Youth Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Project

·	Return to Home

·	YADAPP Mission
·	Goals and Objectives
·	Project Description

·	YADAPP 2007
·	Registration
·	Mailings

·	Youth Participants
·	Adult Sponsors
·	Youth Leaders
·	Junior Staff
·	Conference Interns
·	Resource Officers

·	STAN Plan
·	Wheeler Award
·	Mini-Grants
·	Resources

·	Regional Events

·	YADAPP History
·	Past YADAPPs

·	Contact Information

Regional Leadership Conferences/Trainings

As primary influences on their peers, high school students have the capacity to become positive influences and leaders in the ongoing efforts to prevent violence and the use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs among youth. The YADAPP project is designed to empower Virginia’s youth to assume positive peer leadership roles in their schools and communities through the implementation of youth-led action plans.

In the summer of 1984, a group of caring individuals asked each other how Virginia could empower high school students in the ongoing efforts to prevent substance abuse and violence in schools and communities across Virginia. As a result, YADAPP was born.

Designed as a youth empowerment project, YADAPP provides high school students with the motivation and resources to assume positive peer leadership roles within their schools and communities in order to develop projects related to the promotion of school safety and the prevention of drug use among their peers. In order to reach the goals of this project, YADAPP can be defined by three main activities:

Summer Leadership Conference
Regional Leadership Conferences/Trainings
Year-Round Promotion and Assistance to Youth-Led Projects

Regional Leadership Conferences/Trainings

In order to reach a greater audience, the YADAPP project helps localities conduct similar regional youth leadership conferences. For example, Newport News Public Schools has successfully held a regional YADAPP for many years. These regional YADAPPs are one-day versions of the weeklong conference and invite more students from individual communities to become involved in local initiatives. Similar to the weeklong conference, students at a regional YADAPP experience engaging speakers, dynamic workshops, and youth-led activities. In 2004-2005, YADAPP partnered with the Richmond Drug-Free Alliance to conduct regional youth leadership conferences in the Richmond Metro area. In addition, localities in Northern Virginia and Southwest Virginia have requested assistance for regional events in their areas.

Celebrating YOUth (CY!) Regional Youth Summit!

Serving the Metro Richmond Area

The overall goal of CY! is to promote positive choices among youth and to encourage youth involvement in the issues affecting their safety and well-being at school and in their communities.

CY! represents the convergence of ideas to implement youth training opportunities among Virginia youth. It is a goal of the Youth Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Project (YADAPP) project to encourage, promote, and coordinate youth training opportunities similar to YADAPP. At the same time, it is a goal of the Richmond Regional Drug-Free Alliance (RFDA) to develop and deliver programs for youth. Both groups have come together to jointly plan two CY! trainings.

This one-day training consists of two sessions: a morning session and an afternoon session. In the morning session, YADAPP youth along with youth leaders from four localities (Chesterfield, Hanover, Henrico, and the City of Richmond) lead experiential learning activities with approximately 200 youth participants. Following these activities, the youth staff members facilitate a brainstorming session whereby the youth participants explore and determine important issues affecting their safety and well-being in their school and community.

In the afternoon session, a notable speaker conducts a keynote presentation and then a training session with all 200 youth. During this training session, the speaker explores the issues identified by the youth during the morning session in order to promote positive choices and encourage youth involvement in addressing these issues at school and in the community.

Regional YADAPPs

Southwest Regional YADAPP

The Roanoke County Prevention Council (RCPC) and Roanoke Area Youth Substance Abuse Council (RAYSAC) will co-sponsor a regional Youth Alcohol Drug Abuse Prevention Project (YADAPP) conference in Roanoke on Saturday, March 18, 2006. This one-day conference will be held from 9:00am to 4:00pm on the campus of Hollins University. The purpose of this event is to develop youth leadership to foster substance abuse prevention in the Southwest Virginia region. This conference is being planned by youth for youth. Registration is available for the first 200 youth. For more information, please contact Nancy Hans at 540-772-4341 or email nhans@fsrv.org.

Northern Virginia Regional YADAPP

The Fairfax County Department of Community and Recreation Services and the Manassas Park Department of Parks and Recreation will co-sponsor a regional Youth Alcohol Drug Abuse Prevention Project (YADAPP) conference in Fairfax on Saturday, March 25, 2006. This one-day conference will be held from 9:00am to 5:00pm at the South County Government Center in Alexandria, Virginia. The purpose of this event is to develop youth leadership to foster substance abuse prevention in the Northern Virginia region. This conference is being planned by youth for youth. Registration is available for the first 25 teams. For more information, please contact Sekenia Welch at 703-704-6224 or email Sekenia.Welch@fairfaxcounty.gov.

Hampton Roads Regional YADAPP

The Hampton Roads Regional YADAPP (HRRY) also represents the state reach of the YADAPP project. The HRRY is a one-day mini YADAPP targeting high students from the Hampton Roads community. In 2004, the HRRY was recognized with the Youth Effort Award of the Year presented by the Statewide Neighborhood Campaign based in Charlottesville. This one-day training consists of two keynotes, topical leadership workshops regarding substance abuse and crime prevention, and a training session on how students can create and plan projects addressing substance abuse and crime prevention in their schools and communities.