Last Updated on February 10, 2021 by Cass County Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition
SOURCE: News release from Cass County Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition
Representatives from the Cass County Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition virtually joined thousands of substance use and misuse prevention specialists and community coalition advocates from February 1-4, 2021, for CADCA’s (Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of
America’s) 31st Annual National Leadership Forum.
“I was honored and excited to be part of CADCA’s National Leadership Forum, two of us attended, we were originally going to attend a week long in-person training; however, Covid restrictions caused the forum to run virtually this year” says Nikki Malott, Project Coordinator. “During the week, we worked on building our skills and strategies to address substance misuse issues throughout Cass County. We also had the opportunity to meet directly with our state’s Congressional Representatives to advocate
for the substance misuse prevention needs in our community and throughout the state.”
CADCA’s National Leadership Forum is typically held in Washington, D.C. each February. This year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was transitioned to an online training experience, centered around the theme of “Every Day CADCA Trains: Community Coalition Advocates.” The four days of training encompass more than 150 unique training sessions for adults and youth on a wide range of topics–everything from preventing prescription misuse, to addressing electronic cigarette use and
developing policies to reduce underage drinking.
Forum attendees also had the chance to hear from some of the nation’s top prevention leaders, who served as speakers for the event. This year’s featured speakers included Gayathri J. Dowling, Ph.D., Director of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Project at the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Robert L. DuPont, M.D., President of the Institute for Behavior and Health, Caroline DuPont, M.D., Vice President of the Institute for Behavior and Health, Mark Gold, Ph.D., Emeritus Eminent Scholar and Distinguished Alumni Professor, Debra Houry, M.D., M.P.H., Director of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control at CDC, Jo McGuire, Executive Director of the National Drug & Alcohol Screening Association, Bertha K. Madras, Ph.D., professor of psychobiology at Harvard Medical
School, Dale Quigley, Deputy Coordinator of the National Marijuana Initiative, High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas, and many more.
We look forward to utilizing the skills we learned through CADCA’s National Leadership Forum to further these initiatives and further our impact.
The mission of the CCSAPC (Cass County Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition) is to create a safer and healthier community by establishing and strengthening collaborations, while working together to reduce substance abuse in youth and their families.