Rural Substance Abuse Committee

Local youth facilitate "Red Ribbon Week" activities.

The Menard County School and Community Task Force has been awarded funds through the Drug-Free Community Support Program to reduce teen substance abuse in Menard County. The objectives of this project include: reducing community acceptance of teen substance abuse (especially alcohol and tobacco use) by 10% in 3 years; reducing youth accessibility to drugs by 10% in 3 years; reducing teen risk taking behaviors and lowering youth depression by 10% in 3 years; and increasing coalition membership and the number of agencies the coalition collaborates with on this issue.

In order to achieve these objectives, the Rural Substance Abuse Committee collaborates with several organizations to implement the following strategies:

• Education
• Social Marketing Campaign  
• Youth Advocacy
• Consistent Enforcement of Laws and Policies
• Early Intervention Counseling
• Mentoring Program

Rural Substance Abuse Committee partners include but are not limited to:

• Athens Police Department
• Athens School District
• Chestnut Health Systems
• Greenview Police Department
• Greenview School District
• IL Department of Human Services
• IL Secretary of State Police
• IL State Police
• Menard County Health Department
• Menard County Housing Authority
• Menard County Probation
• Menard County States Attorney
• Menard County Sheriff’s Office
• Petersburg Police Department
• PORTA School District
• Triangle Center