Substance and Tobacco Use Prevention and Education (TUPE+)
Students make healthy choices when they have strong support systems, opportunities to build their skills, and avenues to advocate for themselves and their peers.The San Mateo County Office of Education runs a comprehensive, evidence-based substance and tobacco use and prevention education (TUPE+) program that is focused on preventing substance use, promoting youth development, and supporting intervention and cessation. Anchored in building protective factors such as strong school connections, youth voice and agency, and coping strategies, TUPE+ aims to reduce youth tobacco and substance use by equipping students with the knowledge, social skills, and confidence they need to make healthy choices.
What Do We Do?
The County Office of Education supports local schools in several key ways:
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Leads and guides school districts in their tobacco prevention efforts.
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Helps districts receiving state TUPE funds (Tobacco-Use Prevention Education) create strong programs and follow grant requirements.
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Shares important updates about youth substance use, tobacco, and vaping trends, and what prevention strategies work best.
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Trains school staff to teach effective, science-based tobacco education.
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Supports districts in finding and applying for more funding for tobacco prevention.
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Connects schools to state programs and local resources for substance use and tobacco education, prevention, and quitting support.
Resource Highlight:
Becoming a Trusted Adult: Foundations for Effective Drug Education
Developed by the Stanford REACH Lab and the Stanford Center for Health Education (SCHE), this course teaches practical, evidence-based skills for communicating with adolescents about substance use.
Outdated approaches like “just-say-no” or scare tactics simply don’t work. Instead, it’s important to build a trusting relationship and engage in nonjudgmental, two-way conversations to guide them toward making healthy choices for themselves.