Dance Programs Empowering Youth

This spring, the DEA Youth Dance Program thrilled audiences from coast to coast! In schools across the nation, final performance assemblies featuring DEA Youth Dance Program Dancers gave students a positive and exciting opportunity to showcase their new dance skills, with the support and encouragement of their peers, family, and school. The DEA Youth Dance Program was happy to partner with Culture Shock Las Vegas to provide an exciting performance at DEA’s 2^nd Las Vegas Youth Opioid Summit, reaching hundreds of students with the positive power of dance as a healthy alternative to drug use.

We look forward to a dance-filled summer, with DEA YDP summer camps and DEA YDP scholarship students enjoying free dance classes at local dance studios! At National Dance Day, we plan to once again join dozens of dancers from across the country in an inspiring performance day celebrating dance and dance education.

In national programming news, our partnership with DEA 360 Strategy is still going strong. A comprehensive approach to fight opioid and heroin addiction, DEA 360 Strategy brings together local law enforcement, DEA, DOJ, and community partners with the same goal – serve communities by working to prevent substance abuse. As a proud community partner, the DEA Youth Dance Program is currently offering programming in Los Angeles, New Orleans, Knoxville, Salt Lake City, and Baltimore, with more new cities to be added in the fall!

As we round out the school year, we look forward to next fall – these students need your support more than ever! Efforts to prevent substance abuse are proving effective in many cities, which is why we need to continue this important work of bringing positive afterschool dance classes to youth as an alternative to drugs. Underserved young people deserve quality programming and opportunities to stretch their wings and fly through dance! Please join us in our mission to spread this message by making a donation today! 

In light of the opioid crisis, we now more than ever need to reach kids through positive prevention programs. Drug overdoses are now the leading cause of death for Americans under 50, with a 50% increase in overdose fatalities for 25 - 34 year olds*. This staggering and sobering statistic is why we continue to work so hard to offer free dance classes to at-risk and under-served young people through the DEA Youth Dance Program. As a contracted partner with the DEA 360 Strategy program (a comprehensive approach to combatting heroin and opioid drug abuse bridging local, state and national resources), we are reaching more kids with the power of dance. Most of these areas are in critical need of after-school programming, and we are working to raise funds to continue offering the YDP in these schools beyond our one-year of support through DEA 360.

To this end, we are thrilled to be mid-way through a successful One Step at a Time campaign, reaching kids in nearly 50 cities. There is more work to do, however, to continue providing high-quality, positive, and inspiring dance programming. We appreciate your ongoing support of our cause through your donations, and we ask that you consider promoting The DEA Educational Foundation Youth Dance Program on your social media by tagging: @deaedfoundation. With your help, we can reach even more kids with the power of dance as an alternative to risky behaviors, and increase their self-confidence in the face of peer pressure.

*https://www.justice.gov/opa/speech/deputy-attorney-general-rod-j-rosenstein-delivers-remarks-dea-fentanyl-guidance