Accomplishments and Funding

  • Between 1987 and 1999 the faculty-led team at Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU) received six successive two-year alcohol, tobacco, and other drug (ATODA) abuse prevention grants from the U. S. Department of Education's Fund for Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE). The initial focus was to develop ATODA prevention at NEIU and, later, to establish a prevention consortium with other institutions of higher education.
  • Beginning in 1993, the NDCI served as the principal agent for national dissemination of the strategy of faculty, integrating substance abuse prevention into classes across the higher education curriculum. NDCI conducted local, regional and national trainings in sixteen states, and Puerto Rico, to a combined audience of over 1400 university faculty and staff. The Network also published a national newsletter, provided consultation, created and distributed a variety of resource materials, including video, for faculty training.
  • In 1987, we were selected as one of the top five higher education programs in the country. Research funded by the U. S. Department of Education indicated positive outcomes for our strategy, associating faculty developed prevention curriculum with reductions in binge drinking and more negative attitudes towards drugs on college campuses. In 1999, NEIU was nationally recognized in two separate categories of Character Education (Faculty and Curriculum Programs and Substance-Abuse Prevention Programs) by the Templeton Foundation for our prevention work.
  • In 1998, the NDCI extended its work to elementary and secondary education through a series of grants from the Illinois Board of Higher Education by developing the Drug Prevention Teacher Education Project. This project worked with Colleges of Education at Chicago State, DePaul, Northeastern Illinois, and North Park Universities in preparing future teachers to seamlessly integrate drug and violence prevention strategies into Kindergarten through Twelfth Grade class lesson plans. In 2001 this grant was institutionalized at Northeastern Illinois University.
  • A grant from the Fry Foundation enabled the NDCI to begin working directly with public schools in conjunction with the GEARUP program in 2001. The West Town Project trained twenty-three teachers at Wells High School and four feeder schools (Andersen, Lozano, Otis, and Peabody).
  •  In 2003, NDCI consultants developed twenty-six examples of infused prevention curriculum activities published in the Be Real Drug Prevention Planning Guide managed by Prevention First Illinois.
  • A $468,500 four year grant was received in October 2003 from the US Department of Education Fund for the Improvement of Post-secondary Education (FIPSE). This grant was used to prepare future teachers to integrate real life issues including substance abuse, violence, HIV/AIDS, bullying, and social ostracism) into classes across the K-12 curriculum. More than forty faculty members from Northeastern Illinois, Chicago State and North Park Universities participated in this grant project.
  • From 2008 through 2013, the NDCI prepared teachers at the Academy of Scholastic Achievement (ASA), an alternative high school in the West Garfield Park community of Chicago, to integrate prevention of substance abuse and related life issues into classes across the curriculum. The Curriculum Infusion of Real Life Issues has been institutionalized for the 200 students at ASA.
  • Since 1998, the NDCI has been funded by the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) Division of Family and Community Services, under a Substance Abuse Prevention State Capacity Building subgrant. The IDHS funds enable the NDCI to train Illinois College of Education faculty, pre and in-service teachers, and K-12 administrators in the CIRLI method. 
     Free 5 CPDU online workshop through Northeastern Illinois University’s College of Education
 
Integrate pressing life issues into classes across the curriculum to effectively engage students in learning and support social emotional growth
 
CLICK HERE to access the online workshop
 
No need to come to a training.  Download and complete the online workshop at your own pace
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