Prevention Education
LAFY helps connect the Liberty community with prevention education, campaigns, and resources that support youth substance use prevention, mental health promotion, and positive decision-making.
LAFY’s prevention education efforts are supported through Beacon Mental Health, who helps coordinate grant-funded strategies, prevention resources, technical assistance, and in-kind support for coalition efforts.
Education that supports healthy choices.
Education that supports healthy choices.
School Based Prevention
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CATCH My Breath
CATCH My Breath is a free evidence-based youth vaping prevention program offered through Beacon Mental Health. The program is designed for grades 5 -12 and consists of four lessons, each 30-40 minutes long. It’s easy to implement, includes parent resources, and supplemental lessons to better adapt prevention to a multitude of classroom styles.
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Signs of Suicide (SOS)
A school-based prevention program that teaches students how to recognize signs of depression and suicide risk and how to seek help for themselves or a friend.
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Hope Squad
Hope Squad is an evidence-based peer-to-peer suicide prevention program. Hope Squad members are nominated by their classmates as trustworthy peers and trained by advisors. The program reduces youth suicide through education, training, and peer intervention. Beacon provides resources and support for school districts implementing Hope Squad.
Youth Prevention Campaigns and Programs
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Breathe Easier
Breathe Easier is a middle-school poster campaign focused on vaping that helps create organic conversations based around facts such as the chemicals in vapes, their effect on the environment, and the mental health effects of vaping, while empowering youth who do vape to quit with a cessation program.
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Grow Strong KC
Grow Strong KC is Beacon’s life resource for teens that includes articles, tools, and information to help prevent youth substance use and improve their coping skills.
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Encourage Hope and Help
Encourage Hope & Help is Beacon’s suicide prevention resource for youth (ages 10-24), parents, educators, the LGBTQIA+ community, attempt survivors, loss survivors, veterans, and community members in the Kansas City area. Through presentation, information dissemination, and skill-building, we aim to prevent teen suicide.
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How Full is Your Cup?
A student-to-student campaign for middle and high school students focusing on the effects of stress and the positive impact of healthy coping skills. Youth are encouraged to talk about and seek help from trusted adults for their stressors and build skills and knowledge to better care for themselves.
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My Life, My Quit
A youth-focused quit-support program where live cessation coaches are available by phone or text.
To get started, youth can text ‘Start My Quit’ to 36072 or sign up at MO.MyLifeMyQuit.org.
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Youth With Vision
Youth With Vision (YWV) is a student-led organization made up of 8th-12th graders from 14 different school districts in Clay, Platte, and Ray Counties. YWV members work with numerous community partners to ensure that their programs and peer-focused prevention messages are available to all parts of Clay, Platte, and Ray County. YWV also advocates at the state and local level for policies and laws that protect the health and safety of our youth.
Parent and Community Education
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Parent Up KC
A parent education campaign that gives caregivers practical prevention tips, conversation starters, and information to help them set clear expectations around youth substance use
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Roots of Resilience
A family-focused education initiative that helps parents and caregivers understand resilience, stress, protective factors, and ways to strengthen connection with young people.
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Meaningful Meals
An initiative that encourages families to create regular opportunities for conversation and connection around meals, helping strengthen relationships and protective factors.
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Retail Education
Local alcohol and tobacco retailers play an important role in reducing youth access to age-restricted products. Beacon Prevention staff work to increase collaboration, training, and age checking resources and signage for local retailers so they can be a line of defense for our youth.
