of multiple drugs concurrently.

What data collection methods do you suggest for the assessment phase of the process? Especially since data is hard to come by.

  • There are a number of ideas and resources in the guidance document for data collection and other ways in which to conduct the local assessment of needs and resources.

Can all the communities in the cluster implement the pilot strategies if they have the capacity to do so?

  • BSAS is open to this, but would need to discuss on a case-by-case basis. We want to be sure that strategies won’t take away from the assessment and planning process. This request would require an individual conversation – contact your contract manager if you are considering this.

What is the goal for implementing a pilot strategy if it does not reflect the results of a thorough assessment process and may not be continued in the strategic plan?

  • This funding is from SAMHSA and requires that grantees engage in prevention activities every year. We have indicated evidence-based strategies that do not require extensive work and are appropriate for communities to engage in while their primary focusis onassessment and planning. Implementation of one of the prescribed “pilot” strategies is required. This is also an opportunity for members of the cluster to get used to working together on this issue.

A lot of the suggested strategies are not policy or practice related... such as social marketing and social norms campaigns (pg. 33 of guidance document). Can you be more specific about what strategies we should focus on for pilot strategies?

  • The list of acceptable pilot strategies can be found on page 59 of the guidance document in the Milestones & Deliverables appendix. When sites complete their strategic plan and move to full implementation at the end of year one, the expectation is that they will “implement local policy, practice, systems, and environmental change strategies” per the specifications of the RFR. Social marketing and social norms campaigns are examples of longer-term evidence-based strategies that you may choose to implement to affect environmental change. Strategy selection will not occur until later in the strategic planning process. The pilot strategies (p.59) are discrete short-term strategies that can be accomplished in a short period of time with few resources so that the cluster has time to devote to the strategic plan development in year one.

Is it possible for a community to speed up the planning process (and get MassTAPP/BSAS feedback and approval early) if the capacity is there?

  • If capacity is there, yes, and if it’s possible to do a very thorough process in a shorter period of time, then yes. We do not recommend communities try to expedite this process as careful and thorough planning on the front-end has been beneficial to all of the funded programs. Lessons from MOAPC: the assessment process does take a whole year! This request would require a conversation with BSAS.

Have the TA providers from MassTapp been assigned yet?

  • Yes – if you haven’t heard from your TA provider yet, you should hear from them within the next couple of days. Email if you have questions.

Typo in Guidance Doc p. 58? Pilot Strategy starts on Nov 2 2015 not 2016, right?

  • Yes! The original emailed version of the guidance doc had that date error, and a few other minor typos. The latest and greatest version of the guidance document is now available here:
  • If you printed out the original emailed version, you don’t need to reprint the whole document. Simply re-print Appendix 1: SAPC Grant milestones, Timeline, and Deliverables, pages 58-61 to make sure there is no confusion about deadlines.

It is likely that the needs and capacity will be different throughout the cluster communities. Will all communities within the cluster have to implement the same strategies? Or will each community within the cluster be able to implement different strategies?

  • Short answer – yes they can implement different strategies depending on what the assessment process reveals. More discussion with TA providers will be necessary, and there is more info in Guidance Doc.
  • No expectation that all communities are implementing same strategies, or implementing them concurrently. Totally depends on varying capacities. Everything guided by assessment process!! Lessons from MOAPC: the assessment process does take a whole year!
  • Cluster model is unique – some strategies might make sense cluster-wide, but some communities might need individual strategies. Will look different in every cluster.

Will there be an evaluation component that will be provided by BSAS or should we plan on allocating resources from grant funds?

  • No. Communities can’t spend funds on an evaluator. RFR didn’t allow budget for local evaluation. Most of evaluation work will happen at state level by looking at reporting and state data. Potential to assist a little on a case by case basis. But even though there are no resources for local evaluation, we still encourage you to do your own evaluation.
  • MassTAPP can provide some TA around evaluation and logic models. We can’t bring in an evaluator for you, but if you have some internal capacity we can work with you a little to help build capacity with our consultants to integrate evaluation into what you are doing.
  • Possible to bring in consultants for short periods of time – not for long term evaluation, but to assist with strategic planning or other discrete tasks. Use grant dollars strategically, but work it out with Program Manager.

Just to be clear: we cannot use SAPC funds for evaluation?

  • You can’t use SAPC funds to hire local evaluator for life of project, but bringing in consultant to help with parts of process is ok.

Can we use SAPC funds for YRBS implementation? Can grant funds be used to pay for PNAS?

  • SAPC cannot be used to fund student surveys. We will be in touch individually to determine how best to meet the grant data requirements on a case-by-case basis (either through leveraging existing surveys in your community or by utilizing our partners at UMASS to survey a sample of youth - paid for at the state level). When ultimately enacted, the data requirements only apply to the lead community.

What resources (besides the Guidance Document, which is great) are available to help with qualitative data collection in our assessments?

  • Other resources on MassTAPP website, and MassTAPP will facilitate peer sharing around this.

The interview/focus group questions in the guidance document that are meant to be used for assessment are strictly focused on alcohol. Since we are supposed to include "other drugs" in this grant, such as marijuana, rx drugs, etc. how are we to assess for other drugs if we are only asking about alcohol?

  • Many of the tools in guidance doc are only examples/templates, and are not intended to be exhaustive nor are they recommended to be implemented in isolation – you are encouraged to modify the tools to fit your own needs. We can work with communities about modifying tools or using other tools. Don’t feel bound to instruments in GD.
  • If you want help modifying the questions, or creating new ones, feel free to contact your TA provider.
  • Also note that “other drugs” should be included in the assessment during the strategic planning process, but may not end up being an area of focus based on the results of this assessment. In other words, the assessment may reveal that alcohol use/abuse may be the only area of focus.

When will we find out about the timeline and questions for the required school survey?

  • That is still in development. As grant starts, we will be taking inventory of which lead communities currently have access to existing student survey data and working with communities to see if we can access those data. In instances where there is no current student survey happening there may be resources through UMASS Boston or other grants to support some surveying of HS youth, but we are still determining what we can do. Would be similar to state YRBS; we would come in and sample a few classrooms in the community. But is all still being worked out. The RFR does not indicate that this requirement needs to be met in the first year of the grant, so we have some time to work this out.

Are participating school districts required to do the PNAS or YRBS?

  • No. Per page 8 of the RFR, the lead municipality is responsible for either providing data to BSAS from an existing community survey or taking part in a Brief Community Survey administered by the state with a sample of high school students. We will work individually with each community to determine how best to meet this requirement. The RFR does not state that this needs to occur in the first year of the grant, so there is time.

Will the Webinar in August be for leads and partner communities?

  • August 18 at from 11am-12:30pm is for coordinators. If no coordinator has been hired by then, some representative from lead community should attend. Representatives from partner communities are welcome as well. Webinar will cover a more detailed description of process and timeline. Will be recorded in case you can’t make it.

Is there a cost for the communications conference in September?

  • No! It’s free! Open to anyone doing prevention in the state, not just funded communities. Includes free breakfast & lunch & discount for parking 

We are required to have a 1.0FTE coordinator for this project, correct?

  • Yes. For communities managing multiple BSAS grants we are open to conversation about how to manage that. But still total FTE needs to equal 1, whether one person or split between 2. For specific questions about this contact your BSAS contract manager.

Where can we get info on the BSAS motivational interviewing training?

  • Note that the MI training does *not* count for CPS credits!!