Prevention and Youth Branch
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The Prevention and Youth Branch (PYB) within the Community Services Division, provides planning, oversight, technical assistance and training of non-Medi-Cal primary prevention early intervention and youth behavioral health services. The PYB also administers several statewide programs with the primary goal of empowering individuals to lead healthy lives while preventing mental illness and substance use disorders (SUD).
General primary prevention inquiries may be submitted to DHCSPrimaryPvServices@dhcs.ca.gov
General youth behavioral health services inquires may be submitted to DHCSYouthServices@dhcs.ca.gov
The Big 5 by 2025
Through a multi-program approach and the use of federal funding (American Rescue Plan Act and Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act), DHCS is implementing five key projects coined "The Big 5 by 2025" (Big 5) to support and build state-level infrastructure for behavioral health prevention across California.
The goals of the Big 5 are to strengthen the state-level planning and evaluation process, encourage widespread use of evidence based-practice and community-defined practices for behavioral health prevention, streamline data collection and reporting, and reimagine the statewide technical assistance and training platform.
The Big 5 consists of the following statewide behavioral health prevention projects:
- Behavioral Health Prevention Plan
Substance Use Prevention Evidence-based Resource
Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant Program Prevention Set-Aside Application
Advance Behavioral Health Prevention California
Prospectus Group/ECCO System
For more information, please email
DHCSPrevention@dhcs.ca.gov.
Behavioral Health Prevention Plan
The California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) launched an initiative to create the state’s first Behavioral Health Prevention Plan (BHPP). California’s BHPP will utilize concepts from the State Epidemiological Workgroup (SEW) and the Substance Use Prevention Evidence-based Resource Expert Think Tank (SUPER ETT) to advance prevention in California. The BHPP will:
- Identify emerging trends in behavioral health prevention throughout California
- Develop a core set of statewide prevention priorities, goals, and objectives that will provide guidance to statewide efforts on a continuous improvement path
- Provide data that indicates effectiveness and uncovers opportunities to improve initiatives throughout the state
- Recognize opportunities for collaboration and partnerships across systems
- Support California's behavioral health prevention system by identifying and addressing specific needs with a comprehensive prevention plan
- Promote the use of evidence-based, evidence-informed, and best practices statewide, including recommending culturally responsive best practices and practices that address local health disparities
- Support implementation that advances prevention science, including addressing equity issues by incorporating prevention strategies directed at the social determinants of health, risk and protective factors (both individual and community level), and Adverse Childhood Experiences
- Relieve counties of their contractual requirement of producing a county Strategic Prevention Plan (SPP) and instead focus on building capacity for continuous quality improvement
- Streamline process and evaluation data collection
For more information on the BHPP and associated resources, please visit the
BHPP webpage.
Substance Use Prevention Evidence-Based Resource
Through a contract with the University of California, Los Angeles Integrated Substance Abuse Programs (UCLA ISAP), DHCS is leading two initiatives, the Substance Use Prevention Evidence-based Resource (SUPER) and the California Services to Science Academy (CSSA).
These initiatives aim to provide evidence-based practices (EBPs) and community-defined evidence practices (CDEPs) to promote promising, innovative, and effective substance use prevention for youth.
The SUPER is scheduled to launch in the Fall of 2024. It will serve as a centralized resource to assist California providers serving youth in identifying EBPs and CDEPs that are culturally relevant and linguistically appropriate and demonstrate effective prevention strategies and outcomes.
The CSSA will generate evidence from locally promising and innovative prevention practices being implemented across the state.
To support these efforts, DHCS and UCLA ISAP will lead a Substance Use Prevention Evidence-based Resource Expert Think Tank (SUPER ETT) to provide input and guidance on the development and implementation of these efforts to meet California's diverse behavioral health needs.
For more information, please visit the SUPER ETT webpage.
State Epidemiological Workgroup
The SEW aims to enhance statewide analytical capacity by functioning as an expert data advisory group that recognizes the importance of regular statewide evaluations to monitor and track outcomes. The SEW coordinates efforts related to the following:
California Healthy Kids Survey
CHKS is a collaborative project between DHCS, WestEd, and the California Department of Education (CDE) to administer a survey of Alcohol and Other Drug use among a representative statewide sample of 7th, 9th, and 11th graders. WestEd has published the results of the survey in the
School Climate and Student Engagement and Well-being Biennial Report. The Report includes data on the mental wellbeing and substance use trends among 7th, 9th, and 11th graders.
California Friday Night Live Program
The California Friday Night Live (FNL) Program aims to engage youth as active leaders and resources in their community and build partnerships for positive and healthy youth development. DHCS provides stipends to counties to support the widespread implementation of the FNL program. DHCS also contracts with the Tulare County Office of Education, California Friday Night Live Partnership (CFNLP) to provide no-cost Technical Assistance and Training (TTA) to providers ensuring program components are followed with fidelity.
The CFNLP has developed the following infographics for the Youth Development Survey, the Friday Night Live Mentoring (FNLM) program, and the CFNLP:
For questions regarding FNL, please email DHCSFNL@dhcs.ca.gov. To request technical assistance on the FNL program, please visit the FNL webpage.
Advance Behavioral Health Prevention California (ABHPC)
The Advance Behavioral Health Prevention California (ABHPC) is the newly implemented training and technical assistance (TTA) program for behavioral health services in California. ABHPC provides TTA, at no cost to the requestor, using evidence-based strategies and best practices in primary prevention, as well as utilizing an approach that centers the social drivers of health and a health equity lens. The ABHPC is administered through a contract with the Center for Applied Research Solutions.
For more information and to request TTA visit: ABHPC
Technical Assistance and Training
DHCS provides no-cost TTA to organization, grantees, and professionals implementing primary prevention, SABG-funded perinatal, youth, and hospital-based behavioral health navigator programs.
SAMHSA Grant Program Support
Letters of Support
As the Single State Agency for Mental Health and SUD, DHCS is responsible for providing letters of support and providing guidance regarding an applicant's compliance with The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) discretionary grant requirements, which may be included in some Federal Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOA). It is the responsibility of the applicant to read each FOA carefully and understand its unique requirements. For guidance on requesting a letter of support, complying with the Public Health System Impact Statement, and/or Executive Order 12372 requirements, please refer to
DHCS's guidance for Discretionary Grant Requirements document or email questions to
DHCS Letter of Support.
Adolescent Substance Use Disorder Best Practices Guide
DHCS developed a companion guide based on research and feedback from various stakeholders to support California's publicly funded adolescent SUD treatment programs. Counties and their funded providers should utilize the Adolescent SUD Best Practices Guide of October 2020 to specialize treatment for adolescents with SUDs, and best serve the complex needs of this population.
Project Cal-Well
Project Cal-Well is a collaborative project between DHCS and CDE. This 5-year SAMHSA grant is intended to increase mental health awareness among students, parents, school and district staff, and communities; provide professional development that supports mental wellness to school and district personnel; and strengthen partnerships between county behavioral health and local education agencies. DHCS's role in this grant project is to provide training, education, and resources about youth behavioral health to local education agencies and support Student Mental Health Policy Workgroups. Please visit the
Project Cal-Well webpage for more information about selected sub-grantees for this project.
Primary Prevention Data Collection
All SABG-funded counties and their providers must report data collected from their primary prevention activities. Data shall align with the Primary Prevention Data Quality Standards. Counties and their providers report monthly cumulative time and demographics for each SABG-funded program.
For general questions regarding primary prevention data collection: counties, please email the DHCS analyst assigned to the county; providers, please contact the county prevention coordinator.
Proposition 64 Youth Education, Prevention, Early Intervention, and Treatment Account
On November 8, 2016, Proposition 64 (Prop 64) was passed by voters, allowing adults aged 21 years and older to possess and use marijuana for non-medical purposes. Prop 64 created two new taxes, the revenues of which are deposited into the California Cannabis Tax Fund. After other specified disbursements, the current law allocates 60 percent of the remaining fund to the Youth Education, Prevention, Early Intervention, and Treatment Account (YEPEITA) to DHCS to implement programs for youth.
The Prop 64 Advisory Group was established in 2019 to advise the department on planning, implementation, and evaluation activities of DHCS community projects funded by the YEPEITA. For meeting information and members visit the
Prop 64 webpage.
Elevate Youth CA is a prevention program funded by the Prop 64 YEPEITA, serving low-income youth ages 12 to 26 in communities of color, tribal, and LGBTQ+ communities across the state. The program provides necessary peer-to-peer support, mentoring, substance use prevention education, and youth civic engagement activities in communities disproportionally affected by the war on drugs. For more information, please visit the
Elevate Youth CA webpage.
The current
Elevate Youth 2022 Annual Report, developed by Sierra Health Foundation, Center for Healthy Program Management (The Center), can be viewed on The Center’s website.
Substance Use Disorder Perinatal Services
PYB provides leadership, technical assistance, and support to counties funded by the SABG Perinatal Set-Aside.
Contact Perinatal Treatment Services
Women and Children's Residential Treatment Program
The Women and Children's Residential Treatment Program consists of a network of residential perinatal SUD treatment programs in Alameda, Los Angeles, Marin, San Diego, San Francisco, and San Joaquin Counties. These counties must pursue specific goals and outcomes in accordance with
Health and Safety Code §11757.6 for pregnant and parenting women in residential SUD treatment settings.
