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SADD Information

Get Living 2021

TextLess Live More is so excited to announce our third year of our GetLiving Campaign. GetLiving is designed to battle distractive and destructive habits caused by our cell phones.
Our Engagement Board, comprised of student leaders from around the country, put together twelve months of habit-forming actions that can help you and your students take control of your virtual lives–and not the other way around. Ending distracted driving will always be our primary goal, and we believe that, in order to do so, we have to tackle the root cause of distracted driving: digital dependence. Dependence on our devices is an epidemic, and distracted driving is its deadliest symptom. We hope that, through GetLiving, we can reshape our relationships with our devices both in and out of the car to live safer, healthier, happier lives.
Please take a look at what’s planned for 2021 to help you GetLiving. For each month, there is an event specifically tailored to student groups, such as SADD chapters so it’s easy to GetLiving with a squad. If you have a different idea or would like to take more creative control over the monthly events, that’s awesome! We’d love to hear about what you’re up to! We’ll send out updates every month with more details about what the next month has in store. They will contain ‘lesson plans’ for the events below as well as fun graphics and images to share online or post around school.
As always, feel free to contact us at info@textlesslivemore.org with questions or comments. We can’t wait to #GetLiving with you in 2021!

We can't wait to #GetLiving with you in 2021

Just Drive January
No Phone February
March Mayhem
Attention April
Mindful May
New Jam June

Jubilant July
No One’s Alone August
September Swing
Optimistic October
Talk It Out November
Donate December

2020-21 Communications Calendar

Update or Register A Chapter

Is your school or non-profit community organization ready to start a SADD chapter? Get started today! It’s simple, and the annual membership fee has been waived!

Chapters must update their information and pay the fee each year!

To start a SADD chapter:

First, ask about the process at your school to start a school club/activity. SADD chapters function as school clubs/activities. Some schools have a formal approval process for starting a new club, which can vary from school to school, so first find out what’s required.
Find an Advisor. Schools require a faculty or staff member to serve as the sponsor of a school club. This will be your SADD Advisor and can be teachers, counselors, coaches, secretaries, or any staff member.
Register your chapter. All SADD chapters must register with the Portal. Registration is $5 and takes just a few minutes online. You will receive a confirmation email with everything you need to get started.
Chapter Name. Use SADD in the chapter name, after your school or organization name. Example: “Nashoba Valley High SADD” or “North YMCA SADD” are acceptable.

Does your school administration need more information about SADD before it commits to starting a chapter? Share this letter from our CEO, Rick Birt!

Questions? Please contact our State Coordinator:

Alicia Ozenberger, MEd, LPC, MAPS
Training/Advocacy and SADD State Coordinator
aozenberger@actmissouri.org
(573) 635-6669

SADD Shines

Chapters Around Missouri and the Nation Gearing Up for SADD Shines Week

It’s not too late to plan your SADD Shines week activities and join this country-wide celebration of SADD with a platform to address student personal health and safety. These activities are free to all registered chapters. It was developed as SADD Shines day in 2013, but now it is celebrated for an entire week from January 30-February 3, 2017.

The three required activities include:

Wear your SADD apparel
Share your stories and pictures by emailing info@sadd.org or posting them using #SADDshines
Partner with your elementary school to discuss bullying, self-image, peer-pressure, substance use and making good decisions

Click here for a list of optional activities to enhance your effectiveness. This is a great opportunity to advocate for changes in local, state and national policy to increase personal health and safety. You also may want to work with your school administration and Board of Education to implement a health and safety policy if your school doesn’t have one.

You can use this template to plan your week. If you need additional assistance, email abonine@actmissouri.org or info@sadd.org. Make sure to invite your local media to promote and cover your events.

Please use this opportunity to show your community and policy makers how SADD Shines!

New Study from SADD and Liberty Mutual Insurance

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Download the Infographic

New Study Reveals Teens are Engaging in Aggressive Driving Behaviors, Neglecting Driving Basics

New Liberty Mutual Insurance and SADD study highlights that teens are ignoring the basic rules of the road – and parents are largely unaware

BOSTON (December 1, 2015) While so much rightful attention has been paid to the dangers of distracted driving in recent years, a new study released by Liberty Mutual Insurance and SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) reveals that teens are still neglecting the most basic rules of the road – from observing speed limits and wearing seatbelts to engaging in aggressive driving behaviors – and parents are largely unaware. With fewer hours of daylight, winter road conditions and busy holiday traffic, it’s critical that parents discuss getting back to the basics with their teen drivers – not only during winter months, but all year round.

Teens’ Aggressive Behaviors Leading to Risky Road Behaviors

Despite a majority of teens (81 percent) who consider aggressive driving to be dangerous, more than one-third (36 percent) admit to having an aggressive driving style, revealing a disconnect between teens’ understanding of safe driving and reality. Even more alarming, 31 percent of teens say they have retaliated or experienced road rage when provoked by another driver – creating a dangerous environment for everyone on the road.

According to NHTSA, aggressive driving is defined as an individual committing a combination of moving traffic offenses, such as driving above the speed limit and cutting off other drivers; while retaliatory driving, also known as “road rage,” is defined as an assault with a motor vehicle, which is a criminal offense. The new data shows these behaviors go largely unnoticed by teens’ parents – with only 16 percent reporting their teens drive aggressively and 13 percent thinking their teens have retaliated when provoked – showing the need for a reality check among parents about their teens’ hazardous driving habits.

“Aggressive driving behaviors such as speeding, following too closely or cutting off other drivers can be dangerous for all drivers but especially problematic for teen drivers given their relative inexperience,” said Dr. William Horrey, Ph. D., principal research scientist at the Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety. “The study revealed some significant gaps in what teens and parents think is safe versus teens’ actual behaviors reinforcing the critical need to refocus on the basics along with other safe driving habits before it’s too late.”

Getting Back to the Basics

With winter and holiday driving conditions in full swing, ignoring the basic rules of the road can be dangerous. In addition to aggressive driving styles, the new survey reveals teens are not only neglecting the driving basics, but are also failing to observe the law. For example, one in five (18 percent) teens admit to not wearing a seat belt. Also alarming, while the majority (89 percent) of teens may consider themselves “safe drivers,” 71 percent of these “safe drivers” admit to speeding.

However, this is news to parents. While the majority of teens may disclose their speeding habits, less than half (38 percent) of parents actually believe their teens speed. In addition, teens who have driven for one-plus years are more likely to speed (47 percent) than those who have had their license for less than six months (28 percent) – showing that more experience behind the wheel does not prevent reckless driving behaviors.

Of those same self-described “safe drivers,” two-thirds (67 percent) admit to transporting three or more teen passengers in the car, and only 26 percent of all teens perceive this to be distracting. According to NHTSA, the risk of a fatal crash goes up in direct relation to the number of teens in the car; and therefore it’s important for teens to understand the ramifications and dangers of driving with multiple passengers. Just as concerning, parents are also largely unaware of this behavior, with only 40 percent reporting that their teens drive with three or more passengers in the car.

“What may seem insignificant to teen drivers, like having friends in the car or driving a few miles over the speed limit, can have a major impact on their safety and endanger others on the road,” said Stephen Gray Wallace senior advisor for policy, research and education at SADD. “We challenge parents and teens alike to revisit the importance of following the basic safety rules of the road. Ignoring driving fundamentals is simply not worth the risk.”
Start Conversations to Keep Teens Safe
Parents and teens must recognize the dangerous implications of forgetting the basics of road safety – not just the use of technology and social media – to reduce these risks on the road. The report also showed that only 9 percent of teens have formal family driving rules. It’s essential for parents and teens to have open and honest conversations and set expectations around responsible driving. That’s why Liberty Mutual Insurance and SADD encourage parents and teens to consider signing a Parent-Teen Driving Contract. The contract is both a conversation-starter about safety issues and a customized agreement that provides both parents and teens an easy roadmap to uphold family driving rules and encourage open communication leading to safer behavior behind the wheel. Whether teens are planning to get a permit or are already on the road, this guide demonstrates a commitment to safe and responsible driving. The signed agreement can help earn mutual trust to give better peace of mind. To download a contract, visit www.LibertyMutual.com/TeenDriving.

About the Study
Liberty Mutual Insurance and SADD commissioned ORC International to conduct a qualitative and quantitative methodology to measure teen driving attitudes and behaviors. The study was initiated with a series of focus groups held in Chicago, Ill. and Washington, D.C. from October 28 – October 29, 2014, followed by a survey among 1,622 eleventh and twelfth graders from across the country. Overall the findings from the study can be interpreted at a 95 percent confidence interval with an error margin of +/- 2.23 percent. Error margins for subsets such as licensed drivers will be wider. Additionally, the study surveyed 1,000 parents of high school aged teenage drivers, providing an overall error margin of +/- 2.94 percent.

About SADD
SADD, the nation’s leading peer-to-peer youth education, prevention, and activism organization, is committed to empowering young people to lead initiatives in their schools and communities. Founded in 1981, SADD today has thousands of chapters in middle schools, high schools and colleges. SADD highlights prevention of many destructive behaviors and attitudes that are harmful to young people, including underage drinking, other drug use, risky and impaired driving, and teen violence and suicide. To become a Friend of SADD or for more information, visit sadd.org, parentteenmatters.org or follow SADD on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

About Liberty Mutual Insurance
Liberty Mutual Insurance helps people preserve and protect what they earn, build, own and cherish. Keeping this promise means we are there when our policyholders throughout the world need us most.

In business since 1912, and headquartered in Boston, Mass., today Liberty Mutual is a diversified insurer with operations in 30 countries and economies around the world. The company is the third largest property and casualty insurer in the U.S. based on 2013 direct premium written as reported by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Liberty Mutual also is ranked 78th on the Fortune 100 list of largest corporations in the U.S. based on 2014 revenue. The company employs over 50,000 people in more than 900 offices throughout the world.

The fifth-largest auto and home insurer in the U.S., Liberty Mutual (libertymutual.com) sells full lines of coverage for automobile, homeowners, valuable possessions, personal liability, and individual life insurance. The company is an industry leader in affinity partnerships, offering car and home insurance to employees and members of more than 14,000 companies, credit unions, professional associations and alumni groups.

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Missouri Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD)

Students Against Destructive Decisions or SADD has been around for more than 30 years.

Founded in 1981, SADD stands for Students Against Destructive Decisions and they are the nation’s premier youth health and safety organization. SADD empowers young people with tools and resources needed to confront the risks and pressures they face every day including substance abuse, impaired and distracted driving, mental health issues and more. Through informed programming and a national peer-to-peer network, SADD is shaping young people into leaders and advocates for youth health and safety in their schools and communities. There are hundreds of thousands of active SADD students across all 50 states and millions of successful alumni.

Missouri is no exception! Over 60 chapters in Missouri are doing great things around the state! ACT Missouri is the SADD Affiliate State Coordinator. Contact us with any questions!

How to start a SADD Chapter

SADD Flyer – “At a Glance” information you need on SADD.

Register your chapter – While SADD National charges no dues or registration fees, they need current and updated information from all chapters every year in order to be effective. This valuable information allows SADD National and ACT Missouri to share important news and opportunities with you. It also gives us critical data about the SADD network that helps us draw attention to the issues we care about and support our requests for funding.

SADD Chapter Registration Form

SADD Resources and Programs

Find out more information and register for the SADD National Conference.

2017 SADD Programming Communications Calendar

SADD Rock the Belt

SADD is pleased to present Rock the Belt, a SADD national core program that uses peer-to-peer based prevention strategies to engage schools, parents, and communities about the importance of wearing seat belts in every vehicle, in every seat, every time.

Mississippi SADD, in conjunction with the Mississippi Office of Highway Safety, created Rock the Belt. Shortly after, a NHTSA-funded evaluation concluded that Rock the Belt increased seat belt use among teens. Indiana and Illinois SADD adopted the program, and the SADD national office named it a core SADD national program in 2015.

SADD Shines

YOU know you are doing great things in your school and community … YOU know you are working hard to support positive choices by your peers … YOU know your work makes a difference, changing lives one decision at a time … SADD Shines Week takes one week out of our busy year for schools and communities with SADD chapters all over the country, to CELEBRATE YOU and all that you do.

SADD Shines Day was created in 2013 as a means for SADD chapters to celebrate the positive impact that teens are making across the country. Since then, SADD Shines has evolved to a nationwide celebration of SADD and a platform to address student personal health and safety, SADD’s third core issue area that includes depression, anxiety, bullying, violence, and more.

Is It Worth The Risk?

SADD is pleased to present Is It Worth the Risk?, a SADD National core program that uses peerto-peer based prevention strategies to engage schools, parents, and communities about the create visibility and awareness in your community. Through this campaign, you and your peers will learn about the real-life and legal consequences associated with underage drinking.

Stay informed with The SADDvocate and ParentTeen Matters, SADD’s newsletters!

SADD: Red Ribbon Week Tip of the Day

Tip #7

Does your school have a Student’s Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) Chapter? Have they resubmitted their paperwork this year? Do you want to start a new SADD Chapter? Well, you’ve come to the right place!

There are all kinds of benefits to joining SADD, including participating in the annual “It Only Takes One” Campaign, attending Speak Hard (the annual Youth Prevention Conference), and helping your community stay substance-free. Many of they MYAA Youth Ambassadors are also active in their local SADD Chapter.

If you want to get more involved in SADD, be sure to check out the SADD page on our website!

ACT Missouri Mini-Grant Application FY2020 Project Summaries

All In Clayton Coalition

This grant will provide students the opportunity to participate in Try-POD, Teen Institute, Red Ribbon and other youth leadership opportunities offered in the community. It will allow for the coalition to reach all sectors of Clayton and the St. Louis community through website management and social media campaigns. The Awaken project will also be brought into the high school to educate youth on drug education, prevention and to encourage youth to make healthy choices. Parents, caregivers and community members will receive information and education on drug trends. Community stakeholders will have the opportunity to gather and discuss how to join and positively impact the community as a united force for prevention work. This grant will also assist All In in becoming a member of the Clayton Chamber of Commerce.

Alliance for Healthy Communities

The requested funds will be leveraged in support of the implementation of the youth leadership training Stand Up 9!. Stand Up 9! serves 9th grade students, providing them a one-day training event and membership in AHC’s youth coalition, Teen Voice for Change. Participating students receive substance misuse training and orientation to project planning and implementation.

Belton CARES

This project will support the Belton CARES mission to direct, support and actively coordinate efforts of the community to significantly reduce substance use, promote youth safety, reduce bullying, support mental health issues, and thereby improve the health and well-being of the community. This project will educate the community on the risk involved with the underage use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs and will promote safe decision-making.

Benton County Youth Coalition

The purpose of the project is to provide education for youth and adults to increase youth social and emotional well-being, which will include substance abuse prevention and cessation. This will include public presentations, education information, messaging, and activities designed to educate the general populace as well as youth and those who parent, guide, and teach them. Presentation of the core issues of prevention and educating the public through healthy prevention messaging will be done with a focus on changing norms in the region. This is part of a three year vision to help youth in our community to recognize and reduce stressors in their lives, recognize they have value and purpose, and encourage their emotional and social well-being.

Breathe Easy Kirksville

Breathe Easy Kirksville [BEK] will: collaborate with the district afterschool program to implement the researchbased “Tobacco Tips” social skills/social competence prevention education curriculum and establish a BEK Youth Coalition.

Brighter Futures Lafayette County Team Coalition

The Brighter Futures Consortium is looking to build on our existing services relating to drug and alcohol prevention, education and intervention. With the ACT Missouri Grant we will be able to include the Arrive Alive Tour to the Lexington R-V School District’s bi annual drinking/texting driving prevention program for the 2019-2020 school year. This program will be offered to all 8-12 grade Lexington R-V students and students attending the Lex La Ray Vocational Technical Center. The coalition will also look at supplying prevention materials to 5000 plus students attending Lafayette County schools during Red Ribbon Week. Finally the grant will allow us to purchase a 3-12 grade Life Skill curriculum to be utilized by a select group of coalition members attending a train the trainer training for the purpose of implementing this program in their schools throughout Lafayette County.

Butler County We Can Be Drug Free Coalition

The Youth Vaping Prevention Project will use media, fact sheets and resource kits to increase awareness of youth, parents and school staff about the risks associated with vaping, and will increase awareness of adults on the products that are used to vape.

Carthage Caring Communities Coalition

The Carthage Caring Communities Coalition seeks to work with Carthage High School in order to develop a SADD chapter and provide peer-to-peer outreach and education to address youth beliefs and attitudes as well as perception of risk associated with using ATOD.

Charleston C2000

The Project will implement an alcohol and drug prevention program for 60 at risk Charleston youth ages 10 -14 and their parents, resulting in increasing youth, parent, and community awareness and decreasing the risk of youth alcohol and drug use. There will be a structured on-going educational component utilizing prevention videos, presenters from local, state law enforcement Departments, Prevention Resource Center professionals, Mississippi County Health Department and volunteer adult mentors as resources. Also, after school tutoring will expand to include remediation in math, science and reading; and a seven-week parenting class will be offered. There will also be a recreational activities component for the youth and parents.

Christian County Coalition on Substance Misuse

Our coalition will utilize an on-air radio program aimed at informing our community and the surrounding communities about prevention, awareness, use, addiction and overdose, and suicide among our youth. We will also be able to conduct town hall readiness meetings with many of the cities in our county to reach as many families as possible. We believe that knowledge is the power in prevention. Our town hall meetings will include informative literature and engaging discussion from our coalition members.

Communities Taking Action

It is the plan of the Communities Taking Action board of directors to sponsor, maintain, and provide after school tutoring 4 nights a week throughout the school year. This enables Communities Taking Action (CTA) to reach at risk students more frequently . With funding from this mini grant, CTA plans to continue the LifeSkills High School Curriculum during the 2019-2020 school year. Lessons for LifeSkills will be taught by LifeSkills Coordinator. We also plan to implement a Children’s Library. This library will be open during the summer months to increase literacy and comprehension for youth in our community. Partnering with North Shelby and South Shelby Parents As Teachers (PAT) is another way we would like to help families in our community. Providing funds to purchase items for group connections that encourage parent/child interaction will be the most effective way for our coalition to accomplish this goal. Supporting our local TRACTION by purchasing items to help them establish an obstical course to reinforce their safe driving message will be our last goal.

Council for Drug Free Youth

Council for Drug Free Youth employes the Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF) to engage community partners to prevent substance use in our community. Communication Offers Positive Enrichment (COPE) is a program to enlighten, inform, and engage 7th grade students throughout central Missouri about the importance of communication in resisting substance misuse and abuse. The COPE program uses the seven strategies of prevention to provides information, enhance skills, and provide support to empower youth to live drug free. This best practice model uses cultural competency, understanding, and communication to help prevent misuse of alcohol, marijuana, tobacco, and vapes/e-cigs, as well as prevent bullying, and suicide.

CRUSH St. Louis

The purpose of this grant is to reach the under served Bosnian community of St. Louis County in order to effectively give prevention information and education to their youth, and to the older generations, many of whom may not have fully assimilated the American culture and/or have not learned English. This will be achieved through outwardly visible media outlets with translated prevention messages being strategically placed in the Bosnian community, and through the dissemination of translated prevention information at community events.

Dallas County Live Well Alliance

Dallas County Live Well Alliance (DCLWA) is striving to create a healthier Dallas County. Dallas County R-1 Schools are the home to the Buffalo Bison and are the heart of Dallas County. DCLWA is striving to “Build Healthy Bison”. DCLWA has been in existence since December 2015 and recognized as a formal coalition since March of 2016, so we are still learning and growing as a coalition with the assistance of Community Partnership of the Ozarks (CPO). DCLWA would utilize the requested funds to continue progress sparked through the 2018-2019 ACT Mini Grant. DCLWA would continue membership recruitment, continue community outreach, especially youth directed community outreach with a possible 4H partnership and also provide community resources-work to fill gaps identified by the coalition. DCLWA will be working to create a presence and recognition in the Community through promotional efforts and creation of a vision statement. Dallas County has been on a progressive trend the past five years, with a GRO Buffalo Initiative and similar initiatives and DCLWA, with the help of ACT Missouri, is looking to “Build Healthy Bison”

Douglas County Community Health Assessment Resource Team (CHART) & Interagency Council

Douglas County CHART’s project will be Building Up Youth and the Community. CHART will host Legislative Report meetings to allow conversation between our representatives, local government, and concerned citizen leadership. CHART will promote the community Medication Take Back Events in October and April. Much of the project will to be to promote and provide alternative activities and supplies to the new Youth Activity Center. Together all these activities will build up youth and the community of Douglas County.

Drug Responsibility Education & Advocacy Movement (DREAM)

The Drug Responsibility Education and Advocacy Movement (DREAM) Coalition focuses on providing education on proper storage and disposal of prescription medications and increasing awareness of the dangers of misusing prescription medications. DREAM Coalition will collaborate with other partners in Greene County to host community forums where community members can learn from city leaders, prevention specialists, healthcare professionals, and law enforcement personnel. DREAM Coalition will continue to provide Generation Rx education, bi-annual drug take back initiatives, and increase awareness of permanent medication drop boxes. The purpose of the project is to educate the public on safe medication storage and disposal practices and provide resources to assist the public in safely storing and disposing of their medications. The goal of this project is to decrease medication diversion and misuse. The purpose of the project is to educate the public on safe medication storage and disposal practices and provide resources to assist the public in safely storing and disposing of their medications. The goal of this project is to decrease medication diversion and misuse.

Excelsior Springs S.A.F.E. (Supporting Abuse Free Environments)

Tigers with Vision is the High School Youth Prevention group affiliated with Excelsior Springs SAFE (Substance Abuse-Free Environments). Tigers with Vision and SAFE have identified underage drinking and safe teen driving as two prevention priorities that need to be targeted in Excelsior Springs. Tigers with Vision plans a Positive Choices campaign to educate their high-school-aged peers on the risks of underage drinking, as well as the importance of making good decisions for safe and sober driving. There will be a social marketing campaign, education about the risks of underage drinking/drunk driving and the importance of making safe choices, and a peer to peer education component. Student leaders and Tigers with Vision members will receive leadership training to empower them to educate their peers on these topics. A parent component of the campaign will involve education and skill-building, enabling parents to have the knowledge and skills to talk with their child about underage drinking and safe driving.

ForReal

The goal of the 2020 Youth Advocacy Engagement Project is to unite the voices of the youth of the Eastern Region of Missouri and empower them to advocate about substance use issues at the local, state, and federal levels.

Franklin County Youth Coalition

This grant will provide opportunities for middle schools to participate in student-led prevention activities throughout the 2019-2020 school year. Coordinating a county-wide Sticker Shock program will allow students to learn specific prevention information and skills, and encourage them to help continue to increase connections with other youth leaders in this age group. The Advocacy Training and Legislative Education programs also encourage connections with state legislators, providing opportunities for community collaboration that will ensure success.

Healthy Dent County Prevention Coalition

The vaping prevention project is designed to educate both a targeted group of parents and youth in an effort to prevention youth use of e-cigarettes. The project is reaching parents of 7th and 8th graders in the county through a series of three, over-sized full-color postcards with information about e-cigarettes, the effects of nicotine, addiction and how to talk with kids about vaping. In addition, the project is reaching 7th and 8th grade students through posters and electronic displays at school with vaping prevention messages. A team of trained high school students will provide a vaping prevention program through classroom presentations with all 7th and 8th grade students in the participating school districts in the county. In addition, coalition members are visiting ecigarette retailers in the county to enlist their support and prevent sales to minors.

Healthy Living Alliance (HLA) Tobacco Committee

Smoke Free Homes Springfield is an evidence-based campaign to reduce the negative effects of tobacco use and secondhand smoke impacting our youth. This will be accomplished through the implementation of smoke-free policies in multi-family housing properties and an education and awareness campaign about the importance of choosing smoke-free housing.

Heartland Task Force

Heartland Task Force will: collaborate with the local afterschool program to implement the research-based Second Step SEL curriculum.A HTF 40 Developmental Asset Specialist will support this strategy and plan, implement, and evaluate a substance use prevention and SEL educational initiative for area families/community.

HOPE for Franklin County

This project supports a county-wide video PSA Competition for middle and high school aged youth in Franklin County. Entries in the competition will fit the theme of “Send A Message About Marijuana”, and will be 30 seconds in length. The funds will provide assistance with securing a large event venue where the competition winners will be announced and an educational presentation about the impact of marijuana use on the developing brain will be the focal point. Winners will be aired on the county-wide Charter Spectrum channels that reach youth, and a Facebook media boost plan will regularly share posts that educate about marijuana. Postcard sized materials that highlight the warning signs of cannabis use disorder will be produced and shared with all Mercy and BJC medical outlets throughout the county as well.

Jefferson County Drug Prevention Coalition (JCDPC)

The coalition is working with community partners to create resource kits for those individuals in the county who might have overdosed or at at risk of an overdose. This is an attempt to save lives by offering local resources in an easy to read and discrete way.

Joplin Safe Teens Coalition

JASTC proposes to address youth access to alcohol.

Kearney-Holt CAN

Being a student today can be really tough and Kearney-Holt CAN, a coalition working to reduce youth substance use, is concerned that area youth are attempting to solve their problems by coping with alcohol and other drugs. Kearney youth engage in substance use (tobacco, alcohol, marijuana and prescription drug use) as a solution to their problems because they lack resilience skills. In order to address this need, Kearney-Holt CAN members plan to build protective factors and resilience skills among youth through a multiple prong approach that involves education presentations and a media campaign.

Lawrence County Prevention Team

The Lawrence County Prevention Team’s project titled; Drugs or Alcohol + Kids = Risk sets the goal to increase community awareness about the harmful effects of marijuana use and prescription/over-the-counter (RX/OTC) misuse, and reduce the use and misuse of these substances by children and young adults age 10-24.

Lee's Summit CARES

Established in 1985, it is the mission of Lee’s Summit CARES (LSC) to prevent youth substance use and violence, empower positive parenting and promote exemplary character. Programming helps create a positive community climate that supports protective factors and reduces risky behaviors. The goal of LSC’s youth prevention program is to increase assets that promote resilience and reduce risk factors. Developing the ability to refuse alcohol and drug use builds resilience, protects adolescent brain development and encourages positive, healthy and responsible decisions during school years and beyond.

Lincoln County Drug and Alcohol Reduction Team

The purpose of this project is to raise awareness in Lincoln County regarding the dangers of prescription drug misuse, the link between prescription drug misuse and heroin use, and the dangers associated with alcohol and other drug misuse. This grant will allow Lincoln County Drug and Alcohol Reduction Team to host a Teen Drug Summit to educate the youth. It will also aid in the dissemination of information on safe Rx drug storage/disposal and other substance misuse information, and help to further build the coalition’s capacity.

MAAG - Mid-MO Addiction Awareness Group

The purpose of this request is to educate adults in Franklin County about the facts about Substance Use Disorder as a brain disease, and this disease’s willingness to take over the lives of families. This grant will educate parents, grandparents and other caregivers about the continuing rate of overdose deaths, the science of addiction and recovery, and how to spot signs that a teen may be concealing their drug use from the adults who live with them.

McDonald County Community Coalition

MCCC seeks to address ease of retail access to smokeless tobacco and to prevent increased vaping among underage youth in McDonald County.

Miss. Co. Youth Drug Prevention Coalition

Miss. Co. Youth Drug Prevention Coalition is prosing to implement “The Time to Quit” Project. The project will be directed toward the long term effects of Vaping and asking youth to commit and not Vap. Middle School aged students will be presented educational information during class sessions about the dangers of vaping and information will also be shared throughout the county with parents and the community as a whole. A strong media campaign will be built to help promote and build awareness around the issue that will be reach a Tri-State area.

Missouri S & T Prevention Coalition

Concerns about mental health in the higher education setting have grown rapidly in recent years. Students report rising levels of stress and struggle to cope in healthy ways. Reports of students using alcohol, marijuana, and prescription drugs as a means of coping are concerning. This grant will provide a comprehensive strategy to address mental well-being of students by providing educational opportunities to build resiliency and stress management skills, preventing the use of alcohol and drugs as coping mechanisms, and reducing access to prescription drugs.

Morgan County C.L.E.A.R. (Community Leaders Educating About Resistance)

Morgan County CLEAR will raise awareness about the risks of substance use, reduce substance use, and build a commitment to change the social norms that encourage substance use and favor attitudes of low perceived risk of harm with substance use through a variety of activities with the targeted population of 10 to 18 year olds and their parents. A media campaign; educational presentations; collaboration with parent and youth groups; public forums, town hall meetings and partnerships as well as others will be a part of the actions. Substances to be targeted are alcohol (including binge), marijuana, prescription drugs, and tobacco including e-cigarettes, vapor products, cigarettes and smokeless tobacco (chew).

Northland Coalition

Northland Coalition members are excited to address youth substance use by increasing resiliency, reducing selfmedication, and building coping skills. To address ATOD use by youth, we will spend the next fiscal year implementing a comprehensive education and skill building campaign. Activities include expanding our Roots of Resilience campaign and hosting the Northland Prevention Conference

Osage County Anti-Drug Community Action Team

The mission of Osage County Anti-Drug Community Action Team (OCADCAT) is to change lives by empowering communities to combat substance abuse and its related problems at home, school, and work with proven, practical resources, prevention, education, recovery, and advocacy. Key terms from our mission are change, empower, substance abuse, and related problems. We have not only focused our efforts on the education of school-aged children, but also on the adults who model behavior for adolescents in our community. To enact any successful change in behavior or mindset of children and teenagers, we know adults must also be persuaded change and growth is needed. OCADCAT is requesting grant funds to educate and change the mindset of our community on topics of underage drinking, substance abuse, and related problems such as mental health and wellbeing. The activities funded by the grant will be centered on a media campaign to decrease alcohol and substance abuse, school based programs to promote positive behaviors in students and showcase students as role models, increase community awareness of OCADCAT, and educate students on mental health issues, as they often are associated with alcohol and drug use. The following programs and activities will be implemented in Osage County:

Student of the Month Recognition- Each high school in Osage County will select a student who has pledged to be alcohol and drug free, and who serves as a positive role model for their community. Each high school will recognize two students per year. The students will be featured in the local newspaper.
Articles of Interest- OCADCAT will use grant funds to publish articles of interest concerning alcohol abuse, substance abuse, and mental health. Contributors will be individuals such as the Osage County Prosecuting Attorney.
School Based Programs- OC-ADCAT will partner with CDFY to provide school based programs (COPE and TEAM) to all 7th and 8th grade students in Osage County. The programs will aim to increase student knowledge on abuse of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs; as well as promote leadership and collaboration among youth participants.
Increase Community Awareness of Vaping- OCADCAT will provide information cards to students and community members on the effects of vaping and e-cigarettes. The cards will have OCADCAT listed as a sponsor to promote awareness of the organization and the harmful effects of vaping and e-cigarettes.

Ozarks Fighting Back

The overall purpose of this project is to increase the college community of the consequences of underage and binge drinking by implementing prevention strategies that can decrease the community norms and attitudes favorable towards use as well as the prevalence of use. This project’s education strategies will focus on college- aged individuals, parents and community members. This project plan is to create an online prevention resource library for universities/college personnel; students to be educated on social norming and develop social norming campaigns on campuses to reduce underage and binge drinking and create a prevention guide on how to talk to your student for parents.

Park Hill Community Alliance for Youth

To reduce youth substance use (alcohol, marijuana, nicotine, Rx drugs) in the Park Hill area, we plan to use this funding for two goals:

Expand/enhance the overall capacity of the Park Hill Community Alliance for Youth and
Increase adult capabilities to build resilience in youth through the Roots of Resilience campaign. We believe these strategies of providing information, building skills and capacity building will drastically change the environment of our youth.

Pemiscot Coalition for Alternative Youth Involvement

This project will primarily focus on African American youth ages 10-15 living in Caruthersville Mo and surrounding communities to reduce risk factors and increase protective factors by promoting positive youth development. This project will expose youth in an out of school environment (after school and summer) to education and information about substance use prevention and the harmful effects, to guest speakers who talk about their consequences of using the different substances, to alternative activities that help build character and trainings for youth and staff from the Search Institute on the 40 Developmental Assets, Developmental Relationships and Sparks. This project will provide transportation for youth, to and from the Outreach Community Support Center to participate in this project.

Perry County Community Task Force

The LifeSkills Prevention Program is one that utilizes the Botvin LifeSkills Training curriculum, which is an evidence-based program. This curriculum is taken directly into the classrooms and taught to the students during the school day. This program works with several different age/grade levels. The Perry County Community Task Force will be working with grades 6-10 during this program. This curriculum focuses on the life skills needed in everyday life for success. These topics include knowledge about substances and how they effect the body, resistance skills, communication skills, how to handle peer pressure, how to cope with anxiety and anger, and how to recognize media influences, especially relating to substance use. The Signs of Suicide Program is also worked into the curriculum. This program talks about being able to recognize the signs of depression and to talk to a trusted adult. This program is offered to all schools in Perry County. The sixth graders will have at least two sessions, the seventh graders will have four sessions, the eighth graders will have a twelve week program, the ninth graders will have a seven week program, and the tenth graders will have four sessions. The sessions are approximately one hour long each.

Phelps County Child Advocacy Network (PCCAN)

The project is reaching parents of 7th and 8th graders in the county through a series of three, over-sized full-color postcards with information about e-cigarettes, the effects of nicotine, addiction and how to talk with kids about vaping. In addition, the project is reaching 7th and 8th grade students through posters and electronic displays at school with vaping prevention messages. A team of trained high school students will provide a vaping prevention program through classroom presentations with all 7th and 8th grade students in the participating school districts in the county.

Platte County Prevention Coalition

Platte County Prevention Coalition (PC2), a coalition working to reduce youth substance use, is concerned that area youth are attempting to solve their problems by coping with alcohol and other drugs. Platte County R-3 youth engage in substance use (tobacco, alcohol, marijuana and prescription drug use) as a solution to their problems because they lack resilience skills. In order to address this need, PC2 members plan to build protective factors and resilience skills among youth through a multiple prong approach that involves educational activities and a media campaign.

Reynolds County Maternal, Child, and Family Health Coalition

Reynolds County Maternal Child Health Coalition

Risco C2000

Risco C2000 would first and foremost like to educate students on making good choices in their daily lives. We would like to increase protective factors of students in our extremely rural area. We will do this by using evidence based prevention education strategies. We would also like to provide evidence based alternative strategies including a safe environment for students high risk events.

Southeast Kansas City Youth Prevention Coalition

SEYC facilitates positive youth health outcomes by empowering families and communities through education, community connectedness,and behavioral health services. Our general strategies include:

Develop and support innovative community programming
Educate the public about youth and family issues Serve as an access hub for state and local health and wellness resources
Maintain funding for programs and services that promote positive outcomes in the Southeast community

St. Francois County Community Partnership

Staley Teaching & Reaching Youth - T.R.Y.

In order to reduce youth vape use in the Staley area, our Staley Teaching and Reaching Youth coalition will target the primary contributing risk factors of harm and acceptability, and will implement several strategies that target youth, parents, and school staff. We will accomplish this goal using several strategies. Educational youth vaping videos will be distributed and marketed to Staley parents and presented at school staff in-services to educate them on the harms of youth vape use, the high risk for nicotine addiction, train them how to spot youth vape use, and provide resources for youth cessation support. Our youth coalition will also develop a peer-to-peer vaping education campaign to inform their peers of the harms of youth vaping and decrease youth vaping acceptance.

Stand Against Trafficking

The purpose of this project is to implement comprehensive strategies for prevention of sex trafficking by educating at risk groups including middle and high school students, students in residential settings under state custody, and persons who interact and teach those populations regarding trafficking in Southwest Missouri. Education will focus on what defines human trafficking, the local prevalence of the issue, how to recognize indicators one has been targeted, how to identify and assist a victim of human trafficking, how this issue is influenced by and perpetuated by substance use, and how to involve appropriate agencies. The coalition has researched materials that will be appropriate, engaging, and effective in instructing students about trafficking, traffickers, and victims of traffickers. The coalition will provide speakers and other support to local schools and institutions as requested. Additionally, the coalition will promote public awareness about the SAMHSA Drug Hotline and the National Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline number through the distribution of large public signs, handouts, and business cards.

Step Up of St. Louis

The goal of Step Up of St. Louis is to provide leadership, education and resources to address and prevent substance abuse and promote healthy choices among St. Louis County residents, with a focus on South St. Louis County youth through active collaboration with area schools, students, parents and all community sectors. Step Up works to engage all sectors and encourage community participation and action via proven substance prevention strategies.

Tri-C (C2000 Conception)

During the 2019-2020 grant cycle, The Tri-C Community Coalition plans to enhance the Tri-C Mentoring Program. This entity pairs at-risk, school-aged youth within the Clyde, Conception, and Conception Junction communities of Nodaway County with trained, positive adult role models. The goal at hand is reducing the “high-risk environment” in our community that contributes to underage drinking, tobacco addiction, and illegal and other drug use leading to violent acts and other risky behaviors. By providing not only alternative activities but also prevention-based community forums, the at-risk youth will have an opportunity to participate in new experiences and in turn promote bonding between the mentors, the families of the at-risk youth, and the community as a whole. The proposed project of enhancing the Tri-C Mentoring Program has numerous facets. The first task is training volunteers on how to be mentors. We have partnerships with seminarians at the Conception Abbey, elderly within the community, and staff at Jefferson C-123 Schools that assist with recruiting. The Tri-C Community Coalition brings nationally-known speakers to facilitate the yearly training session. We also provide a mentoring handbook containing valuable contact information as well as suggestions for enhancing relationships with mentees. The second facet of the Tri-C Mentoring Program is coordinating locations, times, and alternative activities in which the mentors and their assigned youth can participate. The administration of Jefferson C-123 Schools allows our adult mentors (local seminarians, elderly within the Tri-C Area, and staff from Jefferson Schools) to visit students during their lunchtime once a week. In addition to the weekly visits, the Tri-C Community Coalition provides monthly activities outside of school in which the mentors and their assigned youth may bond (bowling, movies, theatrical productions, pool parties, gaming tournaments, rental of the Teen Beat, etc.) In addition, the Teen Beat/Mentoring Halloween Party, Santa’s Workshop (arts & crafts event – all ages), Tri-C Mentoring Easter Egg Hunt, Tri-C Cleanup Day, The Lollipop Parade, St. Columba Parish Carnival, and Prescription Drug Take-Backs are just a few of the community-wide prevention activities fostering improved mentor/mentee, parental, and community networking. This step combats our individual risk factors of lack of positive role models as well as poor decision-making and problem-solving skills. The final facet of the Tri-C Mentoring Program is securing adult volunteers to assist with supervising mentoring events as well as providing transportation to and from the alternative activities. The 8 members of the Tri-C Community Coalition, as well as concerned parents of the school-aged children of Jefferson C-123 Schools, donate countless hours of their time as well as mileage to and from events to assure that this valuable program continues to positively influence our at-risk youth in the community. These wonderful adults truly understand the adage, “It takes a community to raise a child” and are always willing to lend a helping hand to families struggling with substance abuse of some kind.

Youth With Vision

YWV members are increasingly concerned with peer use of marijuana, especially driving while under the influence. With the recent passage of medical marijuana in Missouri, YWV members are also concerned that the legalization of medical marijuana will have a dramatic impact on how marijuana is marketed, which in turn, can have a dramatic impact on teen use rates. As we look at our most recent data collected from the 2018 MSS, we did see a small decrease in student use of marijuana (6.2%, down from 6.8% in 2016), although still remaining fairly consistent with prior years. We also saw a dramatic decrease in the perception of harm and an increase in perception of acceptance and availability of youth marijuana use. As such, it is realistic to expect an increase in the coming year as marijuana marketing and access increases. According to the 2018 survey, almost 30% of Missouri students do not believe it is wrong to smoke marijuana, an increase of 10% from 2016 data. Furthermore, that same survey indicates that 25% of Northland students believe someone their age would be seen as ‘pretty cool’ or ‘very cool’ if they smoke marijuana, an increase of 5% from 2016. Those statistics along with the alarming belief that although most people (adults and youth) recognize and believe that driving drunk is dangerous and unacceptable, a large number of both youth and adults believe that marijuana does not negatively impact one’s ability to drive. To address these ongoing problems, YWV will implement a three-prong approach: develop a social marketing campaign, target their peers to educate them on the harmful effects of misusing marijuana, and conduct an environmental scan of medical marijuana marketing and advertising with the hope to develop counter-marketing strategies to decrease the impact of the dispensaries.

ACT Missouri proudly announces our 2019 Outstanding Youth Prevention Award Recipients!

At the Speak Hard Youth Conference, ACT Missouri and the Division of Behavioral Health honored some of our state’s most active and vocal prevention leaders. Each of them received a plaque and a Senate or House Courtesy Resolution at the ceremony in the Capitol’s Rotunda.

Joeley Clark

Morgan County C.L.E.A.R. (Community Leaders Educating About Resistance), Morgan County R-1

Joeley has been a member of Morgan County Tobacco Free Youth for 3 years. With the group, she has helped with various activities such as
Halloween in the Park, getting surveys completed, ordinance writing, attending city council meetings and Kick Butts activities. She was part of the Taking Down Tobacco pilot program. Joeley also works with Morgan County C.L.E.A.R. Coalition and has done several presentations throughout the community and her school on the dangers of second hand smoke.

Keiley Clark

Morgan County C.L.E.A.R. (Community Leaders Educating About Resistance), Morgan County R-1

Keiley is an active member of Morgan County Tobacco Free Youth. She was part of the Taking Down Tobacco pilot program. She has also worked with Morgan County C.L.E.A.R. on several community presentations on second hand smoke.

Mikayla Dierker

TryPOD-TREND, Grandview

Mikayla has participated in drug prevention programs since fifth grade with D.A.R.E. and the TREND Club at her school. She attended the Prevention Leadership Conference through the NCADA for 3 years as a participant and then as an intern for 3 years. She also attended the Teen Institute. Her passion for prevention has continued into her high school years becoming a member of the Jefferson County Drug Prevention Coalition’s Teen Advisory Board and a mentor to the TREND leaders at her elementary school. Mikayla is currently president of the TryPOD~TREND Club at her high school.

Brianna Fetz

Lee’s Summit CARES, Lee’s Summit West

Brianna, like the rest of our group, wants to encourage students to have healthy coping skills and find ways to bring more awareness for suicide prevention and reduce the stigma around mental health. We hope Brianna will continue to use her voice and gifts to keep her purpose and passion growing and help any community thrive. She has joined our Youth Mental Health and Wellness Task Force and volunteers her time for interviews, signs up for leadership roles within the group in order to bring successful student led activities to the City of Lee’s Summit.

Anya Jeffries

Youth With Vision, Park Hill South

Anya has served as Co-Chair for Youth With Vision for the past two years. She has been instrumental in identifying areas of need in our communities and developing campaigns and programs to address those areas. Over the years, she has attended Prevention Day at the Capitol, local prevention conferences, Northland Youth Leadership Summit, Juvenile Baseline, city council meetings for Clear Air and Tobacco 21, Bunco Mania and Mud Mania. Most recently, Anya developed a public service announcement to address the dangers of youth driving under the influence of marijuana.

Emma Latz

Youth With Vision, Kearney High Schoo

Over the past five years, Emma has been involved in all aspects of Youth With Vision (YWV). She has attended several Prevention Days, taking a lead role in the presentations to the legislators. She has also been a stable influence and played a major role in ensuring YWV is consistent in their actions to meet their mission and goals. She has attended several Northland Youth Leadership Summits, Northland Prevention Conferences, Juvenile Baselines, Mud Mania and Bunco. Emma’s dedication to Youth With Vision is matched by few others.

Jordyn Mays

Council for Drug Free Youth, Calvary Lutheran High School

Jordyn is an active member of Calvary’s Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) group. As such, she is involved in a number of activities, including the Safe and Sober program and the It Only Takes One campaign. She assisted with our Red Ribbon Week and our Suicide Prevention Week. Jordyn is a Missouri Youth and Adult Alliance Student Ambassador. She has participated in testifying at Prevention Day. Jordyn served as game night coordinator for our school’s SADD chapter. She coordinated the game night which was a joint effort between Calvary Lutheran High School and Helias Catholic High School. The purpose of the event is to provide an opportunity for an evening of safe fellowship for students from both schools.

Morgan Neal

Youth With Vision, Liberty North High School

Morgan currently serves as Co-Chair for Youth With Vision. She takes every opportunity to continue to learn, demonstrated by her attendance at ACT Missouri’s Prevention Conference the past two years and her attendance at the Northland Prevention Conference each year. Morgan developed Liberty North’s Trading Card program that identifies positive high school role-models and connects them with elementary and middle school students. The goal is to develop positive relationships and teach healthy behaviors and choices to the young students. Morgan was also instrumental in planning and implementing a week-long campaign named “How Full Is Your Cup”, aimed at reinforcing positive and healthy coping strategies and how to seek help when needed. Morgan developed a five-minute video on stress and coping that was played for the entire Liberty North High School student body and has been placed on Tri-County’s Encourage Hope and Health website for viewing. More importantly, her video is being made a permanent part of the “How Full Is Your Cup” campaign that will be given to over eighteen (18) school districts, representing over 50,000 students.

Brian Purkaple

Youth With Vision, Winnetonka High School

Brian is currently the Advocacy Chair for Youth With Vision (YWV) and is instrumental in identifying the priorities and needs for our coalition. He played an integral part in identifying the talking points for members as they met with legislators about the priorities of YWV. He has also become an essential part of his home school coalition, becoming the first student to ever attend meetings. Brian has also attended Prevention Day, NYLS, the Northland Prevention Conference, Mud Mania, Bunco Mania, and Juvenile Baseline.

Gage Shook

Youth With Vision, Lawson High School

As a member of Youth With Vision, Gage has attended Prevention Day, the Northland Youth Leadership Summit, Mud Mania, and Bunco. He has also presented at a Prevention Conference in Johnson County, KS, and is currently a co-chair for Cardinals in Action, his school coalition. Just recently, Gage coordinated a student presentation to Lawson’s City Council about the need to pass a Tobacco 21 Ordinance. Following that presentation, the council has indicated that it will approve the ordinance at their March meeting.

Emma Wiese

Lee’s Summit CARES, Lee’s Summit West

Emma regularly attends our Youth Advisory Board (YAB) meetings and recently joined our Youth Mental Health and Wellness Task Force. She brings an honest student perspective and helps us create programming and events based on that. Emma is a source of comfort for many of her friends and has gone out of her way to connect some friends with the resources they need. Emma joined a few other YAB members in a panel discussion with our community to discuss why students are stressed and healthy ways to help decrease stress.

Unless otherwise noted all photos taken by Chuck Daugherty, Director, ACT Missouri

What’s the Common Denominator?

The meme, “October is my favorite color”, perfectly states how many perceive this fantastic month and kickoff to fall. It also marks the observance of many important topics in the world of behavioral health: National Substance Use Prevention Month, Red Ribbon Week, National Teen Driver Safety Week, SADD’s Rock the Belt Campaign, National Bullying Prevention Month, National Depression Screening Day, and the National DEA Drug Take Back Day on October 27.

Why would all these observances fall together? Is there a common denominator?

Everyone remembers the busy work assignments we had in grade school where you matched the word with the synonym or definition. Can you match these social/behavioral issues with the correct implication?

As you can tell, there is no answer key to this worksheet! It doesn’t really matter which came first, they are debilitating, life-altering, and sometimes the permanently damaging ancillary effects of substance use.

However, the real common denominator for all these societal afflictions is prevention; increasing protective factors while decreasing risk factors. Is your community taking a multi-thronged approach to improving its behavioral health and reducing substance use? Join us for the Prevention Conference to find out how!

2018 Substance Use Prevention Conference

The Good News is that Prevention Works!

90% of Substance Use Disorders begin in the teen years.

2018 Substance Use Prevention Conference

Calling all Prevention Specialists, Registered Coalition Staff and Volunteers, Educators, Counselors, School Resource Officers, Law Enforcement Officers, Parents, SADD Sponsors, Faith-Based, Peer Support Specialists, Behavioral Health professionals, and anyone else who serves children and youth!

Check Out These Stats!

Enjoyment Factor!

88.5% or respondents scored their experience at the conference as “Very Satisfied” or “Satisfied”

So Worth It!

95.5% are “Very Likely” or “Likely” to attend the conference again.

Contact Hours!

We awarded over 882 contact hours to attendees for Prevention Workforce Development!

Who Attends?

Who is the Audience for
the Prevention Conference?

Last year, 36% of our attendees were coalition members! The rest included: Prevention Specialists, Counselors, Educators, Faith based, Law Enforcement Officers, Public Health Educators, Peer Support Specialists, SADD Members, and Behavioral Health professionals; to name a few.

And The Winner Is. . .

Don’t miss out on an opportunity to honor some amazing people and achievements from our field!

Who will be this year’s:

Coalition of the Year?

Milestone Achievement Coalition?

Champion of Change for Prevention?

Attend our Award Ceremony during lunch on Wednesday to celebrate some of Missouri’s prevention achievements

Ask Our Prevention Conference Alumni

Get ready to be agents of change in your community! Help keep our youth alcohol and drug free by attending our Conference! Join us for three days of networking with others and learning from experts about substance use prevention, resiliency, coalition building techniques, social media and marketing, grass roots mobilizing and advocacy, the latest information and resources on behavioral Health, and much more!

Don’t take our word for it; read what some of last year’s conference attendees said!

Met lots of wonderful people and learned about new programs and ideas to build coalition.

I truly felt that this year every session I attended was valuable to my work, and even my personal life.

I was amazed at the level of knowledge speakers have about substance use prevention and how it applies across the continuum of working with youth and families in the school setting.

The education opportunities were beyond my expectations. I only wish I could have attended more breakout sessions. I am so sorry I did miss some.
Not enough time to do it all.

Only $70

Registration for our conference is only $70.00!

Attendees can earn up to 16 Contact Hours; CHES hours pending! Our new online Contact Hour Application makes it easy to clock your hours and print your certificate at your convenience.