Appalachian Substance Abuse Coalition for Prevention, Treatment & Recovery
The Appalachian Substance Abuse Coalition’s mission is to inform and engage our communities to understand, own, and address the epidemic of substance abuse and misuse.
The Appalachian Substance Abuse Coalition's mission is to inform and engage our communities to understand, own, and address the epidemic of substance abuse and misuse. The vision of the coalition is to have safe, healthy, and prosperous communities with effective prevention, treatment, recovery, and support resources.
ASAC is an umbrella coalition that serves as a consortium of ten substance abuse coalitions throughout the Southwest region, representing the counties of Bland, Buchanan, Carroll, Dickenson, Grayson, Lee, Russell, Scott, Smyth, Tazewell, Washington, Wise, and Wythe, and the cities of Bristol, Galax, and Norton.
To inform and engage our communities to understand, own, and address the epidemic of substance abuse and misuse.
Coalition membership
The ASAC coalition has worked collaboratively for over fourteen years, involving stakeholders across youth, parents, business, media, schools, youth-serving organizations, law enforcement, religious organizations, civic organizations, healthcare professionals, state and local government, and other organizations working to reduce substance abuse and address mental health.
ASAC has built its membership to over 200 individuals through strategic planning and training events. Each member is invested in the areas of prevention, treatment, and recovery, and membership includes representatives from community service boards, faith-based organizations, social services, healthcare, higher education, schools, law enforcement, lawmakers, recovery communities, and concerned citizens.
Strategic planning
ASAC evolves and operates through strategic planning to assess and implement strategies that address the substance use problem in Southwest Virginia. ASAC follows SAMHSA's Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF) planning process for preventing substance use and misuse.
The effectiveness of the SPF begins with a clear understanding of community needs and involves community members in all stages of the planning process. The SPF planning process is data-driven, requires a team approach, and focuses on population-level change — ensuring efforts towards opioid use disorder reach all ages.