Peter Block at CADCA Forum

One of the highlights of the 19th Annual CADCA Leadership Forum was listening to Peter Block's plenary session talk. He talked about creating public conversations that are not based on what is wrong with our communities and our youth, which focus on blame and deficiencies, but to focus on what is right with our communities and our youth and to build on those strengths. Community conversations that can create positive change should be about:

-- how citizens can take ownership of their communities;

-- what possibilities exist, focusing on the positive;

-- commitment to the community;

-- what gift each individual has to offer (it's not about the money). "Youth are gifts waiting to be delivered."

Check out www.technologyinprevention.blogspot.com -- LaDonna Coy has a good post about his presentation.

Peter Block's talk was preceded by an invigorating presentation by Karen M. Carpenter-Palumbo, Commissioner of the New York State Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services. She spoke passionately about the need for agencies and organizations to work together on common issues -- "communities of solution".

CADCA Leadership Forum

Last week, Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) hosted its 19th annual Leadership Forum in the Washington, DC area. Prevention Works In Seattle/NE Seattle Coalition to Prevent Underage Drinking sent nine Nathan Hale High School students and two coalition members/chaperones to the conference.

One of the most exciting and important parts of the forum is Capitol Hill Day, when coalitions meet with their federal representatives. The Seattle delegation, including the Hale students, met with Representative Jim McDermott and his Chief of Staff, Mike DeCesare. We spoke about the drug and alcohol issues affecting our communities and how Rep. McDermott can best support our work. Here's a photo of our Hale group with Rep. McDermott:

Among the topics we discussed is the need for continued federal funding of drug/alcohol prevention programs in Seattle. Many of our prevention programs, including coalitions, rely on funds from the Office of National Drug Control Policy and the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention.

The entire Washington State delegation (80+ of us!) met with Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, but I'll blog about that later.