Facilitator:

Rick Collins is a Cincinnati, OH native who has resided in Hawai‘i since 2003.  He specializes in community organizing and public health policy advocacy on alcohol and drug use prevention.  In 2012, Rick helped organize concerned residents establish a new community coalition to address youth substance use problems occurring on Maui, and served as its coordinator for the first four years.  He is the co-founder of the Hawai‘i Alcohol Policy Alliance, a statewide coalition whose mission is to advocate for public health-focused alcohol policies, and he currently serves as Coalition Director for three community coalitions across Hawai‘i.  His experience includes establishing new coalitions, planning and implementing prevention programs and community-level strategies, grassroots organizing, and mobilizing a statewide effort to advocate for state-level alcohol and drug prevention policies.  Rick works as a consultant for Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America, and he provides training and technical assistance to community coalitions and prevention professionals locally and across the country.  He is a Certified Prevention Specialist and holds an MS in Counseling Psychology from Chaminade University and a BA in Religious Studies from the University of Dayton.

Objectives:

• Define prevention
• Explain the continuum of care
• List the criteria for research-based risk factors
• Describe how the Social Development Strategy operationalizes protective factors
• Describe the five steps of the Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF), including the key tasks for each
• List three essential keys to sustainability
• Explain the importance of addressing health disparities in the context of substance misuse prevention planning and implementation
• Describe how cultural humility is essential in our work in the prevention field

Audience:

• Substance misuse prevention practitioners located in the Pacific Southwest (HHS Region 9) states and jurisdictions of American Samoa, Arizona, California, Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, Hawaii, Nevada, Republic of Marshall Islands, and Republic of Palau.
• Prevention practitioners who would like to become a Certified Prevention Specialist or need continuing education hours to meet re-certification requirements.
• Please note: This training is reserved for prevention professionals working in HHS Region 9.
• Prevention professionals interested in this course but who work outside of HHS Region 9 are encouraged to contact their region’s PTTC to learn about similar courses available to them.

Participant Commitment and Expectations:

• If your experience with Zoom is limited or you want to review key features of Zoom, please view the 20-minute Introduction to Zoom video prior to the first session on Tuesday, April 28, 2026 on how to use and maximize the platform
• Participate in 8 sessions of training, for 1.5 hours on scheduled series days/times
• Complete up to ONE hour of independent learning activities between each session
• Use a web-camera and have access to appropriate technology to join the online videoconferencing platform (i.e., internet connection, built-in or USB webcam, desktop/laptop computer, built-in/USB/Bluetooth speakers & microphone)
• Actively engage and be on camera 90% of the time during each session, since this is not a webinar series and active participation is essential to gain/improve skills

Please Note:

This EPLS is not a webinar series. Active participation in each session is essential to gain and improve skills. If you cannot attend these sessions, you will forfeit your attendance.

In addition, it is expected that participants will have access to the appropriate technology by Tuesday, April 28, 2026 in order to fully participate and be on camera at least 90% of the time.

If you have questions regarding technology requirements or registration details contact tdean@casat.org.

Certificates:

Participants who complete the entire course will receive a certificate of attendance for 22.5 hours. Partial credit will be considered if a participant completes over 80% of the course and submits completed prep packets to the course facilitator for review for any missed session. Participants will need to confirm with their certification board to determine if these certification hours are accepted towards their specific certification requirements.

To help make engagement more comfortable, we limit the number of people who can enroll in EPLS. If you cannot commit to joining the sessions or completing the prep-work packets, please defer this opportunity to others on our waiting list.

The Pacific Southwest PTTC is administered by CASAT at the University of Nevada, Reno.