CY believes in a comprehensive approach to prevention. Our philosophy is based on decades of research about "risk and protective factors" for young people. What are risk and protective factors, you ask? Put simply, they are things that either place youth at risk for substance abuse and violence or help them avoid it! There are four main areas addressed by this research. These risk factor areas include:

• Peer and Individual risk factors, such as having friends who use substances
• Family risk factors, such as having parents who do not set clear guidelines about drug use and violence
• School risk factors, such as failing grades or a lack of belonging at school, and
• Community risk factors, such as laws that make it easy for young people to get alcohol.

CY recognizes the importance of having programs that try to address all four risk factor areas. We believe that in order to be successful at reducing drug use and violence, we need to involve as many sectors of the community as possible. For more information on specific CY programs, check out the sidebar to the left!