Youth Pro­grams

Ken­neth Young Cen­ter pro­motes healthy choic­es for youth ages 11 – 18 and young adults 19 – 24. We pro­vide edu­ca­tion, aware­ness, advo­ca­cy, com­mu­ni­ty col­lab­o­ra­tion, and evi­dence-based pro­grams that sup­port pos­i­tive youth devel­op­ment and build health­i­er communities.

We have a needs-based port­fo­lio of projects work­ing across the con­tin­u­um of care (pre­ven­tion, inter­ven­tion, recov­ery, and harm reduc­tion) that are over­seen by com­mu­ni­ty advi­so­ry groups. We oper­ate on the prin­ci­ple of ​“noth­ing about us, with­out us.”

Learn more about our evi­dence-based and trau­ma-informed approach­es to pos­i­tive youth development. 

School-Based Sub­stance Use Pre­ven­tion & Education

School-based Pre­ven­tion and Edu­ca­tion Ser­vices at Ken­neth Young Cen­ter is a com­pre­hen­sive col­lec­tion of pro­gram­ming that pro­vides Sub­stance Use Pre­ven­tion Edu­ca­tion and oth­er pro­tec­tive fac­tors to youth in the ser­vice area. Pro­gram­ming includes:

• In-school Pre­ven­tion Education
• Alco­hol Com­mu­ni­ca­tion Campaigns
• Vape Com­mu­ni­ca­tion Campaigns
• After-School Teen REACH Program
• In-school Sub­stance Use Diver­sion Program

Vis­it our School-Based SUPS page to learn more. 

Youth Lead­er­ship and Empowerment

We believe the prin­ci­ples of pos­i­tive youth devel­op­ment are a foun­da­tion to pro­vid­ing youth with a strong pro­tec­tive fac­tor to youth sub­stance use. The Youth Advi­so­ry Coun­cil (YAC) is an oppor­tu­ni­ty for youth to take lead­er­ship in shap­ing the inte­gra­tion of fam­i­ly, school, and com­mu­ni­ty. The YAC’s are at the heart of ​“noth­ing about us, with­out us.”

Vis­it our Youth Advi­so­ry Coun­cil page to learn more and to find a local YAC in your area.

LGBTQ+ Cen­ter

The LGBTQ+ Cen­ter at Ken­neth Young hosts pro­gram­ming for LGBTQ+ youth, young adults, and ally’s. 

Vis­it our LGBTQ+ Cen­ter page to learn more. 

Pro­fes­sion­al Training

We pro­vide a vari­ety of capac­i­ty-build­ing and pro­fes­sion­al devel­op­ment oppor­tu­ni­ties for indi­vid­u­als, orga­ni­za­tions, and busi­ness in the community. 

Ken­neth Young Cen­ter is proud to be a Region­al Sub­stance Use Pre­ven­tion Inte­gra­tion Cen­ter for Cook Coun­ty (Non-Chica­go Region). We also pro­vide train­ing on the fol­low­ing topics:

• Men­tal Health First Aid Youth
• Men­tal Health First Aid Adults
• Men­tal Health First Aid Youth in Spanish
• QPR Train­ing, Respond­ing to Sui­ci­dal Ideation training
• Sub­stance Use Pre­ven­tion Edu­ca­tion Training
• LGBTQ+ Com­pe­ten­cy & Inclu­siv­i­ty Training
• Over­dose Edu­ca­tion and Nalox­one Training

For more infor­ma­tion, vis­it the Pro­fes­sion­al Train­ing infor­ma­tion page.

Youth Resource Guide

The Youth Resource Guide is a com­pre­hen­sive list of resources for youth that have been cre­at­ed and vet­ted by the Youth Advi­so­ry Coun­cils (YAC). These resources have been cre­at­ed by youth for youth. 

If you have a con­tri­bu­tion to add to the Youth Resource Guide, please email yac@​kennethyoung.​org

Youth Empow­er­ment and Sub­stance Use Pre­ven­tion pro­grams are fund­ed in whole or in part by fund­ing pro­vid­ed to Ken­neth Young Cen­ter by the Sub­stance Abuse and Men­tal Health Ser­vices Admin­is­tra­tion (SAMH­SA), the Illi­nois Depart­ment of Human Ser­vices (IDHS) and Cook Coun­ty Depart­ment of Health (CCDPH).