CADCA Youth Leadership
CADCA’s Youth Leadership is committed to strengthen the skills and capacity of young people to influence positive change in the communities where they live, learn and grow. Knowing that young people are the best resource for creating this change,
our motto is “Engage. Develop. Inspire.”
Engage. Develop. Inspire.
CADCA Youth Leadership Initiative empowers over 1,200 youth yearly across the U.S.
and abroad to fight drug use and other problems plaguing their communities.
Youth in Action Project
Employ behavioral change strategies with an emphasis on environmental change to address the problems effectively.
Learn MoreSupport for Coalitions
CADCA-trained coalitions have been instrumental in creating policy change around the country so far
Support NowAdvocate
CADCA trains young people in skills to advocate on the state, local, tribal, and national levels.
Advocate NowEngage. Develop. Inspire.
CADCA Youth Leadership Initiative empowers over 1,200 youth yearly across the U.S.
and abroad to fight drug use and other problems plaguing their communities.
Youth in Action Project
Employ behavioral change strategies with an emphasis on environmental change to address the problems effectively.
Learn MoreSupport for Coalitions
CADCA-trained coalitions have been instrumental in creating policy change around the country so far
Support NowAdvocate
CADCA trains young people in skills to advocate on the state, local, tribal, and national levels.
Advocate NowEngage
Effective community coalition work requires the involvement of youth at all levels, from leadership to strategy implementation. Young people have powerful voices and bring critical insight and sustainability to prevention.
Where do we find young people to lead and participate effectively in our coalition work? How do we keep them involved? What do we do as our star young people age out and move on?
Our shared challenge is to engage young people in ways that honor and respect their unique gifts and perspectives, while still operating strategically and effectively.
Develop
Key Essentials Training
This course introduces prevention and coalition work and takes youth and adult advisors through the Strategic Prevention Framework. Youth leave these trainings with a Logic Model, Community Assessment, Interventions, and an Action Plan.
Inspire
Leveling Up Communities This training offers new insight into the work we do within our communities, to ensure that it impacts all community members, especially those who need it most. Health equity is becoming an integral concept within substance misuse prevention efforts, and this track will address how we can facilitate change in our communities through this perspective. Youth who sign up for this track must attend every session, and it is recommended that an adult advisor attend this track with youth from the coalition.
Advocacy and Policy
Our Advocacy and Policy course trains young people in skills to advocate on the state, local, tribal, and national levels. The course learning objectives include the process of policy change, public speaking skills, and cultivating champions.
Custom Trainings And More!
CADCA’s Youth Leadership department also offers tailored training sessions during our annual Forum event. Topics include Public Speaking, Leadership, Social Media, Health Equity, Fundraising, Creating Public Service Announcements (PSAs), and How to Chance a Local Ordinance.
A Global Approach
CADCA’s Youth Leadership is built on the framework of evidence-based community problem-solving processes researched and documented by the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre Workgroup for Community Health and Development at the University of Kansas. This work has been calibrated for substance misuse by CADCA and institutionalized over 10 years through the National Coalition Institute (NCI), National Coalition Academy, and CADCA’s Youth Programs delivery system. CADCA’s Youth Leadership is embraced by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), states, and local communities. It helps coalitions build capacity to foster youth leadership in the design, implementation, and evaluation of action strategies addressing community problems through “Youth In Action” Projects which employ seven evidence-based behavioral change strategies with an emphasis on environmental change to address the problem behavior identified effectively.
This experiential educational model is designed to create community change by improving individual core competencies and essential group processes of youth and adult advisors to create change at population levels. The distinction between Youth Leadership and others is the intentionality for the development of youth, ages 13 to 22, to become good community problem solvers, communicators, and advocates who participate in the creating a civil society. There is also a central focus on workforce development as we integrate youth into the fabric of local communities.
CADCA’s Youth Leadership is adaptable and has been evaluated by Michigan State University. The MSU independent evaluation shows that CADCA’s Youth Leadership impacting youth’s leadership skills, civic and political engagement, social justice orientation, and their self-efficacy in facilitating community change. The study showed that youth trained by Youth Leadership experienced an increase and significant changes in the following aptitudes:
- Leadership Competencies
- Community Organizing
- Problem-Solving Abilities
- Current and Future Civic Activism
- Civic and Political Engagement
- Youth-Adult Partnerships
Get involved. Let's improve prevention for
everyone globally– and build lasting impact.
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