21 for 21

1. 21 for 21 A Youth Recruitment Effort A Project By Erica Manahan emanahan@commpartnership.org

2. Our Coalition The Knowledge Effect: • Lafayette, Louisiana (pop. 210,000+) • SPF-SIG Funded • 24 Member Agencies (signed MOUs) • 8 Partner Agencies • Diverse agency representation • Youth Subcommittee—KEYS (Keeping Every Youth Sober)

3. About the KEYS Youth Coalition • Been a subcommittee of The Knowledge Effect Coalition since its inception in 2007. • An instrumental partner in a major coalition event—Family Friendly Mardi Gras—which yields thousands of community members every year.

5. Project Rationale PROBLEM: • A community assessment revealed a serious underage drinking problem. ROOT CAUSE: • One root cause is a culture of social alcohol consumption and conjunctively, permissibility of underage drinking. LOCAL CONDITION: • Lack of alcohol-free events for youth. • 18 year-olds are allowed to enter bars and clubs and are often served alcohol despite the illegalityof it. • Parents are legally allowed to provide alcohol to their child and often do so.

6. Community Data • Age of onset: 10.4 years old • Over 15% of OWI arrests are underage • More than 75% of high school seniors drink regularly.

7. What We Knew • Lack of alcohol-free events for youth. • Dwindling numbers of youth involvement in coalition work and solutions. • Youth over-involvement in other activities. • Importance of youth voices in the community at the government level. • Leadership development is important in youth and they need an opportunity to learn.

8. What We Knew • It was time to stop being insane—“doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” • We wanted to make involvement worth the time and effort of the youth through résumé building, experience, knowledge, and skills.

9. Time to… GET YOUTH INVOLVED AND ACTIVE!

10. Our Solution • At the National Coalition Academy, our coalition members learned several things that assisted us in creating a new approach to recruiting and retaining youth. • Community Assessment • Coalition Capacity Building • Networking discussions with other coalitions from around the country • CSAP’s 6 Prevention Strategies (specifically, Alternatives).

11. New Approach: Meet the youth where they are and with what they are interested in rather than attempting to convince them to come to us and follow our agenda.

12. KEYS Member: “The coalition’s new approach to working with us helped us feel more comfortable speaking our minds and planning things for our own peers and friends instead of doing what they wanted to accomplish as adults.”

13. The Plan • Develop a Youth Advisory Council (YAC) with the Mayor • Surface Lafayette youth concerns (i.e. lack of alcohol-free events) • Address those concerns within the realms of the coalition • Let the youth develop an event (meet them where they are interested), recruit youth involvement, increase KEYS membership, give youth opportunities and establish action plans to continue the coalition’s work

14. Youth can have a political voice!

15. Youth Advisory Council • We opened YAC membership to a particular group of youth who were involved in Junior Leadership. • Junior Leadership is a program of 75 local high school students that fosters youth knowledge, skills and connections of people in the Lafayette region. • 15 Junior Leadership students and 3 KEYS members were selected for the Youth Advisory Council. • 3 reserved spots for KEYS members was an appealing recruitment technique because it gives an incentive to join KEYS as an avenue to YAC.

16. KEYS/YAC Member: “Being asked to be on the Youth Advisory Council was huge for me because I’ve been interested in politics for a while but didn’t have a way in. Now I can voice my opinion to our Mayor and have access to making things happen for our community.”

17. YAC included students from all 7 high schools in Lafayette Parish, assuring broad representation of the community. • At the first YAC meeting, the youth were given an opportunity to voice concerns or issues they saw in the community. • As expected, one of the first concerns mentioned was the lack of alcohol-free events for youth.

18. Our coalition offered our assistance and support in creating such an event with emphasis on engaging youth and recruiting KEYS members. • An event planning subcommittee of YAC (including KEYS members) began meeting frequently. • Using the New Approach, students were encouraged to develop the ideas and plans for what they envisioned for this event.

19. The Event • The subcommittee chose to plan a school kick-off event for August 2011: • Battle of the Bands (youth bands only) with a dance party afterwards. • It was titled 21 for 21 with the goal to find 21 event sponsors in favor of 21 years of age to drink. • The youth worked diligently to recruit at least 21 sponsors, find bands to play, and organize vendors for food and drinks.

20. The youth and coalition members were able to acquire two local radio stations who agreed to advertise and broadcast the event as well as send two Disc Jockeys to emcee at 21 for 21. • They collected multiple donations and prizes to be given out at the event, with a grand prize of an iPod Touch. Sponsors Included: Coca-Cola Midsouth Bank Local Gyms School of the Arts Walmart Pawn Shops Local Restaurants Movie Theaters and more!

21. The 10 youth bands that played were diverse and contained members of all 7 local high schools, bringing in a broad spectrum of fans, friends and general attendees. • There were resources available to the public as well (information on the effects of substances, substance abuse issues, and rehabilitation and treatment options). • The feedback from the event was extremely positive and supported by the community. • Over 800 people attended the event!

22. A Community Member: “21 for 21 was a huge success. It was inspiring to see so many youth rally around and support a cause that is somewhat controversial amongst their peers. I am excited to see what the event will hold next year!”

23. A YAC Member: “The event 21 for 21 was a success. I was very proud of the work we did and getting the community involved in this project. I hope teens realize the fun you can have without alcohol.”

24. KEYS Recruitment at 21 for 21 • In between bands, the local DJ and CADCA Ambassador Erica Manahan would thank the 21 sponsors, give away raffled prizes and talk about the KEYS Youth Coalition, directing those interested to the KEYS information table. • With 10 bands playing, this enabled KEYS to be spoken about over 20 times, which provided a high degree of publicity for our coalition and KEYS.

25. At the information table, KEYS members answered questions and handed out giveaways. • There was a sign up sheet for those interested becoming involved in KEYS. • There were over 20 youth who signed up for more information. • Of these 20 youth, 11 chose to apply to KEYS and will be spearheading the planning of Family Friendly Mardi Gras 2012.

26. The entire 21 for 21 event process proved successful in both recruitment and retention of youth becoming involved in the coalition’s work (20 recruited, 11 retained). • We also viewed this as a success because it raised awareness about the work of The Knowledge Effect and KEYS in the Lafayette community and amongst stakeholders. • Media outlets (TV and radio stations) advertised the event to the community through advertisements, interviews, and live broadcasting.

27. Project Outcomes • This project helped The Knowledge Effect Coalition by: • Bolstering youth involvement and retention (11 new members who continue to meet) • Rolling out an event that will become an annual school kick-off event • Having coalition youth on the Youth Advisory Council to have their voice heard in local government.

28. Project Outcomes • The Youth Advisory Council has become a permanent part of Lafayette Consolidated Government, giving students a chance to use their voice for the betterment of the community. • YAC Member: “I’m very excited to be in my second term on the council. This process has given me a voice in my community to make a difference.”

29. A Quote from Mayor Joey Durel “21 for 21 was a great example of the community coming together to do something good for young people in our area.  We know that a common issue that comes up is that there are not enough events for young people in our community that are alcohol-free and fun.  When you have groups working together to solve an issue, great things can happen.  And it is great when the young people can be a part of that and benefit from it.”

30. YAC Member: “I was very honored to be on the first term of the council. I felt like we have paved the way for future council members.”

31. Next Steps • Continue to have YAC meetings with the Mayor on a quarterly basis to discuss the youthful perspective on community issues. • Continue to have KEYS represented on the YAC. • Hold monthly KEYS planning meetings. • KEYS members will plan the Family Friendly Mardi Gras 2012 event with the coalition. • During the spring and summer, YAC/KEYS will plan this year’s 2012 school kick off event.

32. Next Steps • Share this PowerPoint presentation on the coalition website to serve as a resource for stakeholders, other coalitions and individuals interested in following a similar path to organizing an alcohol-free event or utilizing a youth recruitment and involvement technique. • Link to the website will be available on Coalition’s Facebook as well.

33. Application from National Coalition Academy Training • Community Assessment: • It helped our coalition to identify the root causes of our underage drinking problem, discover community gaps and then locate resources for action to be taken. • Coalition Capacity Building • Our coalition learned how to build youth capacity through the training and the Capacity Primer, seeking out interest level and working on recruiting, engagement and retention techniques. • Advocacy • Our youth learned how to advocate within the local government. While they have not formally proposed a policy, the goal is to put forth an ordinance banning those under 21 from entering bars/clubs.

34. Lessons Learned • Let youth plan the event – they often have better ideas and more energy to get it done! • Youth can have a voice in local government and they want to use it – LET THEM! • Community gaps can be filled and the community will welcome them.