“Friday Night Live builds partnerships for positive and healthy youth development which engage youth as active leaders and resources in their communities.”
The California Friday Night Live Partnership (CFNLP) was developed in 1984 in Sacramento by the California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs (ADP), now the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), and the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS). It began as a pilot program dedicated to reducing the number of deaths and injuries caused by teen motorists driving under the influence of alcohol and other drugs. The first years of the program, the youth involved were organized into high school-based student action groups. Later we renamed these high school-based student action groups, FNL Chapters. The success rate was so great that in 1988, ADP established a statewide office to facilitate the expansion of the program to youth throughout California. By 1990, the number of counties with the FNL Program had increased 300%. The main focus of the program shifted from one of preventing drinking and driving among teens to one of promoting healthy lifestyles free of alcohol, tobacco, or other substance abuse among youth.
The California Friday Night Live Partnership (FNL) supports the successful implementation of the county programs that receive funding from the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS). While there are a variety of programs and funding opportunities to support them, all programs share a common foundation-they are built on youth development principles and practices. From county to county, the organization that houses FNL programs may vary: County Mental Health, County Offices of Education, and non-profits all successfully house and support FNL programs.
While all programs are youth driven and led, the focus or ages served may vary:
High school age youth working in partnership with adults.
Middle school age youth working in partnership with adults.
4-6th grade focusing on refusal skills and leadership.
Focuses on a structured, one-to-one mentoring model with high school students as mentors and middle school students as mentees.
The California Youth Council is a coalition of FNL youth representing counties across California, convening to provide youth voice to the CFNLP, help move state-level issues that affect young people and inform and support the implementation of the Youth Traffic Safety Summit.
We are currently hosting groups in Soledad and Salinas. Interested in starting a club at your location? Contact Lesa Rubalcava, Lesa@epicentermonterey.org
