July 23, 2024, 1:00pm-2:30pm EST
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Effective community prevention work involves youth engagement at all stages of the Strategic Prevention Framework – that is, Assessment, Capacity, Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation. Unintentional tokenism is a barrier to youth reaching their full potential with prevention work; instead, youth can and should be engaged in leadership opportunities, strategic discussions, and solutions to the identified problems. An effective way to engage youth in prevention is to build a youth coalition that empowers them to take the lead for their peers and the community. This interaction session will help you understand the essential nature of youth involvement, how to make prevention work attractive to youth, and practical steps to building a youth coalition.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
PRESENTERS
Rikki Barton, MAPS, IC&RC, has a passion for communicating essential messages to move individuals and communities onward in their goals. She is the Founder/Lead Consultant of Onward Consulting and holds the Missouri Advanced Prevention Specialist certification as well as international IC&RC certification. Rikki has nearly 15 years of prevention field experience and currently serves as a consultant to assist organizations, coalitions, and state/federal agencies in the areas of substance use prevention, suicide prevention, and mental health promotion. She has extensive experience working with community coalitions, providing training, grant writing, managing funding sources, and leading a team of preventionists. Rikki trains for several national organizations including National Council for Mental Wellbeing, CADCA (youth and adult programs), and the National Coalition Institute. She also volunteers with a human trafficking prevention and awareness coalition, serving on leadership for the last 12 years, with particular focus on empowering youth to stay safe on social media and teaching adults how to protect young people from online grooming. Rikki holds a Bachelors degree from Pennsylvania State University and a Masters degree from Liberty University.
