A message from The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP)

Greetings!

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) is accepting applications for the 2018 Prevention Internship Program.

The Prevention Internship Program, a component of SAMHSA/CSAP’s Prevention Fellowship Program, invites qualified individuals with strong interest in substance abuse prevention and behavioral health, for a 5-month paid internship in participating Tribes and Tribal Organizations throughout the United States. (Visit the application Web site at www.seiservices.com/SAMHSA/csap/preventionfellowship for a list of participating locations.)

The Prevention Internship Program offers participants front-line experience in the field of substance abuse prevention within Tribes and Tribal Organizations across the country. The Prevention Internship Program will focus on preparing interns to provide capacity-building Technical Assistance (TA) to support integration of behavioral health prevention services within tribal organization systems. Interns will benefit from hands-on experience as well as trainings focusing on behavioral health and substance abuse prevention, the Strategic Prevention Framework, Cultural Responsiveness, and evaluation. The Prevention interns will learn new techniques, master best practices in the field, and apply knowledge gained from their professional and cultural experiences.

Prevention interns are accepted on a location-by-location basis, depending on the sites of Tribes and Tribal Organizations. Interns will receive a stipend of $15 – 20 per hour and will be required to work 40 hours per week from January 16 – May 11, 2018.

Each intern will be assigned a mentor at his or her site. The mentor will be responsible for helping the intern to develop skills and learning, and for providing the intern with a detailed description regarding his or her roles and responsibilities. An intern’s responsibilities may include designing, coordinating, implementing, or assessing the performance of substance prevention programs. The work may include developing prevention plans to increase substance misuse awareness; developing prevention education programs; organizing and participating in trainings for staff or other organizations; and preparing and maintaining reports, records, and documents pertaining to funding sources, data collection, and program evaluation.

Individuals seeking selection into the internship must meet the following criteria and provide associated documentation:

(1) U.S. citizenship or U.S. Territories and Pacific Jurisdictions residency;

(2) For education, an applicant must have completed at least two (2) years of college (or 60 credit hours) from an accredited academic institution, with an emphasis in public health, behavioral health, clinical or social science areas. In addition, students currently enrolled at a community college and who will earn their Associate Degree in public health, behavioral health, clinical or social science areas by May 31, 2018, are also eligible to apply;

(3) Two letters of recommendation from an academic and/or professional reference;

(4) A detailed essay (of no more than two pages) on why the candidate should be selected for the internship, and how selection would support his or her career goals (to be completed through the online application); and

(5) Experience in substance abuse prevention and/or behavioral health prevention/promotion.

Applications will be accepted from eligible candidates through Friday, December 1, 2017. The program overview, application instructions, locations, FAQs and the online application are available at www.seiservices.com/SAMHSA/csap/preventionfellowship.

Applicants will be notified of their selection status on or before Friday, December 15, 2017.  Selected candidates are expected to begin the Prevention Internship Program Tuesday, January 16, 2018.

For additional information, please contact the Prevention Fellowship Program at (240) 485-1700 or via email at  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .