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Enhance your capacity to address menthol tobacco use—ASTHO is here to equip you with the necessary knowledge, tools, and strategies.

Public health agencies share a special partnership with Medicaid, which can be utilized to increase access to care and promote health equity.

Medicaid Data Sharing and Analysis Sharing Medicaid data with public health agencies helps more comprehensively assess population needs, tailor services to the population of focus, and monitor progress on joint initiatives. ASTHO provides resources and specific case examples for states of how Medicaid datasets can be used as a tool to drive population health improvement. article False

Primary care practitioners are important allies for public health agencies, and ASTHO provides a portfolio of resources to help reinforce that critical relationship.

As the COVID-19 pandemic has emphasized, telehealth is a key resource to providing quality care for the public, particularly historically underserved populations.

ASTHO helps health agencies promote policies that address the root causes of negative behaviors and health outcomes through compassionate and comprehensive preventative strategies.

Access these key resources for addressing the intersection of ACEs, suicide, overdose, and mental health-related concerns.

Adverse Childhood Experiences Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are potentially stressful or traumatic incidents that harm social, cognitive, and emotional functioning and undermine the safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments children need to thrive. ASTHO works with state, territorial, and freely associated state health agency leadership, their staff, and cross-sector partners to strengthen jurisdiction-level infrastructure to elevate ACEs prevention. ASTHO also aims to increase knowledge and inspire ACEs programmatic, legislative, and leadership staff to establish policies upstream. Visit ASTHO's ACEs prevention web pages on policy, partnerships, and data to learn more. The Suicide, Overdose, and Adverse Childhood Experiences Prevention Capacity Assessment Tool (SPACECAT) helps local, state, and territorial health agencies better understand their capacity to address suicide, overdose, and ACEs. This is crucial because prevention involves cross-sector collaboration targeting factors at the individual, relationship, community, and societal levels. website

This Adverse Childhood Experiences Capacity Assessment Tool (ACECAT) roadmap provides concrete steps to completing the ACECAT asynchronously and helps health agencies identify opportunities to work on this public health issue to maximize resources and impact.

The Suicide, Overdose, and Adverse Childhood Experiences Prevention Capacity Assessment Tool (SPACECAT) helps local, state, and territorial health agencies better understand their capacity to address suicide, overdose, and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Prevention of these health issues involves cross-sector collaboration targeting factors at the individual, relationship, community, and societal levels.

Cross-Sector Partnerships to Prevent Adverse Childhood Experiences ASTHO fosters cross-collaboration through various activities focused on assessing, building, and sustaining partnerships. By building strong partnerships, ASTHO leverages partners to gain insight and bridge the gap in expertise. website

Use this interactive tool to identify opportunities to improve your department's suicide prevention programs.

Certain demographics have higher rates of suicide or suicide attempts than the general U.S. population. Public health professionals and partners can use this resource to identify data sources, measures, and strategies for suicide prevention among these disproportionately affected populations.

ASTHO provides capacity building and technical assistance to health agencies to build strong, evidence-based overdose and substance use prevention programs.

Opioid Preparedness: Disruptions in Access to Controlled Substance Medications ASTHO, with support and collaboration from CDC’s Opioid Rapid Response Program (ORRP), helps its members by conducting scenario-based preparedness exercises with health agency staff and diverse partners to support planning for and responding to disruptions in access to prescribed controlled substance medications, including but not limited to opioids, medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), benzodiazepines, and other prescribed medications that require continuity of care. What are Disruptions? Overdoses involving prescription opioids, heroin, and synthetic opioids have increased nearly sixfold since 1999. In 2020, the United States saw the greatest number of overdose deaths ever recorded as the social and economic conditions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic converged. A disruption is any event that halts the ability of a patient to access prescribed controlled substance medications or MOUD, including a provider’s death or retirement or a regulatory/licensing action against a prescriber. or MOUD, including a provider’s death or retirement or a regulatory/licensing action against a prescriber. These events can be especially dangerous for displaced patients, who face increased risk of negative physical and mental health effects including feelings of abandonment, depression, and symptoms of withdrawal. In the absence of continued care, patients experiencing untreated pain or withdrawal may turn to the illicit drug market, putting them at increased risk for overdose. Furthermore, with the changing landscape in the illicit market, disruptions have become a more urgent; pressing issues such as fentanyl and counterfeit prescription pills have created a more deadly supply. What is the Opioid Rapid Response Program? The Opioid Rapid Response Program (ORRP) is an interagency, coordinated federal effort to help mitigate overdose risks and support continuity of care among patients who lose access to a prescriber of opioids, MOUD, or other controlled substances (e.g., benzodiazepines). ORRP is managed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in partnership with the US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS OIG). Opioid Preparedness Exercises ASTHO’s preparedness tabletop exercises will aim to provide information and build knowledge about opioid closure events, facilitate important planning discussions among key state agencies and organizations, and provide a structure for developing and/or refining a written response protocol. These exercises are based on the Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) tabletop exercise model—a discussion-based scenario that facilitates conceptual understanding, identifies strengths and areas for improvement, and/or achieves changes in perceptions about plans, policies, or procedures. The time commitment is two hours per session, for a total of four hours. Exercise participants have included state and local health department and behavioral health agency staff, peer recovery specialists, first responders, physicians, linkage-to-care coordinators, drug overdose prevention specialists, hospital systems, private payers and Medicaid, primary care associations, and community health center associations, among others. website no

Project ECHO: Overdose Fatality Investigation Techniques (OD-FIT) Project ECHO: Overdose Fatality Investigation Techniques (OD-FIT) provides coroners, medical examiners, toxicologists, forensic pathologists, and public health personnel opportunities to learn and share their overdose investigation expertise with peers across the United States and territories. Coroners and medical examiners are called after a fatal overdose to investigate the cause and manner of death. Public health agencies and practitioners use this mortality data to better understand trends in fatal overdoses and to inform the allocation of resources, such as fentanyl test strips and naloxone in states with high rates of overdose deaths.  Project ECHO: Overdose Fatality Investigation Techniques (OD-FIT) is a collaboration between ASTHO and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to provide coroners, medical examiners, toxicologists, forensic pathologists, and public health personnel with an opportunity to learn and share their overdose investigation expertise with peers across the United States and territories. By strengthening the medicolegal death investigation system, state and territorial health agencies can improve the accuracy and reliability of overdose death data to benefit public health and safety programs, law enforcement investigations, and upstream prevention strategies.  Project ECHO OD-FIT consists of live online sessions featuring didactic presentations followed by case study discussions. Didactic recordings and accompanying resources from the most recent series can be found below. website no False

Adolescent and School Health Explore ASTHO's adolescent and school health resources, as it works to advance evidence-based school health strategies. Adolescence is a critical period for physical, mental, and social development, with school playing a central role in shaping young people’s well-being. The experiences students have and the supports they receive in school settings have lasting impacts on academic success and lifelong health. To advance evidence-based school health strategies, ASTHO works closely with state and territorial health agencies who are uniquely positioned to lead these efforts — through their ability to convene partners, align funding, collect and use population-level data, and translate evidence into action. ASTHO’s work focuses on policy, systems, and environmental approaches that strengthen partnerships across public health, education, Medicaid, and community-based organizations, while centering youth voices. Through technical assistance, capacity building, and peer-to-peer learning, ASTHO helps jurisdictions build sustainable approaches that support healthy, inclusive school environments. It supports agencies in leveraging their leadership to ensure schools are not only places of learning but environments that actively promote health, belonging, and opportunity for all students. article

Behavioral Health: Women, Children, and Families association of state and territorial health officials, astho, substance use disorder during pregnancy, maternal depression, perinatal depression, opioid use during pregnancy, postpartum depression screening, adolescent mental health  ASTHO works with state and territorial health agencies to increase access to behavioral health services for pregnant and postpartum individuals experiencing substance use and mental health challenges.  ASTHO works with state and territorial health agencies to increase access to behavioral health services for pregnant and postpartum individuals experiencing substance use and mental health challenges. We also work to support these populations through the full range of subsequent outcomes, including prenatal exposure such as neonatal abstinence syndrome. These complex issues require working across agencies, provider groups, communities, and social services to improve prevention, treatment, and care for families who experience mental health concerns and substance use disorder. Learn more about our work below. Related topics: Adverse Childhood Experiences Risk-Appropriate Care website

Contraception Access Association of state and territorial health officials, astho, public health, Arnold ventures, reproductive health, contraception, contraception access, improve health, increase access, contraception access learning community, public health workforce, telehealth, state health agency, health equity, sexually active High-quality reproductive health services improve health outcomes through preconception, prenatal, and interconception care. They also increase access to education and contraception for people of reproductive age to enable responsible and respectful sexual activity as well as safeguard and promote healthy lives throughout the lifespan. ASTHO collaborates across states and territories to improve capacity to increase access to contraception. Representatives from six state health agencies and their partners are currently participating in the ASTHO Contraception Access Learning Community (CALC), funded by Arnold Ventures. Under this learning community, participants receive support as they navigate programmatic and policy issues surrounding access to contraception including funding, expanding telehealth, creating service equity, and supporting the state and territorial workforce. Using individualized workplans and personalized strategies, learning community teams address gaps in contraceptive access throughout their states to provide better care across the lifespan. As part of the CALC, ASTHO is producing a series of written publications and online learning opportunities to further solidify knowledge on key topics related to contraception access. website

Contraception Access Learning Community: Resources Association of state and territorial health officials, astho, public health, contraception access, contraception access learning community, needs assessment, family planning, health equity, reproductive justice, reproductive health, telehealth, improve access ASTHO is producing a series of written publications and online learning opportunities as part of the Contraception Access Learning Community. The virtual learning resources include webinars highlighting emerging topics related to expanding access to contraception. Some of these webinars are part of series focused on a specific topic area and paired with written resources; others are standalone, addressing one topic. Guest speakers on these webinars include state health agency staff, clinical experts, researchers, and policymakers. The written publications highlight key considerations and emerging topics in contraception access. website no