Tips and Resources

Communities Talk Resources for Youth Engagement

Increasingly, underage youth play key roles in prevention efforts among their peers. In 2019, young people had a part in more than three-quarters of Communities Talk activities. Youth participated as planners and speakers, as well as audience members.

The Guide to Youth Engagement in Underage Drinking Prevention Events (PDF | 8.5 MB) helps organizations effectively partner with youth to plan and conduct efforts to prevent and reduce underage drinking. It was developed by SAMHSA together with the California Friday Night Live Partnership.

Below are several other resources for engaging youth in Communities Talk activities.

• The video below is about how one Communities Talk organization involved youth in their activity:

• Alcohol Prevention Event Toolkit from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the National Institute on Drug Abuse offers five steps to maximize an event’s success.
• Getting Candid: Framing the Conversation around Youth Substance Use Prevention, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is a message guide and toolkit that equips youth-serving providers and organizations to support meaningful prevention messaging.
• Youth Engagement at a Federal Level: A Compilation of Strategies and Practices from the Department of Health and Human Services is a compilation of briefs from 12 agencies and departments that describe their efforts to engage youth..
• The Youth Engagement Blueprint Series from the Administration for Children, Youth and Families, Children’s Bureau, aims to build capacity to promote a culture and climate that encourages youth engagement.
• SAMHSA’s Community Engagement: An Essential Component of an Effective and Equitable Substance Use Prevention System reviews evidence related to leveraging community engagement, including youth, to implement and scale-up evidence-based prevention programs.
• Incorporating Strategies for Engaging Young People grantee guide from the Office of Adolescent Health and the Administration on Children, Youth and Families, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
• Reach youth online through Communities Talk social media strategies. Read the guide and get the sample content.

Be inspired! Visit the Success Stories to read more about youth engaging in Communities Talk activities.