
Community Programs
The Community Collaboration Team promotes healthy choices for youth ages 10 – 17 and young adults 18 – 25 through education, awareness of health issues, policy change, community collaboration, and evidence-based programs that support substance use prevention.

Funding provided to Kenneth Young Center by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS), the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), and Schaumburg Township.
To learn more about the Communities for Positive Youth Development Coalition, visit their website at www.cpydcoalition.org.
Contact Us
Looking to connect with our Community Collaboration Team?
Contact: Marian Lopez (marianl@kennethyoung.org or (847) 496‑5939, Deputy Director of Community Collaboration
Substance Use Prevention Services (SUPS): Elk Grove Township
Target Community: Elk Grove Township
Goal: To reduce alcohol and non-medical prescription drug use rates of 8th to 12th graders by:
- implementing communication campaigns;
- implementing evidence-based prevention education, Too Good for Drugs
- advocating for school participation in the Illinois Youth Survey;
- promoting Drug Take-Back programs;
- creating National Prevention Week activities; and
- working with a Youth Advisory Council.
Substance Use Prevention Services (SUPS): Schaumburg, Hoffman Estates, and Palatine
Target Communities: Schaumburg, Hoffman Estates, and Palatine
Goal: To reduce alcohol and non-medical prescription drug use rates of 8th to 12th graders by:
- implementing communication campaigns;
- implementing evidence-based prevention education, Project Alert
- advocating for school participation in the Illinois Youth Survey;
- promoting Drug Take-Back programs;
- creating National Prevention Week activities; and
- working with a Youth Advisory Council.
Recovery-Oriented Systems of Care (ROSC)
Target Communities: Schaumburg, Hoffman Estates, Elk Grove, Palatine, Hanover, and a portion of unincorporated Des Plaines
Goal: To improve our community’s continuum of care, with a focus on recovery services for veterans and young adults ages 16 – 24 by June, 2020 by:
- conducting a community needs assessment;
- developing a community resource map and list of gaps;
- creating a community outreach plan consisting of a first-year implementation plan, a three-year implementation plan, and long-term sustainability goals;
- developing a communication plan directed toward people in recovery; and
- establishing a permanent community ROSC Council.
Drug Free Communities (DFC)
Target Communities: Schaumburg, Hoffman Estates, and Palatine
Goals:
1. To strengthen collaboration in our communities through engagement of community members, youth, public and private non-profit agencies, as well as federal, state, and local governments to support the coalition’s efforts to prevent and reduce substance use among youth.
2. To reduce substance use among youth by addressing the factors in a community that increase the risk of substance use and promoting healthy behaviors and conditions that would contribute to:
- decreasing the 30-day marijuana use rate of adolescents;
- decreasing the 30-day e‑cigarette/vaping use rate of adolescents; and
- decreasing the 30-day opioid use rate of adolescents.
Community Youth Services
The Community Youth Services (CYS) grant focuses on engaging youth and young adults (ages 11 – 24) in the prevention of youth violence and delinquency.
Target Areas: Our target areas are Schaumburg Township, Hanover Township, Elk Grove Township, and Palatine Township.
Our program’s initiative is to reduce the rate of youth violence and delinquency among youth and young adults within our service area by:
• Facilitating the LGBTQ+ Teen & Young Adult Center sessions
• Maintaining a Youth Advisory Council
• Conducting a community assessment to establish relevant services needed for the community.
Community-Based Substance Use Prevention
The IDHS Division of Substance Use Prevention and Recovery (IDHS-SUPR) 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 Use 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. Today, evidence-based programs, practices, and policies are at the core of all provider work plan efforts. Providers are expected to adhere to the outcome-based planning process, and are also 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 of 127 providers 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.
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
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.
