Ohio Center of Excellence for Behavioral Health Prevention & Promotion

The Center of Excellence (COE) supports and connects the broader prevention community across Ohio. Coordinated through the partnership between The Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (OhioMHAS) and Ohio University’s Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service, the COE uses a centralized, current and culturally relevant approach to build infrastructure and capacity to address Ohioans’ mental, emotional, and behavioral health. Efforts focus on mental health promotion and early intervention to prevent substance abuse or dependency. Community-level partnerships are an essential element of COE and help to ensure it is accessible and responsive to the broader prevention community. Eleven Inaugural Partner Organizations represent stakeholders who support the COE development by leveraging community-level buy in and partnerships from coalitions, cross-sector organizations, county Alcohol, Drug Addition and Mental Boards, the faith-based community and many others to expand best-in-class prevention resources, training, and support. Key Center Priorities include (1) supporting system change efforts to help communities identify local prevention needs and solutions, (2) enhancing multi-sector efforts to support Ohio’s children, adults, and families, (3) advancing the use of prevention science for mental, emotional, and behavioral health prevention and promotion, (4) growing and supporting Ohio’s prevention workforce. The COE is facilitated by faculty and professional staff at Ohio University’s Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service in cooperation with research scientists from the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation.