Getting to Y replication in New Hampshire

By Liz Brochu, CADY – NH GTY Coordinator:

Being present at the Getting to ‘Y’ NH Kickoff Conference on January 23, 2025, was an important and exciting milestone for NH Prevention. It has been a long road in establishing the GTY program in NH and seeing it come to fruition is extremely rewarding. 

In 2019, NH DHHS Bureau of Drug and Alcohol Services (BDAS) brought UP for Learning to one of the Prevention Professionals Community of Practice to speak about Getting to ‘Y’ in Vermont. I remember feeling the energy around GTY as the presenters spoke – it was incredible; however, it was set on the back burner once Covid happened.  

On November 9, 2021, NH had its very first GTY student training, hosted in the Central Region, by Communities for Alcohol- and Drug-free Youth (CADY), at the Common Man Inn in Plymouth. Newfound Regional High School and Plymouth Regional High School students participated and analyzed their YRBS data. The momentum behind the students after the data analysis retreat was remarkable — who would have thought young people would get excited over data! 

The amazing success NH-students had in the first year with GTY was evident, and made it clear that this program works, it is engaging, and it needs to be accessible for all schools to implement. Other NH regions quickly began working with UP for Learning and their GTY program, and there are currently seven established GTY programs in NH. 

Because GTY had such an impact on NH students and NH Public Health, plans for a NH statewide GTY program began and in December 2024, marked the beginning of the NH statewide implementation of GTY NH.

The Getting to ‘Y’ program holds a special place in my heart, and I am honored to work with such a remarkable program, and the UP for Learning team, to help replicate GTY in NH.