Mid-Career Resources
Resources for those with 3-7 years of experience in the prevention field
Having a plan in place for advancing your skills and knowledge is an important part of your prevention career journey. By year 3 or so in your career, you may find yourself needing more advanced skills to help with planning, implementation, evaluation, sustainability, grant writing (creating statements of need, logic models and setting goals and objectives), strategy selection, health equity and cultural responsiveness.
Continually updating your Professional Development Personal Action Plan is a useful planning tool regardless of where you are in your professional journey. It is important to obtain the corresponding knowledge and skills for your expanding role and to have a plan.
If you need a review, consider the following webinars:
Planning Your Professional Development Journey
Creating a personal professional development plan can seem challenging, whether it’s finding time within our schedules or balancing family obligations, deciding which trainings to select, or overcoming difficulties and finding the motivation to continue. This webinar looks at the benefits of creating and regularly reviewing a professional development plan and examines the key components to include in creating professional development plans.
Whether through a webinar, workshop or document, consider the following skills that are important for mid career prevention professionals:
- Strategic Planning
- Sustainability
- Grant Writing
- Grant Management
- Advocacy
- Healthy Equity
- Evaluation
- Cultural Responsiveness
- Strategy Selection
- Writing Logic Models
- Facilitation
Understanding of Policy and Policy Makers:
Education and Advocacy
One challenge in prevention is getting policies, practices, and in some cases laws to reflect the promotion of healthy communities and prevention of substance misuse. Knowing who your local and state policy makers are, how the systems they operate in work, and the difference between lobbying and education will give a big advantage in furthering the work of prevention.
Prevention Works! VT has an advocacy page on our website that includes training, one-page summaries, resources/information and toolkits from other organizations.
Grant Writing and Grants Management
- Using Logic Models for Organizational Planning
- Evaluation and Incorporating Logic Models into Strategic Plans.
- Planning SMART – Strengthening Goals & Objectives to Improve Your Prevention Planning Process, take a refresher course on the steps in data-driven public health planning processes which guide prevention efforts and examine the role and importance of goal- and objective-setting.
Strategic Planning
Leadership Development
The LDP focuses on key leadership skills using a range of learning methods designed to increase your effectiveness immediately. This program includes the use of an intact, highly diverse learning community that includes participants from across the prevention, intervention, and recovery support service continuum. Developing effective leaders is particularly important as the profession faces multiple challenges, such as the overdose crisis, a changing behavioral healthcare landscape, and impending leadership transitions.
Upcoming applications for the LDP Cohort 11 in the Spring of 2025! Learn more about the program and apply on the Admissions page!
Health Equity
- Roots of Health Equity – A comprehensive website, with ten separate courses. Free online learning resource for public health practitioners and other partners.
- CDC Foundation: Strategies to Repair Equity and Transform Community Health (STRETCH) Initiative
Healing Relationships Authentically to Sustain a Healthy Community And Bi-directional Communication through a Health Equity Lens with Public Health Practitioners - The Southeast PTTC 2024 Health Equity Series: Innovative Strategies for Substance Use Prevention & Behavioral Health Equity
Facilitation
- Facilitation Skills – Tips and Techniques from the Field – Facilitation in both virtual and face-to-face spaces is an integral part of prevention work. The ability to convene partners — whether in meetings, trainings or events – and lead them through collaborative decision-making and other processes is essential to the success of community-based change efforts. This session looked at the art and science of facilitation, the skills needed for successful facilitation and discussed real-world tips and techniques for consensus-building with groups and managing group dynamics.
Certified Prevention Specialist
One way to plan and organize your professional development is to utilize the substance abuse prevention competencies as identified by the International Certification & Reciprocity Consortium (IC&RC) for prevention specialist certification is one vehicle to look at career advancement.
It may be important for some who are working in the prevention field to obtain a certification because it ensures that prevention efforts are being led by a preventionist who is well trained and knowledgeable, and who knows prevention science. Certification benefits the field of prevention as a whole because internationally recognized credentials shows that the field is doing work that is based in science, and the professionals who are doing that work are able to make effective change.
Review the Prevention Domain Video Series from NEPPTC to learn what each prevention domain is and how all the domains function together for effective prevention as Certified Prevention Specialist. Check out PW! VT for more information on CPS in Vermont.
Sources for Professional Development Opportunities
A resource for online courses on substance misuse prevention can be found at HealthKnowledge, a free online learning & low cost continuing education platform. Creating an account is required to access the resources.
- New England PTTC provides training and technical assistance to prevention professionals across New England. Most trainings are free and virtual.
- CADCA offers training opportunities to prevention professionals. Some are free to non-members and some have a cost. You may also request training certificates for attendance at CADCA conferences.
- New England Public Health Training Center is a resource for regional training opportunities.
- Vermont Department of Health Division of Substance Use Workforce Development Calendar – Supporting the development and maintenance of a qualified, competent and numerable alcohol and drug professional workforce. Resources, webinars, trainings, conferences and learning communities for alcohol and drug prevention, treatment, harm reduction, and recovery professionals, volunteers and those interested in entering the field.