Prevention is stronger when the work is connected.
Substance misuse is a leading cause of preventable death in the United States. The challenge is urgent—and the path forward depends on prevention efforts that are coordinated, evidence-informed, and designed for practitioners.
In 2022, nearly 70,000 died from drug-involved overdose (CDC, 2026). According to the 2025 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 44.6 million people aged 12 years and older had a substance use disorder in the past year, and nearly a quarter of people aged 12 years or older reported using illicit drugs (SAMHSA, 2025).
The factors that shape substance misuse also intersect with suicide and problem gambling prevention and mental health promotion across healthcare, education, and communities. EDC helps partners see these connections, align their efforts, and build strategies that respond to the realities of the people they serve.
Your Trusted Partner in Prevention
EDC provides training and expert consultation to support public health agencies and organizations working to address substance misuse and related problems in their communities.
With more than 30 years of experience working with prevention practitioners across the country, we understand the critical role that cross-sector prevention plays in addressing our nation’s most pressing public health challenges.
EDC’s Prevention Solutions
We know what it takes to prepare the prevention workforce to do this important work. Our diverse menu of trainings supports the foundational needs of practitioners new to the field, as well as the advanced needs of seasoned practitioners ready to tackle more targeted, complex problems. We help partners understand the landscape, identify priorities, clarify roles, and map practical solutions with meaningful connections.
- Trainings and Workforce Development
Let us help you move science to practice by building a prevention workforce empowered to make a difference.
Examples of our trainings include:
Addressing Opioid Overdose: Understanding the Role of Prevention
Collaborating Across the Continuum of Care
Delivering Effective Technical Assistance
Making the Case for Prevention: Developing a Compelling Pitch
Making It Last! Sustaining Prevention Programming
Increasing Cultural Competence to Address Health Disparities
Customized Trainings: We’ll work with you to develop a new training tailored to the unique prevention needs of the practitioners in your community.
- Strategic Planning and Tailored Consultation
We provide expert one-on-one consultation to support state and local public health agencies and organizations working to address substance misuse and related problems in their communities. We can design and deliver strategic planning services for key stakeholders to support the creation or updating of state-level or local community-level prevention plans.
Examples of consultation areas include:
- Opioid Abatement Settlement funds planning
- Conducting Needs Assessments
- Facilitating virtual or onsite strategic planning sessions
- Developing written strategic plans
- Coalition building and collaborating with new partners
- Program selection and implementation
- Monitoring and evaluation
- Sustainability planning
Make the connection with EDC.
Prevention work is strongest when it is designed for the community that will carry it forward. EDC helps partners translate evidence into practical strategies, build shared language across sectors, and use data to refine implementation over time.
Whether you are launching a new initiative, strengthening an existing one, or preparing for a complex challenge, we can meet you where you are—with training, consultation, and tools that are responsive to your goals and capacity. Tell us what your team is working toward. We’ll help you identify the right next step.