What is Alliance for Wisconsin Youth?
The Alliance for Wisconsin Youth (AWY) believes that prevention is a complex process that requires more than a singular strategy or approach. A range of factors contribute to alcohol and other drug use. Substance use prevention is based on the understanding that these factors vary among individuals, geographic regions, age groups, racial/ethnic groups, and gender groups. Effective prevention is a systemic responsibility involving local, state, and national agencies, organizations, and groups. The Alliance for Wisconsin Youth in conjunction with local and national partners, and through its network of state AWY member coalitions, provides leadership, coordination, and communication to its members and to the prevention field in general.
The Alliance for Wisconsin Youth uses its leadership role to promote high-quality prevention services through:
- Communication among AWY coalitions to increase awareness and availability of effective and innovative prevention strategies.
- Advocacy at national, state, and local levels for prevention services.
The Alliance’s purpose is to enhance and support the capacity of member coalitions in their substance use prevention and youth development work. Over 90 Wisconsin coalitions are members of the Alliance. Member coalitions consist of representatives of at least five (5) community sectors. Community sectors may include, but are not limited to:
The Alliance for Wisconsin Youth is a program of the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, Division of Care and Treatment Services. Learn more about the Division of Care and Treatment Services.
Vision and Mission
Vision
Wisconsin youth are healthy, thriving, and engaged citizens.
Mission
Alliance for Wisconsin Youth (AWY) members represent local, state, and tribal agencies; public and private sectors; religious and fraternal community organization; educational (preschool to collegiate); and youth- based organizations focused on the promotion of strategies leading to the reduction of all substance use. The statewide mission of AWY is to support the activities of members in building and enhancing their capacity to strive for excellence in efforts to reduce and prevent substance use and to encourage positive youth development throughout our communities.
Outcomes and Objectives
Objectives
The objectives for AWY are to:
- Encourage and empower communities to organize local alliances.
- Establish and facilitate a statewide network of local alliances to share:
- Information about evidence-based and emerging programs, practices, and policies.
- The resources to develop and implement these strategies.
- Link local coalitions to information about state and national prevention and youth development resources and the national network of community coalitions.
- Increase state agency cooperation, coordination, and collaboration in assisting local prevention and youth development activities.
- Increase the visibility and effectiveness of existing state prevention and youth development resources to help communities organize against substance use and promote resources for youth.
Outcomes
The Alliance for Wisconsin Youth is an intermediary organization designed to help local coalitions learn, organize, and network with others, and gain access to useful human, material, and financial resources. In this work, AWY does not provide direct services to youth and as such does not produce or measure youth outcomes or National Outcome Measures (NOMs). However, AWY is committed to educating local coalitions about the importance and necessity of tracking and reporting NOMs when local coalitions receive state funds directly.