The Family's Role in Substance Use Prevention: A Practical Guide for Educators and Prevention Professionals

This practical brief explains why the family is the earliest and strongest setting for substance use prevention, and how educators and prevention professionals can help strengthen it. Grounded in the UNODC/WHO International Standards on Drug Use Prevention and SUPE's education-first approach, it outlines the protective and risk factors within families and the five capacities that do most of the protective work: connection, supervision, clear expectations, communication, and modelling.

The guide offers age-stage guidance for caregivers (ages 4–8, 9–12, and teens), practical steps to make the home environment safer — including securing and disposing of substances and understanding online risks — and ways to engage caregivers as partners in prevention delivery. It closes with clear takeaways educators can share directly with families.

Free to share for non-commercial prevention use with attribution. Produced by SUPE (Substance Use Prevention Education), a program of a U.S. 501(c)(3) nonprofit, authored by Marcel Gemme.