Representatives from Levittown Community Action Coalition joined nearly 3,000 substance use and misuse prevention specialists and advocates last week for CADCA’s (Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America’s) first-ever Virtual Mid-Year Training Institute.
“Our coalition was honored to be part of CADCA’s first-ever Virtual Mid-Year Training Institute,” Janet Lombardo, DFC Project Coordinator, said. “Throughout the week, we worked on building our skills and strategies to address substance use and misuse issues throughout Levittown and Island Trees. Two students from the Levittown School district attend along with a parent advocate and school Social Worker. Together with nearly
3,000 of our fellow prevention advocates, we worked toward our shared goal of creating and maintaining safe, healthy and drug-free communities globally.”
CADCA’s Mid-Year Training Institute is typically held in a different city throughout the U.S. each summer. This year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was transitioned to an online training experience, encompassing more than 80 unique training sessions on a wide range of topics – everything from preventing prescription misuse, to addressing electronic cigarette use and developing policies to reduce underage drinking.
Mid-Year attendees also had the opportunity to hear from some of the nation’s top prevention leaders, who served as keynote speakers for the event. This year’s keynote speakers included Elinore F. McCance-Katz, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Jim Carroll, Director, White House Office of National Drug Control Policy
(ONDCP), Debra Houry, M.D., M.P.H., Director, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Bertha K. Madras, Ph.D., professor of psychobiology, Harvard Medical School, RADM Erica G. Schwartz, M.D., J.D., M.P.H., Deputy Surgeon General of the United States, Timothy J. Shea, Acting Administrator, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Nora D. Volkow, M.D.,
Director, National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and Martin J. Walsh, Mayor of Boston, MA.
Our coalition has recently impacted the community by installing No Alcohol permitted signs in parks and school sports fields in Levittown and Island Trees. We look forward to utilizing the skills we learned through CADCA’s Virtual Mid-Year Training Institute to further these initiatives and enhance our impact.
-Submitted by LCAC
