The Community Planning Toolkit: Preventing Youth Substance Misuse and Building Protective Factors is a community planning guide focusing on reducing youth misuse of alcohol, tobacco, cannabis and prescription drugs, while supporting efforts to help youth make healthy substance-free choices. There are many factors, including the individuals, family, organizations, businesses, and systems level policies that impact substance prevention. This Toolkit highlights stakeholders from across the community demonstrating the role we each have to play.

Community Planning Toolkit for the Web

Community Planning Toolkit for Printing

If you would like a hard copy of the toolkit, please email [email protected] with your contact information and mailing address.

Watch a webinar on how to use the toolkit in your community and download the slides.

Toolkit Resources

Explore sample language for policies and town plans, links to local data and resources for strategic planning for the health of your community. Additional resources available are on the topics of healthy community design, mental health, physical health and preventing chronic disease.

Toolkit and Planning Materials for Making Change
Strategic planning materials and resources for communities and coalitions.

Education and Information by Substance
Health and policy information and other resources arranged by substance.

Statewide and Local Data
Vermont regional data sets in accessible reports and maps.

Community-wide Strategies for Town Plans and Policy Development
Education for municipalities on substance abuse prevention, sample language for town plans, policies and ordinances, and municipal plans and policies.

Resources for Building Healthy Communities
Healthy community design resources and programs.

Healthy Lamoille Valley’s 2023 Community Planning Toolkit: Preventing Youth Substance Misuse and Building Protective Factors and additional online resources are an update of the 2020 edition and an expansion of the original 2015 Primer on Planning for Prevention. These publications and resources were created thanks to grants from the Vermont Department of Health to decrease statewide substance misuse rates for youth. Initial funding was from the Partnership for Success and current funders for this update are the Drug Free Communities Program and a grant from the Vermont Department of Health. The original foundation document for this update was created in collaboration with the Lamoille County Planning Commission.