I-KAN Office

I-KAN Offices continue to provide services in-person, by phone or by email. 

  • Office hours: Monday through Friday, 8:30-4
  • Phone: 815-937-2950
  • Email:  

       Lmcelroy@i-kan.org

       Mhamilton@i-kan.org

       Mscheibling@i-kan.org

Kankakee and Iroquois counties receive grant totaling $1.25 million 

The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy recently announced the third and final phase of grants for the Drug-Free Communities (DFC) Support Program, which includes both the Kankakee County Pledge for Life Partnership and the Juvenile Justice Council of Iroquois County.

The Pledge for Life Partnership was awarded a continuation grant for a second five-year cycle. The Juvenile Justice Council of Iroquois County was awarded the five-year grant for the first time. Each grant totals $625,000 over the five-year period.

“I-KAN, working with both coalitions, is excited to direct these federal dollars to Iroquois and Kankakee counties to prevent and reduce youth substance abuse among our youth,” said I-KAN Regional Superintendent Dr. Gregg Murphy. 

The DFC program provides grants to community coalitions to strengthen the infrastructure among local partners to create and sustain a reduction in local youth substance use. Recognizing that local problems need local solutions, DFC-funded coalitions engage multiple sectors of the community and utilize a variety of environmental strategies to address local substance use problems.

The Pledge for Life Partnership addresses youth substance use in the community. The Partnership mobilizes and coordinates public and private resources and initiatives to improve the quality of life for children and their families by making the community safer and healthier, focusing on initiatives to reduce substance abuse.

For 32 years, in collaboration with the I-KAN Regional Office of Education, the Partnership has supported the I-KAN Life Education Center which deliver unique substance abuse prevention curriculums to teach students the skills needed to choose healthy lifestyles, support social and emotional development and avoid the danger caused by abusing alcohol and other dangerous substances including prescription drugs. The Life Education Center programs are under the direction of Brenda Wetzel. Current Pledge for Life Partnership DFC project coordinator is James Schreiner.

Other yearly activities include billboard contests, teacher best practice awards and public service announcement contests reinforcing youth prevention education, parent communication campaigns, social media campaigns, town hall meetings, teen summits, community events, Youth Advisory Council sponsored activities and Prescription Drug Take Back Days.

The Juvenile Justice Council of Iroquois County DFC grant will be coordinated through the County of Iroquois and was written in partnership with the I-KAN Regional Office of Education.

The Juvenile Justice Council’s major initiatives have included the TIP the Scale parent communication campaign and Youth Prevention Education. Too Good for Drugs is taught at middle and high schools throughout Iroquois County to educate students on the risks of drug use, how to set healthy goals and how to deal with peer pressure

The five-year grant action plan for both Kankakee and Iroquois counties focuses on strengthening collaboration among communities, reducing youth substance use, by utilizing CADCA’s seven strategies for community change. Variability in prices for ED medications in Illinois

“Investment in prevention is an investment in our future,” ONDCP director Jim Carroll stated.  “The record support for the DFC program announced by the White House this year will ensure more communities in more places across the U.S. promote the evidence-based messages that have been proven to lower illicit substance use among our Nation’s youth. 

“The partnership between ONDCP and CDC demonstrates how powerful it can when we all come together to prevent youth substance use,” said Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director Robert R. Redfield, MD.  “CDC is proud to empower and support coalitions as they implement local solutions to prevent youth substance use in their communities.”

The 201 total grant recipients included 107 new coalitions and 94 coalitions that received another five years of DFC funding. In total, the Presidential Administration announced support for 733 DFC coalitions representing approximately $91.5 million in funding—the most in the DFC program’s history. The DFC program’s day-to-day management is being performed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control under an agreement with ONDCP.