Kenneth Young Center expanding youth programs to Kane County schools

Kenneth Young Center is expanding its Teen Pregnancy and Sexually Transmitted Infections Prevention program through a generous $50,000 grant from the Office of Adolescent Health (OAH) and the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) to serve middle school and high school youth in Kane County.

The center's team works directly with youth and families to promote positive, evidence-based education to inform and support youth to make healthy lifestyle choices.

Through youth advisory councils based out of each school served, the students learn and work together to create communication campaigns, educational materials, and teen pregnancy prevention activities that foster safe environments for students to learn about HIV, AIDS, and other sexually transmitted infections.

Staff from the Kenneth Young Center practice a trauma-informed approach to teaching youth in their classrooms about healthy communication and skills to reduce risky behavior, including frequent discussions focused on mutual consent.

Over the coming weeks, the Kenneth Young Center will be hiring a health educator to focus specifically on working with middle and high schools in Kane County to deliver their prevention education curricula and build local contacts for a Community Advisory Group, including key stakeholders' input from healthcare, law enforcement, local legislators, community leaders, and religious organizations.

The comprehensive community approach tackles current trends and concerns related to healthy communities and ties closely to Kenneth Young Center's drug and alcohol prevention programs supporting youth, veterans, Native Americans, and the LGBTQ+ community.

To learn more about this program or get involved, contact Kenneth Young Center at (847) 285-4517 or visit www.kennethyoung.org.