Tobacco Use Prevention Education (TUPE)

Tobacco-Use Prevention Education (TUPE) is a comprehensive evidence-based tobacco-use prevention, youth development, intervention, and cessation program. The purpose of the TUPE program is to reduce youth tobacco-use by helping students make healthy decisions through tobacco-specific educational instruction and activities that build knowledge as well as social skills and youth development assets. TUPE funding originates from tobacco tax revenue and provides prevention programs in grades six through twelve. Through TUPE, districts and school staff/administrators receive training and technical assistance in the following capacities:

• Tobacco-free Schools Certification 

• Peer Advocate Training and Middle School Youth Conference for youth leaders

• California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS) and California Student Tobacco Survey (CSTS) administration

• California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS) data workshop for administrators

• Stanford Tobacco Prevention Toolkit curriculum trainings for teachers

• Brief Intervention Trainings for Counselors (Alternative to Suspension Method)

• Quarterly district and community partner TUPE networking meetings

• TUPE Tier 1 grant writing support and technical assistance

• Current research on adolescent tobacco and vape use, as well as effective prevention, intervention and cessation strategies

TUPE Tiers of Support

TUPE offers a tiered systems of support to ensure students throughout Santa Clara County, receive the appropriate level of intervention needed to prevent substance-use. TUPE interventions are identified based on student risk behavioral data obtained through the California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS). 

TUPE Tier I

TUPE Tier I offers universal prevention strategies on campus that include:

• Certification and enforcement of tobacco-free campus
  

• Monitoring of youth risk behaviors and resilience data through the administration of the California Healthy Kids Survey biannually for grades 7th, 9th, and 11th (CHKS Survey) 

TUPE Tier II 

TUPE Tier II offers prevention and interventions strategies that include:

• Monitoring of youth risk behaviors and resilience data through the administration of the California Healthy Kids Survey biannually for grades 7th, 9th, and 11th and the California Student Tobacco Survey
  

• Implementing classroom-based, research-validated substance use prevention programs
  

• Providing intervention for those most at risk

• Empowering youth through tobacco-focused youth development

• Maintaining and enforcing tobacco-free policy