Register for the June 15 Webinar on Engaging Youth in Underage Drinking Prevention; $500 Planning Stipends Still Available
05/12/2016
Communities Talk Event Organizers: New Social Media Graphics Now Available in Spanish and Please Be Sure to Complete Your Online Profile and Evaluation
Register Today for the June 15 Webinar on Engaging Youth in Underage Drinking Prevention
As community-based organizations, as well as colleges and universities, hold events for National Prevention Week (May 15–21) and Communities Talk: Town Hall Meetings To Prevent Underage Drinking , the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) will hold a webinar on Engaging Youth in Underage Drinking Prevention on June 15 from 2-3 p.m. EDT. The webinar will address strategies for organizations who wish to engage youth in prevention, but have not yet started.
The webinar will feature Lynne Goodwin, M.P.A., who has more than 20 years of experience in the prevention field, working at local, state, and national levels on underage and binge drinking, policy, youth development, and environmental prevention initiatives. Ms. Goodwin is program director of the statewide California Friday Night Live Partnership, which builds partnerships for positive and healthy youth development and engages youth as active leaders and resources in their communities. Friday Night Live Chapters are active, biennial participants in Communities Talk.
For more information and to register to participate in the webinar, visit https://www.stopalcoholabuse.gov/webinars/2016_PrevWeek/Default.aspx.
Planning Stipends Still Available for Underage Drinking Prevention Events
Planning stipends of $500 are still available for organizations who wish to hold an event to prevent underage drinking as part of Communities Talk: Town Hall Meetings To Prevent Underage Drinking. SAMHSA encourages hosts to hold events to build momentum around a national dialogue about underage drinking prevention. While many organizations hold events in the spring, events can be held anytime in 2016. Read the underage drinking prevention planning calendar for a list of observances.
If you have not yet received an invitation, but would like to participate, please send your organization name, contact name, contact e-mail address, and phone number, as well as a national affiliate organization (e.g., SAMHSA grantee) to info@stopalcoholabuse.net.
New Social Media Graphics Available To Promote Communities Talk: Town Hall Meetings to Prevent Underage Drinking in Spanish
Twenty new social media graphics are now available to promote Communities Talk: Town Hall Meetings to Prevent Underage Drinking in Spanish. Read the social media guide and download and share graphics in English and Spanish from the social media image gallery.
Hosting an Event? Remember To Complete Your Town Hall Meeting Online Profile and Evaluation
Thank you to the many organizations who have made underage drinking a priority by participating in Communities Talk: Town Hall Meetings To Prevent Underage Drinking between January and April!
If you have hosted or are planning to host an event, please remember to log in with your username and password and fully complete your registration profile. Submit your event details (who, what, when, and where) so that they appear in the Find a Meeting map and in your event recap information, which summarizes the results of your event. For more information, view the 3 Steps to Completing Your Town Hall Meeting Online Profile diagram or contact info@stopalcoholabuse.net for assistance.
Town Hall Meeting organizers are currently being invited to participate in the online Town Hall Meeting Organizer’s Survey. In addition, a random sample of host organizations have been invited to distribute and return participants’ surveys from their event attendees. Contact eval@stopalcoholabuse.net with any questions. Completing these surveys is critical for future years of the Communities Talk initiative.
Resources To Support Underage Drinking Prevention
The following free resources are available from the federal government.
Join the National Prevention Week Kickoff Webcast on Monday, May 16
SAMHSA will host a live webcast kickoff for National Prevention Week 2016 on Monday, May 16 from 11:00 a.m.–11:45 a.m. EDT. The webcast will take place at Morgan State University, a 2016 event host in the Communities Talk: Town Hall Meetings to Prevent Underage Drinking initative. Sign up and view the kick-off webcast featuring this year’s NPW Ambassador, NBC star of Chicago Med, Torrey DeVitto.
National Prevention Week (May 15–21, 2016) showcases communities that are making a difference in overall community health by increasing public awareness of, and action around, mental health and/or substance use disorders. This year’s theme is “Strong as One, Stronger Together,” highlighting that while one person can make a positive difference in their community, when we join together we can achieve a greater impact with our prevention efforts.
Updated Underage Drinking and College Student Drinking Factsheets Available
SAMHSA has released two updated factsheets on underage drinking (PDF | 237KB) and college student drinking (PDF | 207KB).
The underage drinking factsheet provides an overview of underage alcohol use and the overall health and safety risks. The factsheet also includes data on underage drinking by adolescents and young adults as well as a breakdown of underage drinking by gender and racial/ethnic group, including information about the downward trend in current, binge, and heavy drinking in the last 12 years.
The college student drinking factsheet gives an overview of the issue and breaks down binge and heavy drinking by gender, alcohol use consequences, and alcohol use prevention.
Download, print, and share these factsheets throughout the year as a part of your underage drinking prevention efforts.