Prevention Services & Programs

Programmatic Information

The Governor's Cooperative Agreement Advisory Council
for Youth Substance Abuse Prevention in Georgia

Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue formulated the Governor's Cooperative Agreement Advisory Committee for Youth Substance Abuse prevention on November 16, 2004. The CAAC is comprised of representatives from key state agencies, prevention professionals, community based organizations and coalitions, and prevention program providers from across the state.

This working committee is based on the states receipt of a State Incentive Planning Grant (SIPG) from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (SAMHSA) last year.

The overall goal of the State Incentive Planning Grant or SIPG, as it is commonly referred, is to support states in developing the capacity and infrastructure needed to more effectively compete for the full State Incentive Grant.

Members of the CAAC include representatives of state agencies, prevention advocacy groups, community coalition, and youth and family service groups from across the state.

The CAAC meets monthly as a general body and in interim periods in subcommittees to do the real work of the organizational representatives.

Nine working subcommittees conducted the work of the body.

SIPG Program Goals and Requirements

The overall goal of the State Incentive Planning Grant is to support eligible states in developing the capacity and infrastructure needed to more effectively compete for the full (three year) State Incentive Grant (SIG). States receiving the one year SIG Planning Grants are required to work intensively in several areas to achieve readiness. In doing so, states are required to carry out the following three goals and objectives:

1. Ensure that the Governor's Office establishes a state-level committee with a substance abuse prevention and early intervention focus that would: 1) build consensus about program goals and strategic planning with diverse state agencies; and 2) provide overall coordination of the State's SIG Planning Grant
2. Develop a comprehensive state-wide substance abuse and early intervention strategy that would identify:
   • Overall prevention/early prevention needs of the target population (youth and young adults, ages 12-25).
   • Existing gaps in prevention and early intervention services to meet the needs of the target population.
   • All substance abuse prevention-related funding streams and resources throughout the state, including preliminary planning for coordination and leveraging such funding streams and resources.
   • Ways to improve collaboration and coordination among state agencies and policies so as to optimize prevention and early intervention resources, and to further develop capacity and infrastructure.
   • Technical assistance needs, in collaboration with the CAPT in their region.
3. Develop capacity and readiness to promote and support future implementation of science-based prevention and intervention services in communities.

The State Incentive Grant (SIG) Program

The State Incentive Grant (SIG) Program is the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention's (CSAP) flagship Targeted Prevention Capacity Program designed to address prevention service capacity needs within states and communities. SIGs help many states and communities address gaps in prevention services which often cannot be addresses via the block grant funding process. In particular, the SIG focuses on improving prevention service capability and fostering the use of science-based prevention practices. Awards are approximately $9 million dollars per state, over three years. There are two primary goals of the SIG:

1. To coordinate, leverage and/or redirect all substance abuse prevention resources in order to fill gaps with effective, community-based prevention efforts that are derived from sound, scientific research findings.
2. To develop a revitalized, comprehensive statewide strategy aimed at reducing drug use by youth (ages 12-17) through the implementation of community-based prevention efforts derived from sound scientific research findings.

To achieve these goals, states must use at least 85% of their SIG award (approximately $2.5 millions dollars per year) to fund sub-recipient communities to implement promising and effective prevention interventions. Typically, states provide sub-recipient communities with awards ranging from $75,000 to $125,000 per year. States may use the remaining 15% of the SIG award for administrative and evaluation expenses. For instance, states can use these funds to help develop their comprehensive prevention plan, provide oversight and technical assistance to their sub-recipients, and establish a comprehensive evaluation/monitoring system for their SIG initiatives. In short, the SIG helps states address critical needs of their communities by providing funds to deliver effective prevention interventions and to enhance state, regional and local capacity to implement and monitor these services.

There are currently three cohorts of SIG states. Cohort I (5 states) was funded in 1997; Cohort II (14 states) was funded in 1998; and Cohort III (2 states) was funded in 1999. The current CSAP Guidance for Applications (GFA) indicates that four or more states will be funded this year. Although CSAP may issue another GFA in FY2001, the necessary funds have not been allocated to CSAP at this time.

The Cooperative Agreement mechanism ensures that the strategies adopted by the states are consistent with the national goals and objectives. It should also be noted that applications must be submitted by the Office of the Governor.