News from HCA's Division of Behavioral Health and Recovery

Communities Talk Event News

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) will be sponsoring stipends for the next round of Communities Talk to Prevent Alcohol and Other Drug Misuse, an initiative that focuses on alcohol and other drug misuse that negatively affect communities and our youth. Since 2006, the initiative has provided prevention resources and stipends to thousands of community-based organizations, colleges, and universities. Stipends are available every year!


Seeking volunteers for the 2026 Prevention Awards of Excellence Review Team

Each year, the Prevention Awards of Excellence recognizes outstanding prevention professionals, community members, youth, and coalitions for their exemplary contributions to substance use disorder prevention and mental health promotion across Washington state.

The awards are made possible by a volunteer review team, which provides feedback on the past year’s nomination materials and process as well as reviews the current year’s nominations.  This year, Martha is hoping to firm up the Review Team members by Friday, January 16, 2026.

Submit your feedback for a new Friends for Life youth activity

The Friends for Life fentanyl awareness and naloxone education campaign is collecting feedback for a new youth activity that can be used by schools, coalitions, non-profits or any other youth-serving organization. 

We want to know what type of activity/content would be most helpful and beneficial to your work. Please fill out this brief survey to let us know what type of content you'd like to see.

Don't miss the November 25 listening session for behavioral health service providers

November 25 listening session for behavioral health service providers. These calls are a great way to discuss issues with the experts. We hope that you find these calls useful and remember to take care of yourself as well as those you serve.

Starts with One campaign introduces brand refresh, new pain management resources

The Starts with One opioid misuse prevention campaign has undergone a refresh, featuring an updated logo, redesigned website, and newly developed materials. In addition to visual updates, the campaign is placing new emphasis on educating patients with short-term injuries, surgery, or other acute pain about effective pain management.

Congratulations to the 2025 Prevention Awards of Excellence recipients

On October 29, 2025, the Washington prevention community met for the monthly Provider Meeting where 2025 recipients and honorable mention nominees were honored during a virtual celebration of excellence.


New post-overdose toolkit for friends and family

The Health Care Authority (HCA) is sharing a new resource intended to support individuals whose loved ones have survived an overdose. The purpose of this guide is to "help the helpers." It includes supportive and educational materials for family, caregivers, or other loved ones in the aftermath of someone close to them experiencing and surviving an overdose.

For Our Lives + Friends for Life Toolkit Webinar

HCA and DH, a social impact agency, are hosting a webinar on Thursday, November 20 at 1 p.m., highlighting HCA’s two opioid overdose awareness campaigns.

Annual Synar Report Available For Review

The most recent Annual Synar Report (ASR) is currently available for public review.

Athena Prevention Newsletter now accessible on The Athena Forum

We're pleased to share that the monthly Athena Prevention Newsletters are now archived and accessible on the Athena Forum website.

They newsletters are located on the Athena Prevention Newsletter page. You can navigate to this page by selecting the Headlines menu items, then selecting Athena Prevention Newsletter.