About Us

The Prevention Programming team provides alcohol, tobacco, and other drug prevention to the Lake County community through coalition development, advocacy, and direct service.

Programs

We do this by providing evidence-based interventions and technical assistance for a variety of substance abuse prevention activities:

Coalition Development

Prevention Programming provides enhanced technical assistance to coalitions in Lake County that work to reduce and prevent substance abuse. We follow the Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF), a process developed by a federal agency (SAMHSA) to help coalitions effectively address substance abuse issues in their communities. Enhanced technical assistance includes grant writing, sustainability planning, sector representation, and educating the coalition on the SPF.

• Barrington BStrong Together
• Stand Strong
• Community. The Anti-Drug (CTAD) (Bannockburn, Deerfield, Highland Park, Highwood, and Riverwoods)
• Ela Coalition Against Youth Substance Abuse
• Speak Up! Prevention Coalition (Lake Forest/Lake Bluff)
• Zion-Benton Coalition for Healthy Communities

Public Policy Initiatives

Public policy activities are initiated through advocacy and public education. It can also include capacity building, relationship building, forming networks, and leadership development. Examples of public policy initiatives include social host laws, strengthening local tobacco ordinances, and prescription drug disposal.

Communication Campaigns

Communications campaigns are purposeful promotional strategies to change knowledge, attitudes, behavior, or policy in a specific, intended audience.  Communications campaigns use marketing and advertising techniques to communicate messages of change to both teens and adults, much like consumer ads. Communications campaigns promote healthy behaviors and work towards changing community norms around substance use. 

Tobacco Prevention & Cessation

Tobacco Free Lake County (TFLC) serves all Lake County residents, workers, and organizations. Our mission is to train schools, communities, health care professionals, and individual people in tobacco prevention and quitting tobacco. All services are free or at low cost.

Healthcare Provider Education

Youth Advocacy

High school teens in Lake County have the opportunity to earn community service hours, advocacy skills, and meet other teens while promoting positive change at the local level surrounding alcohol, tobacco, and other drug prevention. Activities include writing and recording radio ads; creating and facilitating presentations to local municipalities and law enforcement on smoke-free and e-cigarette policies, and the importance of alcohol compliance checks; and spreading prevention messages throughout Lake County

Youth Prevention Education

Youth Prevention Education is a school-based curriculum for 5th and 6th grade students. The lessons in our “Healthy Decisions Life Skills” curriculum help students build healthy life skills such as goal-setting, decision-making, expressing feelings appropriately, self-control, strong communication, peer pressure resistance, and teamwork

Promotion of the Illinois Youth Survey

The Illinois Youth Survey is a free survey available to schools to help them understand and prevent youth substance abuse problems. The survey helps educators, legislators, parents and prevention workers understand current adolescent behaviors and attitudes toward alcohol, tobacco and other drugs. Prevention Services works with schools and communities in Lake County to advocate for their participation in the survey, which is available in even-numbered years. After the survey is completed, our staff provides guidance and assistance to help schools use the information most effectively.

The Prevention program is funded in part by grants from the Illinois Department of Human Services, the Illinois Department of Public Health and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).