TRACs Coalition Attends National Substance Abuse Prevention Conference

submitted by Biffy Cahill
TRACs Coalition Members from Stephentown headed to Washington, D.C. this week to join nearly 3,000 substance abuse prevention and treatment specialists and advocates from throughout the country for Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America’s (CADCA) 22nd Annual National Leadership Forum. CADCA’s National Leadership Forum is the nation’s largest training for substance abuse prevention and treatment professionals and researchers.
[private]Besides the opportunity to learn the latest strategies to prevent alcohol, tobacco and other drug use, the coalition will also hear from such conference headliners as Gil Kerlikowske, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, and James Fowler, Ph.D., author of Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives and a Professor in the School of Medicine and Division of Social Sciences at the University of California, San Diego.
The members of the coalition will also have the opportunity to meet and brief Senators and members of Congress from their state during CADCA’s Capitol Hill Day.
This is another great opportunity that is federally funded through the Drug Free Communities Mentoring Grant that TRACs received through a mentoring coalition with the Rensselaer County Department of Mental Health. The Drug Free Communities program is directed by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy in partnership with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
CADCA’s National Leadership Forum features more than 100 training courses to help community and state leaders prevent and reduce substance abuse and its related problems. CADCA is the national membership organization representing more than 5,000 coalitions and affiliates working to make America’s communities safe, healthy and drug free. CADCA’s mission is to strengthen the capacity of community coalitions by providing technical assistance and training, public policy advocacy, media strategies and marketing programs, conferences and special events.
For more information about CADCA’s National Leadership Forum, visit http://forum.cadca.org/.
Local TRACs members are excited to be able to spend time in the nation’s capital learning and honing their prevention skills so their community can be a better place – one that doesn’t suffer from the harms of drug and alcohol abuse. They hope to come back re-energized with new strategies under their belts to tackle the issues at  hand.
The TRACs coalition has recently worked on branching out into the community through the Key Leader Breakfast and recently formed subcommittees  to target high risk areas such as a low commitment to school and parental attitudes favorable to drug use and to increase protective factors.
If you would like to be involved in TRACs or be part of one of the subcommittees please contact Biffy Cahill, TRACs Secretary, through TRACsCoalition@gmail.com or call 518-733-9031.[/private]