Community Action on Youth and Drugs

Background | Objectives | Current projects | Useful resources

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Background

The Community Action on Youth and Drugs project (CAYAD) works in collaboration with agencies and community groups to attain common development outcomes. It is part of a nationwide project addressing the health and social impacts of drug and alcohol abuse.

This innovative public health project is funded by the Ministry of Health and is implemented through Auckland City Council. The purpose of the project is to improve the health and wellbeing of the Auckland City youth by reducing methamphetamine, cannabis, alcohol and other drug related harm and increasing community ownership and capacity to address these health issues.

National context

CAYAD arose from a variety of initiatives undertaken by communities, researchers, and the Ministry of Education to address issues relating to reducing drug-related harm to youth, with a particular focus on cannabis use. There are several CAYAD organisations run over New Zealand by a diverse range of organisations.

The kaupapa of CAYAD has operated around five main objectives:

increasing informed debate on drug issues and their impact in the community
promoting, implementing and supporting policies and safe behaviours on drug use
identifying existing or developing 'best practice' programmes to address school and student needs including youth/whanau in need of support
developing alliances between key community organisations and sectors
development of local resources to raise awareness and facilitate and support youth voice and discussion on reducing drug-related harm.

Community action programmes are becoming increasingly accepted as key health promotion initiatives to deal with alcohol and drug related issues. These programmes move away from placing the responsibility solely on individuals and their families and promote community ownership of problems and solutions. They recognise the social context of drug use and broad range of factors that have an important influence on drug use and misuse.

Achievements

2005 UNICEF Child and Youth Friendly Community Award
2005 Auckland City Service Quality Award