The ENGAGE: Evidence-Based Strategies to Prevent Youth Substance Use resource provides a comprehensive, evidence-informed framework for preventing substance use among youth under 18. It emphasizes a public health, upstream approach, focusing not just on stopping use, but on strengthening the environments, relationships, and skills that support healthy development.
At its core, the document outlines six key strategies:
- Enhance knowledge and skills Equip youth with decision-making, refusal, and social-emotional skills through school-based interventions.
- Nurture family environments Strengthen caregiver relationships, communication, and expectations to reduce risk and build protective factors.
- Provide access to resources and activities Connect youth to structured, meaningful activities and mentorship that foster belonging and supervision.
- Amplify protective community environments Build community-level supports and partnerships that shift norms and reduce risk exposure.
- Lessen immediate and long-term harms Support youth already exposed to adversity or early substance use through trauma-informed services and interventions.
- Engage providers and health systems Use screening, early intervention, and trusted relationships with healthcare providers to identify and address risks early.
Across all strategies, the document reinforces that youth substance use is shaped by multiple interacting factors, including brain development, mental health, peer influence, access to substances, and broader social environments. Prevention is most effective when it is multi-layered, relationship-based, and sustained over time.
Reflection for FASD Prevention Conversation Facilitators
This resource reinforces that prevention is not about delivering information or trying to control behaviour, it is about understanding the broader context that shapes choices. For FASD Prevention Conversation Facilitators, this aligns closely with the relational, non-judgmental approach already at the core of their work.
Youth substance use is influenced by connection, stress, environment, and opportunity, which means prevention happens through everyday interactions where trust, curiosity, and respect are present. The emphasis on strengthening families, communities, and protective factors highlights that small, meaningful conversations can contribute to larger change over time. It also underscores the importance of trauma-informed thinking, recognizing that substance use is often connected to coping and unmet needs. Overall, the document affirms that facilitators play a valuable role not by directing decisions, but by creating space for reflection, supporting understanding, and contributing to environments where healthier choices are more possible.