Prevention planners are pressed to put in place solutions to urgent substance misuse problems facing their communities. But research and experience have shown that prevention must begin with an understanding of these complex behavioral health problems within their complex environmental contexts; only then can communities establish and implement effective plans to address substance misuse. To facilitate this understanding, SAMHSA developed the Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF). The five steps and two guiding principles of the SPF offer prevention planners a comprehensive approach to understanding and addressing the substance misuse and related behavioral health problems facing their states and communities.

The SPF includes these five steps:
1. Assessment: Identify local prevention needs based on data (e.g., What is the problem?)
2. Capacity: Build local resources and readiness to address prevention needs (e.g., What do you have to work with?)
3. Planning: Find out what works to address prevention needs and how to do it well (e.g., What should you do and how should you do it?)
4. Implementation: Deliver evidence-based programs and practices as intended (e.g., How can you put your plan into action?)
5. Evaluation: Examine the process and outcomes of programs and practices (e.g., Is your plan succeeding?)

The SPF is also guided by two cross-cutting principles that should be integrated into each of the steps that comprise it:
• Cultural competence. The ability of an individual or organization to understand and interact effectively with people who have different values, lifestyles, and traditions based on their distinctive heritage and social relationships.
• Sustainability. The process of building an adaptive and effective system that achieves and maintains desired long-term results.