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Fountain Hills youth group reports on national anti-drug summit, plans local prevention work
Summary
Members of the Above That Club described attending the CADCA National Leadership Forum, said they learned peer-to-peer prevention and hotspot-mapping techniques, and thanked the town and coalition for supporting youth prevention efforts.
Two Fountain Hills middle-school students representing the Above That Club told the Town Council on April 6 about their experience at the CADCA National Leadership Forum and how they plan to apply the training locally.
Henry Good, the club's vice president, and Payden Jokins, the treasurer, said the CADCA conference drew more than 4,000 prevention leaders and included workshops on starting supportive conversations, identifying local hotspots for risky behavior, and leadership skills for youth-led prevention. They said they were the first youth delegation the local Fountain Hills Protect Our Youth Coalition had sent to the conference and that the club now has 24 members who meet twice a month.
The students described sessions they attended (including a SAMHSA Prevention Day) and recounted hearing national leaders and panels discussing initiatives to expand treatment and recovery; the students attributed references during the conference to a reported $100 million Great American Recovery Initiative and a $10 million assisted-outpatient grant program (these figures were presented as part of the students' summary of conference remarks). They also described visiting the DEA Museum's "Faces of Fentanyl" exhibit and a private Capitol Hill tour with Congressman David Schweikert; the students said a letter from the Fountain Hills mayor supported their White House request, but a meeting with the president was not granted.
Elizabeth Waters and coalition leaders thanked the council for prior support and for turning opioid-prevention funding over to the coalition in recent years; the students presented lessons on listening and peer support and said they would use hotspot maps and outreach to focus prevention activities in identified areas.
What happens next: the Above That Club will continue peer-to-peer education in Fountain Hills, and coalition leaders said they will collaborate with the town on future prevention events.
