About the GOSAP Collaborative

Collaborating for Effective Prevention Efforts

In 2002, GOSAP brought together the 13 state agencies that have some sort of prevention in their missions to form the GOSAP Collaborative. Composed of prevention managers who have the authority to influence agency prevention funding and administrative practices, the GOSAP Collaborative is reshaping how prevention works in Virginia to improve its effectiveness and efficiency at both the state and local levels. It has become a model of the concept espoused by the Council on Virginia’s Future to “create partnerships for shared accountability to ensure that we address broad issues in an effective and collaborative manner.” (Interim Report of The Council on Virginia’s Future, January 12, 2005, p.4) In recognition of its significant and growing accomplishments, Governor Timothy Kaine formally established the GOSAP Collaborative, giving it specific powers and duties (see "Executive Directive").

Under GOSAP’s leadership, Virginia’s prevention agencies are improving communication, building agreement, cooperating and working as partners, sharing resources, and increasing consistency to simplify processes and increase accountability in prevention practice. These agencies must work together because research shows that the consequences of substance abuse are far reaching and long-term. Among Virginia's youngest citizens, the risk and protective factors that influence whether a child is likely to succumb to substance abuse are the same factors that influence other problem behaviors, such as delinquency, gang involvement, school drop-out, teen pregnancy, violence and others. Trying to address one problem behavior alone is inefficient. Likewise, it is important to begin prevention efforts in early childhood to establish healthy habits and lifestyles that will serve Virginia's population across the lifespan.

Prevention is not about “touchy-feely, warm fuzzy” programs that are nice to do when there is plenty of money. Prevention is about addressing the problems that weaken communities and work against a strong Virginia. The Collaborative supports an evidence-based prevention model that requires:

assessing community needs using objective social indicator data, information on existing resources, key informant interviews, etc. to determine needs and identify gaps in service;
prioritizing needs, developing consensus around those needs and determining what realistically the community can do to change the identified issues;
developing measurable goals and objectives to address the priorities;
selecting rigorously evaluated interventions (evidence-based programs) and implementing them with fidelity to the model;
collaborating to build resources necessary to sustain the evidence-based programs; and
evaluating interventions for accountability and improvement.

Evidence-based prevention will assist the Commonwealth in meeting many of the long-term objectives of the Council on Virginia’s Future. Most of these objectives require community-level change. A statewide, one-size-fits-all initiative is not a practical methodology with Virginia’s culture and diversity. Movement on the indicators identified by the Council will require state and local partnerships to address locality-specific needs. Evidence-based prevention accommodates local autonomy and:

supports sound resource management by requiring localities to objectively assess and prioritize needs, then use programs proven to be effective in reducing negative behaviors. Many federal funding streams, and GOSAP, require this model.
involves citizens in the assessment process, exposes them to objective data about their community and includes them in prioritizing the community’s needs.
prepares children to learn, encourages youth to stay in school, and improves academic achievement.
strengthens families and builds healthy minds and bodies.
reduces crime, delinquency, gang involvement, substance abuse and violence.
improves transportation safety by reducing drunk driving hazards.
supports business development and promotes positive economic growth by developing well-managed communities with involved citizens, an educated workforce, stronger families, with healthy habits for lower worker absenteeism, and a low crime rate.

Virginia ’s prevention agencies are collaborating to strengthen our communities through positive youth development.

In Virginia, prevention works. Most community-based youth substance abuse prevention programs now being used throughout the Commonwealth operate what are referred to as “evidence based,” model programs that have been identified by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration for their proven results. The GOSAP plays an important role in helping more communities in Virginia access and use such model programs. It created and sustains vital coalitions that collaborate on virtually all aspects of youth substance abuse prevention. Two of the principal coalitions that have been instrumental in making valuable improvements to Virginia’s statewide prevention system have been the GOSAP Collaborative, representing state-level agencies that are involved in prevention and promote positive youth development, and the GOSAP Advisory Council, an important link to community-based providers throughout Virginia.

The GOSAP Collaborative, comprised of 12 state agencies and the Governor’s Office, is the principal representative body within the Virginia prevention system for state-level prevention specialists, leaders and program-fund administrators. (See member agencies listed on our home page.) Most members are high-level managers in state government agencies that have some significant degree of involvement in the Commonwealth’s alcohol, tobacco and other drugs prevention efforts, either through funding provided to local- and community-level organizations, direct service provision to youth and families, or direct policy development at the state and/or federal levels to guide the overall prevention community throughout Virginia.

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Executive Directive 4 (2006)

In November 2006, Governor Tim Kaine formally established the GOSAP Collaborative. He gave the Collaborative specific powers and duties concerning: collaboration to enhance capacity, improve efficiency and produce results; infrastructure to sustain and integrate prevention into practice; and data to target resources and monitor results.

Executive Directive 4 (2006) specifically tasks the Collaborative with:

advising the Governor and Cabinet on prevention-related policy and operations;
coordinating strategic planning efforts and initiatives;
developing and implementing prevention planning and management standards;
encouraging and facilitating wider use of evidence-based prevention;
prioritizing, coordinating and leveraging existing prevention resources;
identifying resource gaps and recommending strategies to sustain prevention;
reporting consequence, incidence and prevalence data on preventable behavior;
using the data "at both sate and community levels, to allocate resources, plan programs, services and strategies, and monitor community-level change;"
researching and determining the feasibility of a statewide youth survey;
reporting to the Governor annually activities, barriers and progress toward a statewide prevention infrastructure; and
recommending to the Governor annually steps to fully implement and sustain a statewide prevention infrastructure.

Click here to read Executive Directive 4 (2006).

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Publications

The Collaborative steered development of Virginia’s five-year, statewide strategic plan, Gaining Traction: A Substance Abuse Prevention Plan for Virginia’s Youth, published in the fall of 2003. An update to the plan, Touching Down at Mid-Way, was published the summer of 2005.

You may view/download any of our documents or publications by clicking here.

Mission Statement

The GOSAP Collaborative will preserve and enhance Virginia's exemplary national leadership in the area of positive youth development by promoting and facilitating wider use of model programs, disseminating best practice solutions and supporting up-to-date training and information opportunities for prevention professionals statewide.

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Goals

To model, based upon collaborative successes achieved at the state level, the benefits of wider collaboration within and among every level of youth prevention activity ongoing within Virginia.
To sponsor statewide capacity-building training events that will bring together youth substance abuse and violence prevention coalitions, experts, and providers from all governmental and agency levels for professional networking and for learning directly from those who are most successful in the various youth prevention fields.
To publicly recognize the collective and personal achievements of organizations and individuals who exemplify the best attributes of Virginia’s prevention system and practices, as well as those who have made notable contributions toward positive prevention outcomes that directly benefit children and adolescents.

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MOA

All 13 agencies of the Collaborative have signed the MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT REGARDING PREVENTION PROGRAMMING IN VIRGINIA.

The purpose of this MOA is to provide a framework for continued cooperation between the Governor’s Office, acting through GOSAP, and state agencies and organizations responsible for prevention programming.

Under this agreement, a plan will be developed for accomplishing the cross-agency standards for Requests for Proposals issued by the Collaborative’s member agencies, requirements for evidence-based prevention principles for all grantees, strengthening the capacity for grantees to effectively implement evidence-based practices, high quality training for more accountable evaluations and program implementations, and the adoption of common data elements in support of cross-site evaluation for prevention grant programs.

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