Prevention
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Friday Night Live (FNL)
The Friday Night Live (FNL) program was established in 1984 as a high school program to promote a teenage lifestyle free of alcohol and other drugs.
Mission
The mission of FNL is to build partnerships for positive and healthy youth development that engage youth as active leaders and resources in their communities. Youth involved in FNL have the opportunity to develop programming skills and plan activities in concert with their peers and adult advisors. FNL programs are youth-driven, therefore, providing meaningful roles for youth in the program. FNL builds community partnerships that support youth, helping to foster a sense of autonomy and power, and promote the belief in a young person’s capacity to contribute. In supporting the holistic development of youth, FNL has gone above and beyond the message of prevention.
FNL is motivated by youth-adult partnerships that create essential and powerful community activities that enhance and improve their environments. Some activities include educating policy-making officials, providing safe social outlets for youth, and hosting training and conferences on varying issues from leadership to social factors that contribute to substance abuse. FNL chapters offer participants the opportunity to connect to their school and/or community through skill-building activities and caring relationships in environments free of alcohol, tobacco, other drugs and violence.
Chapters
FNL currently has 315 chapters throughout California. These chapters are predominately in high schools, but are also located in recreation centers, juvenile detention facilities and alcohol/drug recovery centers. With a majority of the over 104,000 participants in high school chapters, FNL is one of the largest campus clubs in California.
Club Live (CL) is an extension of the successful FNL program and is aimed at middle school students. CL fosters resiliency and protective factors through the development of action-oriented chapters in which positive activities are planned and implemented by young people working together with adults. The CL program currently includes 261 chapters throughout California, reaching over 86,000 students. The connection to the high school FNL program promotes exciting and secure activities for CL participants through continued involvement on the high school level. FNL members gain mentoring experience and build on the benefits they add to the community.
More recently, FNL has expanded to include FNL Kids, a program for youth in 4th–6th grades. With a focus on bicycle safety and helmet laws, FNL Kids promotes positive youth development and adds continuity to the entire system. Currently, 172 chapters of FNL Kids are reaching over 57,000 students across the State. Fifty-six of California’s 58 counties have FNL, CL and/or FNL Kids programs, which are uniquely designed to meet the needs of the young people in diverse communities.
FNL and Youth Development
In 1998 FNL began the process of applying the best practices and research to transition to a “youth development” model. Youth development is the ongoing process that engages young people in building skills, attitudes, knowledge and experiences that prepare them for the present and the future. It also facilitates their efforts to become fully prepared, capable and competent individuals. The goal is to promote developmental outcomes, not just problem prevention or achievement outcomes.
FNL Mentoring
Mentoring has been introduced as a component of FNL and CL programs. In 1998, five counties began a field test of the FNL cross-age mentor model. Currently, the number of counties participating has expanded to 27, totaling 104 chapters, and reaching almost 2,000 youth. Each county adheres to certain quality assurance standards while maintaining local creativity, energy and self-determination. The primary objectives of the FNL Mentor program are to promote positive youth development and ease the transition of middle school students into high school. The FNL model engages older high school aged youth to mentor middle school aged youth in a structured and ongoing relationship.
California Friday Night Live Partnership
In March 1996, the California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs began contracting out the statewide coordination of the FNL programs, which resulted in the formation of the California Friday Night Live Partnership (CFNLP). Services provided to county FNL/CL/FNL Kids/FNL Mentoring programs include:
- Program design and development assistance.
- Technical assistance and training to incorporate the youth development and FNL Mentor models.
- Development and distribution of research materials on innovative youth programs.
- Support for the involvement of youth in all phases of program planning and implementation.
- Conducting routine evaluations to assess progress, and to refine, improve and strengthen program effectiveness.
- Use of web technology to provide resources on prevention information, and function as a network for FNL county coordinators to access programmatic information.
The California Friday Night Live Collaborative (CFNLC) is made up of FNL Coordinators that act as the leadership voice to the CFNLP on behalf of the field. CFNLP provides support to the Collaborative in areas such as the Members In Good Standing process that supports local programs in implementing the Standards of Practice for positive youth development.
For more information regarding FNL, CL, FNL Kids and FNL Mentoring programs, please contact the CFNLP at (559) 733-6496 or the CFNLP Web site.