Prevention Services

The Positive Youth Development Program (PYDP) at Kenneth Young Center promotes healthy choices for youth ages 10-17 through education and awareness of health issues, policy change, community collaboration and evidence-based ATOD programs that support substance abuse prevention.

PYDP staff work to build local partnerships within the community to:

• Facilitate the implementation of environmental approaches such as social norms marketing and policy change to order to promote positive community norms and create ordinances and laws to increase the community’s capacity to sustain effective prevention efforts
• Conduct comprehensive assessments of existing school and community resources and gaps in services in order to create effective programming
• Educate youth ages 10-17 on alcohol, tobacco and other drug prevention as well as other related topics (self-esteem, wellness, healthy choices, etc.)
• Promote evidence-based approaches to prevention that target youth, their peers, families, school environment, and community
• Help ensure prevention efforts are implemented as part of a comprehensive health and wellness plan

The program serves youth within Schaumburg Township, which includes all or parts of Hoffman Estates, Elk Grove Village, Hanover Park, Streamwood, Schaumburg and Roselle, as well as Elk Grove Township which includes all or parts of Elk Grove Village, Mount Prospect, Arlington Heights and Rolling Meadows.

The PYD program is funded by the Department of Human Services (DHS) Bureau of Substance Abuse Prevention as a Comprehensive Community Based Provider (CBP).

Community-Based Substance Abuse Prevention

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The DHS Bureau of Substance Abuse Prevention provides leadership and resources to the Illinois community-based alcohol, tobacco and other drug abuse (ATOD) prevention system. As part of its duties, the Bureau sets direction, defines trends, promotes evidence-based prevention approaches, and provides funding, training, technical assistance and monitoring for quality assurance.

The Substance Abuse Prevention provider system in Illinois has a history of quality services. Its focus over the last decade has been to transform the ATOD prevention system from one based on activities to one based on outcomes. The initial phase of this transformation began in 1991. Since 1994, providers have been required to base program decisions on outcomes selected for their communities. Service area assessments based on risk and protective factors have driven this process. However, in an attempt to stay current with prevention trends and bridge the gap between research and practice, the year 2000 introduced further work plan change and refinement. Today, evidence- based programs, practices, and policies are at the core of all provider work plan efforts. While providers are still expected to adhere to the outcome based planning process, they are now required to select strategies and program models that have produced some level of evidence that they will be effective in achieving their intended outcomes.

Illinois's ATOD Prevention community network is one of the Nation's most comprehensive. It includes a mix of local, regional, and statewide programs housed in both public and private agency settings. This network of 127 providers is comprised of educational institutions and local and statewide not-for-profit organizations. Each organization develops a comprehensive plan for substance abuse prevention in their defined service area.

Comprehensive Community Based Providers (CBPs) deliver programming in their service area that targets the community at large with emphasis on impacting the environments in which young people live. Evidence - based approaches that target youth, their peers, families, school environment, and community are implemented as part of a comprehensive prevention plan. Emphasis is placed on building local partnerships to implement environmental approaches that change community norms and policies and increase the community's capacity to sustain effective efforts.

Evidence Based Prevention

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Evidence-based Prevention includes strategies or programs that have shown through some level of evidence that they are effective. The minimal level being a single pre/post evaluation. These programs are not held to as rigorous an evaluation standard as are those that are classified by the distinction of being Science or Research-based.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has an online National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP). Click here to view this list of Model Programs.