The Tompkins County
Community Coalition for Healthy Youth (CCHY) proudly announces its graduation
from the National Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) Coalition
Academy. The graduation ceremony was on February 8th during CADCA's 21st Annual
National Leadership Forum in National Harbor, MD.
Representing CCHY
at the graduation were Amanda Verba, Youth Development Director at TST BOCES and
a CCHY board member, and Kris Bennett and Janice Johnson, from the Tompkins
County Youth Services Department, staff to CCHY. They participated in three
weeks of Academy classroom training over the course of a year with distance
learning, web support and ongoing technical assistance from CADCA Institute
staff. Combining collaborative group activities and instruction from top notch
trainers, Academy participants learned about the core competencies and essential
processes necessary to maintain a highly effective anti-drug coalition. CCHY completed all three residential training
sessions and five essential planning products that serve as the foundation of
its comprehensive plan for community change.
“The Academy graduation
ceremony is a way for us to celebrate the commitment, investments and
accomplishments of the coalitions that worked diligently to become more
effective community problem solvers through our program,” Kareemah Abdullah,
CADCA’s Vice President of Training and Youth Programs and Deputy Director of
Training and Technical Assistance for CADCA’s National Coalition Institute,
said.
“These coalitions’ abilities to stick through and complete the
program truly highlight their commitment to the tenets of community coalition
work,” said Abdullah. “Others have attended the Academy, but these are the ones
who excelled and crossed the finish line.”
The Community
Coalition for Healthy Youth brings together Tompkins County parents, youth, and
community partners to reduce youth substance use. The Coalition includes representatives from
youth service agencies including our schools and individuals who are concerned
with young people using tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs. One of CCHY’s major
contributions is conducting a bi-annual survey, now in all six Tompkins County
school districts, of students in middle and high school to gauge both trends in
youth substance use and the impact of CCHY’s work. The coalition has initiated a number of
activities to raise public awareness of the dangers and the preventative
practices regarding substance use including media messages, presentations, an
annual letter to parents of graduating seniors and a sticker shock
campaign. Other initiatives include a
youth-led Above the Influence media
campaign, organizing local unwanted medication disposal events, and a
pharmaceutical abuse awareness campaign in medical, dental, veterinary offices
and pharmacies.
For more information about the Community Coalition for Healthy Youth, visit www.heathyyouth.org or call 274-5310.