Youth Leadership FAQ

Is there a parent/guardian consent form to complete?
Yes, a consent form is required for all registered youth 18 years old or younger. The consent form is available when you register in both English and Spanish.

What are the age requirements?
The Youth Leadership Courses are designed for ages 13–19 years old; however, email us if you have an exception!

Can I attend without my coalition and/or parent/guardian?
If you are under the age of 18, you need to be accompanied by a parent/guardian.

Do youth need to pre-register for the separate tracks?
No, all sessions will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis.

What sessions are offered this year?
Information on the sessions available can be found on the session grid.

Can Youth and Adult Advisors attend the Introduction to Key Essentials workshop some days and the breakout tracks other days?
To get the most out of the workshop, we highly recommend attending all three days of the workshop.

Can adults attend the Youth breakout track?
This track is specifically for our Youth attendees. You may accompany a Youth attendee in your coalition, but Youth attendees will be given priority in the sessions.

Are adults required to participate with the youth in youth leadership courses?
Adult advisors are highly encouraged to participate with their youth if they are attending the Key Essentials course. CADCA’s Youth Leadership model is a specialized training built on establishing healthy adult-youth partnerships and expects adults to work with youth throughout the training sessions. This is not a chaperone role, but instead a coach/mentor from the coalition who will support the implementation of strategies developed upon returning to the coalition.

Adult advisors are not required to attend the other sessions with their youth, but we encourage you to still attend with them if there is space!

What is the attire?
The attire is business casual during training sessions, and we recommend business professional for Capitol Hill day participation.

What to bring?
If your coalition has community data, please bring it! (for ex: youth survey data). Any props or costumes that you’d like for the dance!

Do the youth follow the same adult schedule?
Yes and no. While lunch times and breaks will be the same as the adult schedule, Youth will have a concurrent opening plenary on Tuesday, which is different than previous years! We will also still have the Youth Meet-Up N’ Chill on Monday, and the Youth Dance on Wednesday.