a) Alcohol and other drug abuse prevention is a process targeting 100% of the population, which supports individuals, communities, and family systems in creating healthy environments, lifestyles and behaviors. Prevention services are an integral component in the array of alcohol and other drug abuse services, i.e., prevention, intervention and treatment. Effective prevention efforts decrease the likelihood of alcohol and other drug abuse, promote risk reduction, change community norms, strengthen public policy and assist individuals in developing their capabilities, thus ensuring a higher quality of life.

1. 1) Information Dissemination – Activities designed to increase the awareness and knowledge of the community regarding the nature and extent of substance abuse and appropriate prevention and treatment strategies and services.
2. 2) Skills Building – Approaches that focus on developing social competencies through the use of structured learning processes. These programs assist individuals to develop or improve their critical life skills, such as decision making, coping with stress, problem solving, interpersonal communication and parenting.
3. 3) Alternatives – Activities specifically related to prevention of substance abuse problems which provide challenging, positive growth experiences in which people can develop self-discipline, confidence, and personal and social awareness.
4. 4) Social Policy – Activities that attempt to change conditions to minimize the availability of drugs and other negative influences. Current legislation around alcohol and drug use falls within this strategy.
5. 5) Training of Impactors – Activities that are conducted with leaders of community systems in order to impact a large number of people through the impactors' efforts. The activities are designed to assist impactors in examining their own attitudes toward drug use and users, identifying how these attitudes affect the way they respond to alcohol and drug use behavior, and identifying their role in a comprehensive community-based prevention support system.

Providers must employ one or more of the following five prevention strategies:

b) Performance measures

1. 1) Prevention projects must develop specific goals and objectives related to their prevention strategies, and demonstrate how stated goals and objectives will be the means by which the implementation of the strategies occur.
2. 2) Prevention projects must develop all strategies, and goals and objectives to achieve them, from a substance abuse perspective.
3. 3) Prevention projects must provide evidence of the completion of a needs assessment based on locally derived data indicators which will, at a minimum, describe currently existing prevention resources within the community and the unmet needs which proposed services will fill.
4. 4) Applicants for prevention funding must demonstrate the establishment of linkages with other community agencies which serve the target population. Such linkages must be in the form of letters of support or cooperation, referral agreements or other similar documents. A minimum of two such letters is required, one of which must be from the "In Touch" program.
5. 5) Public information materials (printed and audio-visual) for which a Department award or subaward was made must be reviewed and approved in writing by the Department prior to release and dissemination. The Department may elect review and approval authority when deemed necessary.