About substance use prevention and mental health promotion

DMHA’s Bureau of Mental Health Promotion and Addiction Prevention provides oversight and administration of the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant to ensure funding that addresses statewide prevention and mental health promotion priorities. It supports evidence-based initiatives that serve to prevent and reduce substance abuse and mental illness, reduce the negative impact of substance abuse and mental illness, and promote overall behavioral health. Suicide, problem gambling, underage drinking, binge drinking, tobacco and illicit drug use, and prescription drug misuse are examples of issues that prevention initiatives may target.

Mission: To reduce substance use and abuse and promote behavioral health across the lifespan of Indiana citizens by maintaining a coordinated, effective and accountable system of prevention and behavioral health promotion services.

Vision: Sustainable environments that nurture, assist and empower all Indiana citizens to access and experience optimum physical, emotional and mental health.

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Indiana prevention

The Prevention Strategic Plan for 2025-2028 outlines the priority areas, prevention goals, and guiding principles of Indiana’s efforts to address substance misuse prevention and mental health promotion.

Priority areas

Indiana has identified five priority areas and developed accompanying strategic initiatives and measurable action steps to help guide the state’s efforts:

1. Workforce Development
2. Program Enhancement
3. Protocol Enhancement
4. Operational Efficiency

Indiana’s guiding principles

DMHA’s work is aligned and guided by the principles identified by the governor of the state of Indiana. The key principles, identified by the Indiana Commission to Combat Drug Abuse, provide a framework to execute this prevention in Indiana. These principles are:

• Data driven: Data will inform all systems and programs created for government, individuals, families and providers—evolving as learning increases and as Indiana’s drug crisis changes
• Comprehensive and holistic: Indiana’s approach will be multi-faceted and focused on substance misuse prevention, early intervention, treatment, recovery and enforcement.
• Collaborative: The state will align and focus the efforts of multiple state agencies that currently provide substance misuse services and resources. Further, Indiana’s approach makes clear that local communities, state officials and the federal government must all have a stake in helping to overcome the drug crisis.

The Prevention Strategic Plan for 2025-2028 can be accessed by clicking here.