From February 4 – 7, 2019, West River Valley Thrives attended CADCA’s (Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America) 29th annual National Leadership Forum, including SAMHSA’s (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) 15th annual Prevention Day. This forum is the premier and largest training event for community-based substance use and misuse prevention leaders. Read more about it on a former blog post: https://wrvthrives.org/thrives-attends-national-leadership-forum/
From left: Pat Castillo, CADCA Director; General Arthur T. Dean (ret.), CADCA Chairman & CEO; Steve Tavella, WRVT Director; Jerilyn Simpson Jordan, CADCA Board Vice-Chair
This year, Thrives was recognized as one of over 100 prevention coalitions representing 36 states to graduate from the National Coalition Academy. We were the only Vermont Coalition to graduate from the academy in 2018-19. The National Coalition Academy (NCA) is a comprehensive training program developed by CADCA’s National Coalition Institute and teaches leaders “what they need to know” (the core competencies) and “what their team needs to do” (the essential processes) to establish or maintain a highly effective anti-drug coalition.
The NCA is designed specifically for coalition staff and volunteer leadership. It combines three weeks of classroom training, three reinforcement on-line sessions and access to a web-based workstation. The Academy’s training curriculum is organized within SAMHSA’s Strategic Prevention Framework.
By the end of the year-long training, in order to graduate, coalitions will have developed five essential products (1) a community assessment, (2) a logic model (Thrives developed 3!), (3) a strategic & action plan, (4) an evaluation plan and (5) a sustainability plan.
CERTIFICATION
A total of 96 contact hours (32 hours each training week) will be granted for completion of the NCA. Training contact hours can be applied toward a Prevention Specialist certification.
GRADUATION
Each coalition submits the five products at the end of the experience to be considered for graduation. Thrives attended the requisite sessions in 2018 and graduated in 2019 at the NCA graduation ceremony held at the National Leadership Forum in Washington, DC, from February 4-7.