Some fantastically devoted ITI volunteers met at the Prairie Center in Urbana on Saturday, October 22nd to debrief ITI 2011 and do some planning for the future of ITI. While many volunteers were not able to make the drive, the group that met generated some great ideas and future priorities for ITI planning. It is clear that ITI volunteers are a special group, devoted to providing the ITI opportunity to young people. One volunteer said "ITI was such a positive experience for me as a teen, I feel like it would be WRONG for me to not do what I can to share it with others." We discussed the important link between ITI and Operation Snowball. Volunteers feel that Snowball plays a tremendous role in promoting youth involvement in ITI. We want to explore how Snowball Chapters can continue to promote and send their teens to ITI. A considerable amount of time was spent talking about CAT plan follow up procedures and how we can improve ITI in this regard. The first step is to develop a way for ITI teens to be "linked in" with a prevention professional or a Snowball Chapter after leaving ITI. This happens often, but we would like to develop a better process for following up with those important CAT plans. We discussed the PALS role and how to continue to build on their creativity and energy. And finally, we decided that in a perfect world, ITI would have an endless supply of funding! But while we wait for perfection, we can work to develop funding and support from the ground up. ITI staff, along with volunteers who want to assist, will develop an "ITI Recruitment and Support Toolkit" that has everything local volunteers need to distribute to schools, businesses, parents, and teens. The toolkit will ensure volunteers have what they need to generate support in their community... including a video to give to local business leaders who may sponsor a local teen leader to come to ITI! Look for meeting notes and an ITI 2011 Conference Evaluation report in your email inbox soon!

There are two important events taking place in the state funded prevention system. First, DHS notified all substance abuse prevention programs last week that their contract for the next two months will include a 21% reduction. This reduction is due to the loss of a meth awareness funding stream and a subsequent reduction in the prevention budget. This reduction will impact prevention programs statewide. If you are NOT a state funded prevention provider, reach out to your local prevention programs.

Make sure you are aware of the potential impact in your community. If you ARE a state funded prevention provider, please let IADDA know the potential impact of these cuts. Email us (showe@iadda.org) with the number of prevention employees in your agency, the number of youth that are served annually by your prevention programs and most importantly, please tell us how you plan to apply this cut?  We need information on employee layoffs, program closures or reductions.

Second, the Illinois Department of Human Services, Division of Community Health and Prevention, Bureau of Community-Based and Primary Prevention - Substance Abuse Prevention Program (SAPP) released the Community Health and Substance Abuse Prevention Program (SAPP) Request for Proposal (Reference # CHP-49791). The grant covers an 18 month period beginning January 1, 2012 and continuing through June 30, 2013. IADDA/ITI and Operation Snowball will both apply for this grant to support our existing programs.

Media Literacy

November 10, 2011

10:00 - 11:00 a.m.

Best Practices for Implementing Operation Snowball  

November 17, 2011

3:00 - 4:00 p.m.