News from HCA's Division of Behavioral Health and Recovery

Reminder: Spring Youth Forum registration due April 3

Calling all Youth teams from across Washington to join us for the 2026 Washington State Spring Youth Forum—a celebration of youth leadership, creativity, and prevention success in communities throughout the state.

Reminder: Starts with One feedback survey closes 3/31!

The Starts with One campaign is gathering coalition feedback to help shape future campaign materials and resources. Last year, the campaign was refreshed with updated messaging, branding, and materials to better support communities across the state. Share your feedback by March 31 to help inform future updates and improvements!


Register for the CCSAP Annual Conference and Professional Development Meeting

Washington’s College Coalition on Substance misuse, Advocacy, and Prevention (CCSAP)’s annual conference and professional development meeting will be held virtually on Friday, May 8, 2026 from 8:30 a.m. PDT to 4:00 p.m. PDT


SPF Application for Prevention Success Training (SAPST) in Olympia

DBHR, SPTAC and NW PTTC are providing an in-person SPF Application for Prevention Success Training (SAPST) in July. 

Don't miss the March 24 listening session for behavioral health service providers

Don't miss the March 24 listening session for behavioral health service providers

HCA awards first-ever local gambling prevention grants

Washington State has reached a meaningful milestone in community health: for the first time, local gambling prevention grants have been awarded to five grantees across the state — each an existing substance use prevention or tobacco and cannabis prevention program.


New overdose prevention materials for Tribal youth

Friends for Life’s sister campaign, For Our Lives, is an opioid overdose prevention campaign created by, with, and for Native people in Washington. The campaign is centered around educating Tribal communities about opioid misuse prevention, overdose response, and treatment through the real stories and experiences of Native people across the state.

New and improved Friends for Life online toolkit

If you’ve visited the Friends for Life website recently, you may have noticed that the online toolkit has a new look. The redesign makes it easier to search, find, and download materials. You can now filter items by topic, audience, type, and language. Each item also has a short description, preview, and simple download options.  

2026 observances and holiday calendar

In response to a partner request, the Athena Team published an Awareness Events & Holiday Calendar on the Communication Strategies page. This is a schedule of awareness months, holidays, and special celebrations featured the Athena newsletter.

Spring Youth Forum scholarship applications now available

Calling all Youth teams from across Washington to join us for the 2026 Washington State Spring Youth Forum—a celebration of youth leadership, creativity, and prevention success in communities throughout the state.