CADCA E-News - 2002 Question of the Month
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| August | September
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| November |
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What kinds of evaluation
tools have you found most helpful to measure your coalition's effectiveness?
These tools could be a web-based system, a logic model, an evaluation
instrument, etc. What are the strengths and weaknesses of these tools? |
There aren't any responses yet -- please check back soon!
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For the first time, this year the Drug Free Communities Grant application process will be online. What challenges and opportunities does this present to you? |
NCBHS
Grant applications, on line, are great. Actually, I look for most of the federal grants to be online only, soon. Easy and saves lots of paper.
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What kind of events do you plan to host or participate in for National Alcohol & Drug Addiction Recovery Month? What kinds of things need to be done in order to get addiction, drug abuse prevention and medical professionals more involved in Recovery Month? |
Lake
County Health Department/Community Health Center - Illinois
It was great. We at Lake County Health Department applied for the grant and
have been chosen as a recipient!!
We were thrilled it was
on-line. It was easy to access and made
communication easy.
Drug-Free Marion County, Inc. - Indiana
You can find a description
of the statewide event planned for Sept. 12 on
the recovery month website under events in Indiana. We had done a
countywide kick-off the last two years and this year we've partnered with
some other local and state organizations. We expect to have some press
coverage. I believe this is one way to get professionals more aware and
involved with recovery month.
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Does your community coalition have experience reaching kids and/or parents with anti-marijuana messages? What did you do and what were the results? |
PASS: Peers Are Staying Straight, The Noble Idea - Alabama
We utilize both youth
and adult volunteers to communicate the message. A
variety of mediums are used. Examples are:
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What are effective ways to get volunteers more involved in coalition activities? |
Rainier Together
That's what I can think
of right at the moment...
In order to effectively
engage volunteers I think three areas need to be
addressed:
What is the task? - This needs to be defined as narrowly as possible - example : prepare flyer for youth health fair by Thursday. Volunteers should be used whenever possible for tasks that have end dates and tangible products as those tasks provide a sense of security ( "I haven't over committed there is an end date.") and achievement ("Great, I actually got this done on time!"). Another strategy to consider is teaming volunteers, even on simple tasks, to ensure accountability.
How does it relate to overall coalition goals? - Volunteers need to know how tasks relate to the project goals, and how the project goals relate to the coalition mission. Every task should be considered important enough for volunteers to feel the impact of their contribution.
What kind of recognition
will be given for task completion? - A plan to recognize volunteer contributions
should be part of project and coalition planning. These approaches can be
divided into three phases:
Beginning: Volunteers committing to tasks and are acknowledge in coalition
meetings, and are sent a letter from the Coalition Board detailing the task
and thanking them for taking on the tasks..
Middle: Volunteers are checked in with regularly, and thanked for their continued involvement. Volunteers are given the opportunity to speak to the board and/or coalition on progress or problems.
End: Volunteers
are acknowledge publicly for contributions.Volunteers receive achievement
letter for completing tasks.
1. Get to know them - their interests, talents, skills - and ask them to help out in areas where they would be most interested and/or would have special things to offer.
2. Notice when they don't attend a meeting; let them know they were missed, and fill them in on what happened.
3. Give them recognition
whenever possible - when they've contributed significantly to some project,
recruited a new member, identified a new resource, etc....
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What are the biggest barriers to treatment in your area? In your opinion, what can be done to eliminate these obstacles? |
Safe & Drug-Free Schools - School District of Beloit
Lack of access to services specifically for women and lack of help with the children and child care
The greatest barrier to treatment in our area is the mental health center that provides a service that has a 3% success rating. They take lots of state money and provide a service that is poorly run and the staff changes constantly. The other barrier is the fact that the other facilities are almost an hour away.
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In your opinion, what is the biggest challenge faced by substance abuse prevention professionals today? What, if anything, could be done at the national level to help meet this challenge? |
Early Intervention Specialist
To organize better after school programs for middle school youth. When safe and fun programs are offered during non school hours, youth have positive alternatives to risky behaviors available.
Biggest challenge: Appropriate long term and stable funding of youth resource centers.
Substance Abuse Prevention Program Specialist - Fairbanks, AK
We struggle with the challenge of getting people to understand stages of addiction and the importance of getting young people into treatment or referring them to a specialist. It may not be a phase and not everyone grows out of it....and getting someone help w / a drug problem or any other problem doesn't necessarily mean that you are ratting them out or ruining your relationship w/ them. Kids should be able to trust that adults will do the right thing EVEN IF IT'S HARD TO DO!!!
PSA's are very effective!!!
Founder of the Courage to Speak Foundation, Inc.
Norwalk, CT - Ginger Katz, Founder of The Courage to Speak Foundation, was asked by the NY Daily News to write an opinion letter regarding the couple that committed suicide in Elizabeth, NJ train tracks because of their hopeless addiction to drugs, and the steps that parents can take early on to detect and prevent drug addiction.
The letter was published in Tuesday's New York Daily News, in the Opinion page. Attached is the link for your convenience:
http://www.nydailynews.com/2002-05-21/News_and_Views/Opinion/a-151591.asp
In answer to your question
about the greatest challenge facing those who care for substance abusers,
I believe it is overcoming the national obsession with
drinking alcohol. Americans are so complacent about alcohol consumption that
they don't even realize how it affects our young people. Any more, it doesn't
matter whether or not you drink - as parents - your children will be exposed
to drinking wherever they go, whatever they do, and with almost everyone they
hang
out with. You cannot even watch a movie without being exposed to drinking
alcohol or drunkeness. And because producers of alcohol are getting so much
free advertising, they continue to make outrageous amounts of money off of
our children, putting their lives at risk. In February of 2000, my 17-year
old son was
killed in a DUI related traffic accident. He had been at a party hosted by
two other underage drinkers (19 and 20), who regularly opened the home they
were
renting together to kids who wanted to drink. They knew he was drunk, they
knew the people he was with were drunk, and still they handed the keys (to
our
car) to the one they deemed the least drunk of the drunk, and she flipped
it 4 and 1/2 times while travelling at 90+ mph. Kids do not get it....even
after losing his brother, my younger son, now 17 himself, still does not get
it. His friends do not
get it. Our older adult children do not get it. Most of the adults I know
do not get it. The majority of adults in America are not good role models
for kids - either you drink or you don't, and if you do, you are helping our
kids die. There is no longer a thing called "drinking responsihbly."
Do I sound angry? I will never be able to express how angry I am. It is sickening
that we allow marketing alcohol to our young people to continue. I don't know
how to fix this, or if it is even possible.
I am the Chief of Prevention Services for the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services. My thoughts on the May question are as follows:
Several challenges confront prevention professionals. One is the continuing debate over how best to articulate the cost effectiveness of prevention in a manner that funders will readily understand. This is difficult because we can't accurately pinpoint the return on a prevention dollar for all but the most high risk individuals.
Another challenge is our workforce. As research has been produced validating evidence-based practices, our collective workforce has not experienced a similar growth in knowledge. This chasm between new evidence-based practice and the old prevention causes conflict for veterans in the prevention field. Due to numerous funding concerns, states simply don't have the funds to invest in sound workforce development efforts. CSAP is beginning to vigorously address this issue but this will be a long-term process.
I think the other major
issue we face is the debate over whether we should practice general health
promotion or specific ATOD prevention. SAMHSA is encouraging this dialogue,
which is good, but the debate can harm our field. I work to delay the onset
of ATOD use and to decrease the use of ATOD by minors and others in high risk
situations. That is a huge task. Complicating it with efforts to promote mental
health, prevent disease, etc. only stretches a thin dollar and work force
further.
Changing the public's perception of drug abuse from one of a crime problem to a health issue
I think the biggest challenge to drug abuse prevention specialists is combating perceived cultural norms. I frequently have the opportunity to talk to middle and high school-aged students in a suburban area of Northern California and I'm amazed by how they feel "everyone" drinks alcohol and smokes marijuana. I make classroom-based presentations on tobacco and other substance use, facilitate high school tobacco diversion groups, and lead peer education groups on tobacco/drug prevention and other issues. In short, I spend a lot of time with 11-17 year olds and the "everybody does it" message is predominant. In our area of California, two other comments are frequently made by teens and preteens alike: 1) "marijuana has medical uses" [or even more disturbing "marijuana cures cancer" or "my doctor says I have back problems... or carpal tunnel or... and [s]he'll write me a prescription for marijuana"] and 2) "the only way to relax is by using marijuana or alcohol." While as a registered nurse, I do believe that marijuana may be useful for chemotherapy patients or patients with wasting diseases, I feel that in a community such as ours, where many adults (and teens) make money by growing and selling marijuana, the medical marijuana message is greatly overblown and exaggerated. Also how sad that our kids are getting the message that the only way to relax is through drug use.
I blame the root of these messages on the media and advertising. I am not alone in this. Media literacy experts throughout the country have good evidence that what kids see in our movies, on TV, hear in music and see in advertising [feeling blue--ask your doctor for our little pill] further promotes the ideas that drug taking is always a good thing and without negative consequence. I've even heard rumors that in the next year or two pharmaceutical companies will begin marketing diet pills (remember phen-fen) to youngsters; and one of our local high schools has Slimfast available now in the students' soft drink machine.
As long as we as a society continue to make money our bottom line for everything we do, our kids will be targeted by both local drug pushers and corporate drug pushes. Advertising has become a psychological free-for-all, selling emotions and hoped-for lifestyles and dreams; anything goes as long as money is made. And advertisers appear to believe that anything goes in selling to kids as well.
If we really want to make
a difference in all this, I think we need to bring stricter regulations back
to the media. Some countries control advertising toward kids and that seems
to be helpful. Movie, TV, video games and music need to be looked at as well.
Violence, drug use, and sexualized behaviors are all shown without consequence
and as normal; these are not appropriate cultural and societal messages for
kids--and we know that! Now let's make our political leaders look at this,
tell media and advertising lobbyists to butt out, and get something done for
our kids' sake.
Clinica
Sierra Vista - California
My opinion is that we need to professionalize the profession, and move away from feel good prevention to scientifically proven based prevention. I think that this will come from educating prevention professionals, and from atrition when those who resist change move on. At the national level, more could be done to make Substance Abuse Prevention Specialist Training available, and encourage it as the minimum standard for substance abuse prevention providers.
HELP of Door County - Pennsylvania
I think that a major challenge, at least in Wisconsin, is the lack of parental support. We could use some assistance in changing adult usage patterns that are passed on to each generation ie. the use of alcohol as an initiation into the adult world at prom, homecoming and other significant events.
Funding for projects that help us educate parents and legal guardians in the same manner that we educate youth would be helpful...just a thought.
I think the greatest challenge is lack of public education that results in unquestioned acceptance of alcohol as a harmful substance when used by youth or improperly by adults. We need to create the public will to hold adults accountable for their behavior -- behavior that produces and sells harmful substances to youth; behavior that models and promotes dependency on substances; behavior that expects youth to make responsible choices, but not adults themselves.
The biggest challenge to substance abuse prevention professionals today is to find good, qualified people at the rate of pay that our area seems to feel is adequate. With money so scares, good people are leaving the profession for "greener" pastures.
Grand Futures Prevention Coalition
I beleive the biggest
challenge to substance abuse prevention professionals today is the lack of
long-term funding for prevention programs. We spend a huge amount of time
looking for dollars, 1,000 here, $100,000 there. Because of that we are not
spending enough time researching and implementing prevention and intervention
programs in our communities.
To answer the question, "What is the biggets challenge to prevention? What can be done on a national level?
I have worked in a high school setting for 15 years - as a substance abuse counselor. I am a recovering person. I also chair our local Policy Panel to reduce youth access to alcohol.
Our biggest challenge: ALCOHOL! After all these years, we continue to seperate 'alcohol' and 'drugs.' On a national level, we need to acknowledge alcohol as a drug - it is a mind altering substance, which is the simple definition of a drug. On a national level, we need to use the following phrase: alcohol and other drugs. And we need to continue to correct those people who seperate alcohol from from street drugs. We will make no significant headway in our 'drug' problems until we acknowledge alcohol as a drug and start fighting this issue.
Adults need to hear that we are not prohibitionists, we acknowledge alcohol as a legal substance to be used responsibly. Adults who use alcohol irresponsibly are sending our youth poor messages. Parents need to be role models. Parents who hold keg parties, claim that there will be no street drugs at the party, they will hold all car keys and not give them to youth who are drunk - these parents need to be held legally accountable.
Law Enforcement has their hands tied behind their backs: when they get calls re large parties with teens drinking, they cannot go onto private property. As a result, they cannot cite the minors who are drinking nor the adults who are providing. Additionally, most law enforcement agencies have staff and budget issues - they don't have enopugh staff, and as a result, they have to prioritize their calls, meaning that domestic violence, gun violence, street drug issues get prioritized over teen alcohol reports.
The problem:
In Louisiana I believe it is the community's failure to recognize and support
prevention efforts, specifically regarding youth and alcohol. "Community"
here can be recognized as a city or parish (county) where "systems"
have not recognized or "signed-on" with the prevention message.
Without the majority of the community supporting prevention efforts, our programs
and education cannot be nearly as effective, or maintained. School boards,
business leaders and the community at large must work together and give a
consolidated message. Before that can happen, they must all agree there is
a problem. We have a very strong alcohol lobby in this state and we in prevention
find resistence at evey turn. Illegal drugs are one thing, but alcohol is
still often not thought of as a problem or a drug for adults or youth.
A possible solution: On a national level, this message - that a community of business, schools and families must work together to support the alcohol and drug no-use message to youth - offered on national PSA's could help support our individual efforts at the local level.
I think that there are not enough recovered drug abusers doing this job - after all, who would know more about it and can say "been there, done that?" Too many people talk down to abusers and not to them. I think they need to be touched on a more personal level. Treatment programs need to include seeing the results of drug use - health wise and to the family, not to mention the children! I work for Disability Determination Services in Oregon, and if people could really see what drugs and alcohol do to your body and your mind, I think it would affect them more.
I feel that
first of all, they need the support of society to understand that this [addiction]
is a disease. Second, they [addicts] are restricted related to ongoing insurance
problems. Third of all, I believe they [doctors, the medical profession] need
to inform a responsible party of what to look for, and how to help. The medical
oath that provides for patient confidentiality killed my son, because I had
no understanding of the extent of his addiction.
Continue
to promote the Substance abuse prevention awareness programs that are available
to not only the children but the whole family, family time is important. In
addition the programs that are available on the community level for instance
the Municipal Alliance program here in the state of New Jersey.
The biggest
challenge faced by substance abuse prevention professionals today is funding
instability. Most prevention programs that I am aware of are substantially
dependent on grants for financial support. The maximum length of time for
most grants is 3-years, however most of the grants available are for one year.
Compounding the problem is that fewer and fewer funding sources are available
for sustaining efforts that have been implemented. Community norms can't be
changed in 1, 2 or 3 years. Time spent grant finding and writing zaps resources
that are needed to implement and sustain viable prevention efforts.
The biggest problem I experience is apathy. I hear too often, "the kids that participate in Red RIbbon (or any prevention program) are the ones that are never going to use anyhow, and the ones that really need help are not going to listen to that type of message"
I think it is so important that people understand that these "happy" non confrontational public events can and do reach high risk audiances, including people who are already using, one benefit to public prevention events is that people who need help can come in anonymously and get information without everyone knowing why they are there. It takes away part of the stigma. The other thing that I wish people would recognize is that the prevention programs are working and that is why many of the youth who attend or participate have never and will never use, because it is working is a BAD reason to stop!
The relatively young field of professional substance abuse prevention is facing a challenge that it must overcome and defeat in order to have a future. Privately funded drug legalization advocacy groups are widely disseminating false information (particularly a benign view of marijuana's effects) that undermines the efforts of preventionists. Most preventionists have been hesitant to respond to the pro-legalization movement, and few states have pushed prevention professionals to be more responsive to the threat.
There are at least four
reasons for the current situation. These must be addressed and overcome if
effective youth ATOD prevention is to survive. These four reasons are:
1. A constricted understanding of prevention
2. Slowness in recognizing a changing environment
3. Misguided compassion
4. Fear of violating prohibitions against government-funded lobbying.
Constricted understanding
of prevention
Many preventionists operate under a narrowed definition of primary prevention.
Some think that prevention is just talking about drugs. Others see prevention
as simply teaching our youth about the development of positive attitudes,
coping skills, self-esteem, and good decision-making. Still others believe
prevention should be driven by the implementation of only scientifically validated
"programs." Instead of seeing drug information, coping skills, or
validated programs as "means to an end", these tools become the
"ends". From such a point-of-view, countering legalization advocates
is seen as outside the purview of professional prevention. Prevention is considered
an "objective" pursuit, while legalization issues are "subjective".
This "subjective" viewpoint enables legalization advocates to say
they are merely stating an opinion.
Counter to what pro-drug advocates say, those of us familiar with pro-legalization
efforts are aware that much more than a policy debate is taking place. To
further their goals, legalization advocates have advanced assertions about
marijuana, and other drugs, that fly in the face of both scientific study,
and broader human experience. Drug users who perceive no problematic results
of their "own use" are leading the charge. Civil libertarians who
believe only drug users, if anyone, are hurt by drugs, promote the "users"
with both financial and other support. The result is not only a debate, but
also a substantial distortion of public information about drugs. We cannot
ignore the fact that these partnerships and distortions of facts create a
major barrier to effective prevention practices.
Slowness in recognizing
a changing environment
Some preventionists might be willing to address the impact of legalization
rhetoric, but just haven't yet recognized the magnitude of the public change
in the past seven years achieved by a variety of legalizers' efforts, including
a huge presence on the internet, a determined pursuit of sympathetic media
coverage, and strategic ploys such as the notion of "harm reduction."
Pro-drug legalizers are successfully taking the term "harm reduction",
which has been used for many years within the medical profession to indicate
facilitating wellness, and have begun to apply it to the legalization of drugs
as a responsible and caring way to "assist" drug users lead a more
"safe and healthy" lifestyle while still using drugs. Smaller scale
prevention education efforts being carried on by our schools and communities
cannot be expected to maintain positive effects in the face of such massive
promotion of misinformation.
Misguided compassion
An appeal to compassion is one of legalization advocates' favorite approaches.
Preventionists, like other social service professionals, tend to have an abundance
of compassion. Unfortunately, legalizers have become very effective at preying
on compassion. Only when one becomes familiar with the way legalizers use
compassion as a tool to advance their personal interest in abolishing controls
on drug use, does one realize that drug laws with sanctions proportionate
to the destructiveness of the behavior involved are much better expressions
of compassion than the "leave them alone" approach. Verbal images
of long-incarcerated marijuana users can jar sympathy, unless one recognizes
how rare it now is for marijuana use to result in a prison term (unless use
is accompanied by drug sales or other crimes). Giving drug-using youth a choice
between treatment and jail is far more compassionate than letting them succumb
to addiction or other AOD problems. Drug legalizers advocate treating drug
use only as a personal sickness. This is an appealing approach if you forget
the impact on society of drugs and forget the importance of appropriate legal
sanctions for maintenance of effective prevention and treatment programs.
The capacity of prevention and treatment efforts to make progress in decreasing
drug use would be seriously impaired without the power of law to compel non-use.
Fear of violating prohibitions
against government-funded lobbying
Governmentally funded preventionists have to be careful to obey prohibitions
against lobbying on the job, but they can do much to counter the worst distortions
from legalization advocates without disobeying the law. Preventionists can
and should give the public, including legislators, the true and complete facts
about marijuana and about other issues distorted by the legalizers. We can
save our opinions for personal communications off the job, but our work on
the job should have everything to do with correcting misinformation about
drug issues. In the past, we were not interested in issues such as industrial
hemp and the medical application (or, lack of application) of marijuana. Now,
we have a professional obligation to educate our constituents and communities
about methods used by legalization advocates. Education about their methods
is not enough; we need to know how to counter their misinformation, which
is a major part of their legalization efforts, with correct and factual information.
In summary, legalization advocates are not just talking about legalization: through action and advocacy, they are determined to change the way people view drugs. Drug prevention training organizations, credentialing groups, and funding bodies need to embrace and elevate the knowledge needed to promote anti-legalization efforts to the highest levels of priority. Until now, we have typically treated the legalization movement with the same denial and "ignorance is bliss" attitude that we abhor when we see people exhibiting those feeling related to alcohol or other general drug issues.
Communities are asleep. Time is running out for those who believe abstinence-based prevention is the best policy. If the field of professional ATOD prevention fails to recognize and effectively counter pro-drug efforts to effect social change, our voice and prevention efforts will become ineffective and superfluous. Communities must wake-up to the fact that a well-organized effort is underway to change citizens' perception of the ill and long-term harmful effects caused by the use and abuse of illicit drugs. Time is running out for us to engage the reality that is already present in our communities. The question is, "can we meet this challenge?"
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Have you received your copy of the winter issue of Coalitions newsletter? If so, what do you think of the redesign? Is the information organized in a user-friendly way? Do you consider the updated look an improvement? |
No responses!
RESPONSES:
Jackson
County Children's Services Coalition - Gautier, MS
I did visit Capital Hill
during the CADCA conference. I met for an hour with a senior staff for Sen.
Thad Cochran. Then a staff person took me to the Capital to meet with Sen.
Trent Lott. I had my picture taken with the Senator, got a brief tour and
then I was gone. He knows my husband is how I got to meet him. I felt the
visit to Sen. Cochran's office will prove very productive. I have sent them
a proposal and maintained contact with his office.
I wish there were no sessions during the time of visits to the Hill. I scheduled
my appts. on Thursday so I would not miss the Project Northland session and
then it was changed after I got to the conference. I think more people will
visit their elected officials if that was the only thing scheduled.
Mobility is a problem and appeared not to be addressed in the past.
Reading, PA
Our contingent from the
Community Prevention Partnership of Berks County (5) did go to the hill.
We visited with our Congressional rep as well as a staffer from Senator Specter's
office.
Congressman Holden was preoccupied with the state's redistricting our our
region - which impacts him negatively. His staffer said talk to them in March
re: funding needs.
Senator Specter's staffer met us in the cafeteria because their office was
still not reopened in the Hart Bldg. They are working out of an old health
dispensary space.
In terms of support, she also told us to come back in March. Anything we asked
for would probably get lost at that time.
Emporians for Drug Awareness, Inc. - Kansas
Kay,
Even though we didn't all come together, five of us who came from Kansas made
our appointment together to visit our Representative and Senators during the
CADCA Conference. Two of those who went with us are new Drug Free Communities
grantees and this was their first forum. They were very impressed.
Even though we may call or email our legislators throughout the year when certain issues come up, the personal visit is important to let them put faces with names and see that we have a passion for what we're doing and for good reason! We leave current statistics, stories on what we're doing, and share our concerns and how we need their help. Sometimes we are gratified to know that they are aware of some issues and feel as we do. More often we're glad we came because sometimes they just don't have a clue about some real problems going on in our state in the area of substance abuse and our youth.
Sue Thau does such a great job at getting everyone enthused about going and educated on the process and some talking points to get them started, and CADCA has made it so easy by providing buses, lunches, etc. I honestly can't think of a good excuse NOT to go!
Thanks for all you do.
Day One, Inc. - CA
Hi:
I did make a visit to capitol hill to visit with our Congressman Adam Schiff.
It was a very pleasant visit and worth my time. I did not go with the rest
of the CADCA group because being my first time at CADCA, many things were
very unclear to me.
RESPONSES:
Michigan
Yes, I did attend the
December 2001 Forum, and enjoyed it very much. I've been to 3 other Forums,
and thought the Plenary Sessions were especially strong this year - and having
the President in attendance was a real coup! I did not find the overall quality
of the workshops I attended to be as high, although some were excellent.
I was very disappointed that some good workshops were scheduled at the same
time as the visits to the Hill. In the past, the visits with our elected representatives
were emphasized as important to our advocacy efforts, but this year's scheduling
doesn't seem consistent with this philosophy. Some of those with whom I attended
would have enjoyed and benefitted from the visit to the Hill - , but chose
to go to a workshop instead. This is the first time in my experience that
that choice was necessary. I hope that there will be rethinking on this event
before next year.
Overall, however, it was a very good event. I accompanied a large group of
representatives of coalitions from our area, and they came back with lots
of ideas and enthusiasm. Thank you!
FIARS Family Advocate - CO
Hi Kay,
I hope that I am not too late to send you an answer to the question of the
month for January. I did attend the CADCA conference in December and even
had the opportunity to present the program that I work with here in Southwest
Colorado. This was the first year that I attended the CADCA conference. What
an experience! It was wonderful to see so many agencies and people dedicated
to helping our communities! I especially enjoyed the IDEA fair and the Drug
Abuse Prevention: Pro Life or Pro Choice (DEA) workshop. I definitely recommend
others attend next year and have not stopped raving about it to my family
and co-workers!
Prevention Partners - NY
I have been to several
of the leadership forums including this last one. As usual the workshops and
speakers were excellent. However, I think there needs to be some way for those
that do make the trip to Capitol Hill not to miss workshops or other meetings.
There are many coalitions that can afford to send only one or two people to
the forum, which means that if they make appointments on Capitol Hill there
isn't any way to "divide forces" and send some people to the Hill
and let others cover the workshops that are scheduled at the same time. I
know that you are trying to cover a large number of topics and important issues
during the forum, but there must be some way to work out a better schedule.
Drug Free Community Council - Indiana
Kay,
I attended the CADCA's National Forum for the first time in December and had
a wonderful experience!
I was able to attend since funds were available with our DFC Support Grant.
The workshops were great and the networking really benefited me and our
coalition. I would highly recommended the Forum to everyone and plan to
attend this year with a coalition member.
Community Mobilization United Way of Broward County Commission on Substance Abuse
I attended the CADCA conference
this year and it was great. The workshops
where cutting edge and informative for the services we provide in our
communities. I got a family sort of feelings, a connection with the other
coalitions at this years conference. That was only highlighted by the
President coming and signing the Re-authorazation Bill.
Maine
I attended the CADCA National
Leadership Forum in December 2001, and it was
truly AWESOME!! I met some wonderful people from all around the nation, and
learned about innovative approaches that community coalitions are taking.
It was especially wonderful to have the opportunity to meet the people whose
names I have known for years for their achievements in the field of
substance abuse prevention. A personal highlight for me was getting the chance
to chat with John McKnight during his book signing. And, what can I say about
how exciting it was to "have lunch with the President!"
BEST Coalition
for a Safe and Drug Free Nevada
I truly enjoyed the conference this year. We came back energized and ready
to do more with our Coalition in Nevada.
We're already planning
to launch several Press Conferences ---
------one in February to kick-off the PDFA Media Campaign,
------another in March to raise awareness on "Inhalants and Poisons"
------and another in April to raise awareness about Alcohol.
On April 11th, we're partnering with the University of Nevada Las Vegas to launch "Alcohol Screening Day" for students and interested individuals to participate. Volunteer Treatment Specialists from several treatment facilities have already agreed to be our "expert" screeners.
Thank you for all of your ideas and support.
Mercer
County
This was my 1st time attending CADCA and Ii thought it was great!! I recevied
a lot of info and the networking was great! I would have liked to have seen
more workshops on programs to do with coalitions especially youth coalitions.
I tried to attend all that related to that and maybe i missed them because
we were offered so many which was great! But actual workshops that give programs
and/or ideas that have worked with other coalitions would have been helpful.
I definitly plan on attending the next one and yes i have passed the info
on and suggested that more people from our coalition attend. Also please note
I thought the conference was very organized!
thanks again!
Prevention and Healthy Communities Network
I attended the CADCA conference
and came away with my spirit fluffed up, my head filled with new ideas and
possibilities, and a renewed dedication to the work of prevention. And I shipped
two boxes, filled with free materials, home. Thank you for a memorable conference.
North Dakota
Several people who work
in the area of substance abuse prevention in North Dakota attended CADCA's
National Leadership Forum XII. The workshops, the general sessions, the Ideas
Fair, the meetings on the Hill --- really all of the parts of the Forum --
were valuable experiences. Information that was presented during the Forum
has already been shared with several people who were not able to attend. Several
of those who could not attend hope to attend a future Forum.
The staff of CADCA made this an excellent conference.
The Annual Meeting was excellent on almost all counts - interesting and varied workshops and plenary sessions, good opportunities for networking, great visits on Capitol Hill, nice Dine and Tour event.
Please know that attending
this meeting and hearing the workshop and plenary speakers were a tremendous
inspiration for all of us in coalition work. Thank you for the time and effort
you put into organizing such a worthwhile conference. Everyone I have seen
or talked to since the conference totally agrees that this annual meeting
was exceptional in so many ways. It was fabulous to hear President Bush and
many others talk about the importance of the work we do.
Ohio
- Director - Community
for Capable Youth
The four Community for Capable Youth (CACY) staff people that attended the
CADCA conference thought it was great and were very pleased with the sessions
that they attended. They were thrilled with the President's speech.
Colorado - Manager - School/Community Youth Coalition
Yes, I attended the Forum this year. Overall, I think you guys and gals did a VERY FINE job, and your coup of having the president speak was extraordinary and inspiring. I also really appreciated the post-event press release, and Arthur Dean's comments about how important each coalition leader's contribution was. That was a hit in our local newspaper.
I believe that the workshops that I attended were OK, and the plenary and other large sessions were GREAT! I think that people would attend the workshops more regularly, if there was a certification process that verified their attendance. Also, more is not necessarily better.
Do you think that you could offer scholarships for kids - maybe set up a sponsor system or something? I would love to take some of our youth, but the travel, lodging, etc. is prohibitive. Anything you could set up would be great, and I think more kids would energize the conference. There needs to be a critical mass of kids for them to really get into it, I think. [Editor's note: Scholarships were available to Forum XII. These were advertised in CADCA's weekly E-News.]
I like being in Washington - the visits to Capitol Hill have proven very valuable, and I don't know if I would have done that the first time without your support. I bet those visits influenced that Drug-Free Communities support. Great visibility for our coalition movement!
THANKS FOR ALL YOUR HARD
WORK!!!!
Ohio
- Prevention Coordinator
I want to say thank you to the CADCA staff and planning committee for a GREAT Leadership Forum. I always think that the CADCA Forum is a wonderful experience for both experienced and novice alike - there is just so much there.
It was a thrill to have our great President George W. Bush come and talk to us. I have been in prevention for about 15 years and this is the first time I have gotten the feeling that what I do really does matter to our Commander-in-Chief, and that felt good!
Even more exciting was seeing him re-authorize the Drug Free Communities dollars. Those of us that work in this field know that part of what makes successful programs is continued financial support, so that we can remain consistent and continue to grow in our efforts.
Again, I want to say that
the CADCA Leadership Forum is the very best opportunity out there to find
out what is working, what's new and upcoming, and the latest research when
it comes to Community Coalitions. Thanks again to you and the CADCA staff,
I am proud to be affiliated with such a GREAT organization. Keep up the hard
work.
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