Training at Prevention First

This webinar was recorded on January 19, 2023. No CEUs are offered for recorded webinars.

Presenter: Dr. Aaron White

Summary: In this presentation, we will explore our rapidly evolving understanding of the relationship between alcohol and mental well-being, examine effective options for helping people avoid developing an unhealthy relationship with alcohol, and discuss strategies for promoting long-term sustainable recovery for people who develop alcohol use disorder.

Alcohol consumption and related harms increased in the United States prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly for women. During 2020, the first year of the pandemic, alcohol consumption increased more than at any time in the past 50 years. Deaths from alcohol jumped 25%, more than during the prior ten years combined. Many people who drank more during the pandemic did so in an effort to cope with stress. Unfortunately, drinking to cope with stress is a maladaptive strategy that increases the likelihood of developing alcohol use disorder (AUD) and contributes to worsening mental and physical health over time. In this presentation, we will explore our rapidly evolving understanding of the relationship between alcohol and mental well-being, examine effective options for helping people avoid developing an unhealthy relationship with alcohol, and discuss strategies for promoting long-term sustainable recovery for people who develop AUD.

We apologize for the technical difficulties during this webinar.

Presenter: Laura Garcia, Deputy Director of Bureau of Licensure, Compliance and Monitoring

The Illinois Department of Human Services/Division of Substance Use Prevention and Recovery (IDHS/SUPR) recognizes the need to clarify how community intervention (CI), early intervention (EI), and recovery support services (RSS) influence community wellness.

Community Intervention

Community Intervention occurs within the community rather than in a treatment setting and focus on the community and its residents. CI can include crisis intervention. CI includes outreach and in-reach services. Outreach is encouragement, engagement or re-engagement of at-risk individual(s) into treatment through community institutions such as churches, schools, and medical facilities. In-reach is the education of community institutions, state agencies and social services’ staff regarding the screening and referral of at-risk individuals to treatment programs for a clinical assessment.

Early Intervention

Early intervention is designed to screen, identify, and address risk factors that may be related to problems associated with substance use disorders and assist individuals in recognizing harmful consequences. Early intervention services facilitate emotional and social stability and involve referrals for treatment, as needed.

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CEUs will not be provided for watching the recording

This webinar was recorded on February 14, 2019. No CEUs are offered for recorded webinars.

Presenter: Nancy McGee, JD

Summary: Alcohol, by its very nature, is no ordinary commodity and requires a strong set of rules and regulations to ensure it is manufactured, distributed, sold, and consumed in a responsible manner. This first webinar in the series will provide a broad overview of the alcohol regulatory framework and provide guidance on how communities can work to identify areas of concern and implement appropriate change within their community.

Nancy M. McGee, JD 

Retired Special Agent Nancy McGee served for more than 29 years in the Missouri Department of Public Safety—Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control. As a special agent stationed in the St. Louis District specializing in alcohol enforcement, McGee was responsible for enforcing Missouri's Liquor Control Act. She was in charge of administering the state's alcohol compliance check program as well as coordinating the department's efforts on college campuses and with community coalition groups. McGee was also designated as the division's liaison officer for local law enforcement agencies that received federal grants through the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention—Enforcing the Underage Drinking Laws (OJJDP/EUDL) Program. 

McGee served as a consultant for the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation from August 2002 -2020. In that capacity, she developed course curriculums and provided technical assistance and training to agencies supporting alcohol and tobacco initiatives. She regularly provided training on the topics of developing and sustaining community coalitions; environmental management; working effectively with college communities; compliance check investigations; controlled party dispersal; shoulder tap operations; false identification; media advocacy; managing special events; social media; and working effectively with retailers. 

This webinar was recorded on March 14, 2019. No CEUs are offered for recorded webinars.

Presenter: Nancy M. McGee, JD

Summary: Building upon the concepts introduced in the first webinar, participants will look at a hypothetical community to identify the most appropriate policy strategies to implement, based on contributing factors of the identified alcohol-related problem. The importance of using data to support efforts will be discussed, as well as how to develop political will, community support, and consensus for policy initiatives.

Nancy McGee

Retired Special Agent Nancy McGee served for more than 29 years in the Missouri Department of Public Safety—Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control. As a special agent stationed in the St. Louis District specializing in alcohol enforcement, McGee was responsible for enforcing Missouri's Liquor Control Act. She was in charge of administering the state's alcohol compliance check program as well as coordinating the department's efforts on college campuses and with community coalition groups. McGee was also designated as the division's liaison officer for local law enforcement agencies that received federal grants through the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention—Enforcing the Underage Drinking Laws (OJJDP/EUDL) Program. 

 McGee served as a consultant for the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation from August 2002 -2020. In that capacity, she developed course curriculums and provided technical assistance and training to agencies supporting alcohol and tobacco initiatives. She regularly provided training on the topics of developing and sustaining community coalitions; environmental management; working effectively with college communities; compliance check investigations; controlled party dispersal; shoulder tap operations; false identification; media advocacy; managing special events; social media; and working effectively with retailers. 

This webinar was recorded in April, 2019. No CEUs are offered for recorded webinars.

Presenter: Nancy McGee, JD

Summary: Building upon information introduced in Webinar 2, participants will continue working with the hypothetical community to ensure that the alcohol policy strategies identified have an appropriate enforcement strategy and are being enforced at the appropriate level to effect change.

Nancy M. McGee, JD 

Retired Special Agent Nancy McGee served for more than 29 years in the Missouri Department of Public Safety—Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control. As a special agent stationed in the St. Louis District specializing in alcohol enforcement, McGee was responsible for enforcing Missouri's Liquor Control Act. She was in charge of administering the state's alcohol compliance check program as well as coordinating the department's efforts on college campuses and with community coalition groups. McGee was also designated as the division's liaison officer for local law enforcement agencies that received federal grants through the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention—Enforcing the Underage Drinking Laws (OJJDP/EUDL) Program. 

McGee served as a consultant for the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation from August 2002 -2020. In that capacity, she developed course curriculums and provided technical assistance and training to agencies supporting alcohol and tobacco initiatives. She regularly provided training on the topics of developing and sustaining community coalitions; environmental management; working effectively with college communities; compliance check investigations; controlled party dispersal; shoulder tap operations; false identification; media advocacy; managing special events; social media; and working effectively with retailers. 

This recorded webinar provides participants with an overview of best practices for recruiting adult volunteers into the Youth Champion program.

Objectives: Participants will be able to:

• Recognize the benefits to the program
• Identify recruitment planning steps and practices
• Recognize components in recruitment strategy
• Identify the importance of diversity and barriers to specific populations
• Recognize best practices in screening
• Recognize the importance of orientation and training
• Recognize retention and recognition strategies

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Participant Guide

This webinar was recorded on August 18, 2020. No CEUs are offered for recorded webinars.

Presenter: Dr. Alisa Padon  

Summary: This webinar will review some of the background, theory, and research on the appeal of alcohol advertising to adolescents and the effects of ad exposure on underage alcohol use. 

Alisa Padon, PhD: Alisa Padon is a Research Scientist at the Public Health Institute. Her research focuses on the impact of policies and marketing of alcohol, tobacco, cannabis and sugar-sweetened beverages on public health and youth, examining the intersection between the unique vulnerabilities of youth and the psychosocial and neurocognitive appeals and techniques used in marketing. She earned her masters’ degree in biomedical ethics at the University of Pennsylvania, her doctorate in public health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and she completed her post-doctoral work at the Annenberg School for Communication Tobacco Center of Regulatory Science at the University of Pennsylvania. 

This webinar was recorded on April 25, 2018. No CEUs are offered for recorded webinars.

Presenter: Nancy McGee

Summary: During this webinar participants will learn about and discuss: 1. Community challenges when dealing with alcohol at special events. 2. Issues that need to be addressed including the role of alcohol at the event. 3. The special events planning process and who should be at the table. 4. Strategies to keep the event safe and minimize negative consequences to individuals and the community at large.

Nancy M. McGee, JD 

Retired Special Agent Nancy McGee served for more than 29 years in the Missouri Department of Public Safety—Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control. As a special agent stationed in the St. Louis District specializing in alcohol enforcement, McGee was responsible for enforcing Missouri's Liquor Control Act. She was in charge of administering the state's alcohol compliance check program as well as coordinating the department's efforts on college campuses and with community coalition groups. McGee was also designated as the division's liaison officer for local law enforcement agencies that received federal grants through the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention—Enforcing the Underage Drinking Laws (OJJDP/EUDL) Program. 

McGee served as a consultant for the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation from August 2002 -2020. In that capacity, she developed course curriculums and provided technical assistance and training to agencies supporting alcohol and tobacco initiatives. She regularly provided training on the topics of developing and sustaining community coalitions; environmental management; working effectively with college communities; compliance check investigations; controlled party dispersal; shoulder tap operations; false identification; media advocacy; managing special events; social media; and working effectively with retailers. 

In 2014 McGee was selected by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies as an FDA Tobacco Regulatory Science Fellow. McGee spent one year in residency at the FDA Center for Tobacco Products in Silver Spring, MD where she assisted the Center with issues concerning the implementation and enforcement of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (TCA). 

Throughout her career, McGee has been a featured speaker and panelist at numerous national conferences on underage drinking issues. She has given presentations at the OJJDP/National Leadership Conference, the Higher Education Center's National Conference, the National Conference of State Liquor Administrators' Midwest Regional Conference, and the Missouri Partners in Prevention "Meeting of the Minds" Conference. 

McGee holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Missouri–Columbia and a Juris Doctorate from St. Louis University School of Law. She is licensed to practice law in Missouri and Illinois. 

This webinar was recorded on October 19, 2021. No CEUs are offered for recorded webinars.

Presenters: Deputy John Shallenberger, Tazewell County Sheriff’s Office and Shannon Alderman, Impaired Driving Program Coordinator, Illinois Department of Transportation 

Summary: This webinar will focus on how local coalitions and law enforcement can collaborate to prevent teen traffic crashes.  Experts from across Illinois will discuss evidence-based alcohol prevention strategies along with strategies to enhance safe teen driving.

Deputy John Shallenberger, Tazewell County Sheriff’s Office 

John Shallenberger, Deputy Sheriff with Tazewell County Sheriff’s Office, has been in law enforcement for 25 years. John was assigned to the Patrol Division, in 2006 was chosen for a position he still holds within the Crime Prevention Unit. The duties for this unit include Certified DARE instructor, Certified Child Passenger Technician, Certified A.L.I.C.E. instructor, Certified Illinois Juvenile Officer, and Certified Elderly Service Officer.  

During 2005-2006, Tazewell County lost 15 teens to car crashes within a 15-month period. In response, the community formed the Tazewell Teen Initiative to address the issue.  John is an original member of the Initiative and is currently the Chairman. One of the components the Initiative developed was a learning opportunity for teen drivers including the Ford Driving Skills for Life program. IDOT and Ford also developed the Operation Teen Safe Driving (OTSD) program in Tazewell County during this time. In an effort to promote safe driving habits among a traditionally high-risk age group, the program was implemented in all Tazewell County high schools as a peer-to-peer safe driving initiative. In 2008, OTSD expanded statewide and all 900 Illinois High Schools were invited to apply for the program and 225 submitted applications.  A panel of judges, including John, selected 105 of those schools to receive financial assistance to develop programs emphasizing seat belt use, distracted driving, impaired driving and speeding. In 2014, John became an Instructor with Ford’s Driving Skills for Life program and continues to educate teens nationwide about the dangers of impaired driving. John continues educating teens in Tazewell, Woodford and Peoria counties using a program developed through the Tazewell Teen Initiative. 

Shannon Alderman, Impaired Driving Program Coordinator, Illinois Department of Transportation 

Shannon Alderman is the Impaired Driving Program Coordinator at IDOT’s Bureau of Safety Programs & Engineering and has a broad range of experience in strategic communications and marketing, performance-driven planning, and the planning and implementation of comprehensive, statewide programs aimed at reducing crashes, injuries, and fatalities on roadways. For over 25 years, he has worked on highway safety issues in both the public and private sectors while working at the Illinois Secretary of State’s Office, the Illinois Department of Transportation, and the physician-based, national highway safety advocacy group, End Needless Death on Our Roadways (END). During this time, he has had the privilege of working on and overseeing several ground-breaking Illinois traffic safety initiatives including the zero-tolerance law, graduated driver licensing, the reduction of the BAC limit to .08, passage of the primary seat belt law, and the establishment of Illinois’ Click It or Ticket program. 

As Deputy Director of the Illinois Department of Transportation’s Division of Traffic Safety, Alderman oversaw a staff of over 200 people and an operating budget of $65 million with responsibilities that included fiscal operations, human resources, the collection of Illinois motor vehicle crash reports, and the planning and administration of Illinois’ Highway Safety Program. During his tenure in this position, he had the opportunity to initiate and implement many programs such as Illinois Click It or Ticket program combining strong seat belt law enforcement and PR efforts and a new Illinois Crash Information System. 

Over 12 years ago, Shannon worked to integrate strong DUI law enforcement with late-night, seat belt law enforcement, making Illinois one of the first states to conduct such a program. This program joined together not only enforcement but also the Click It or Ticket and You Drink and Drive, You Lose messages to directly counter the state’s two largest highway safety issues. 

More recently, he has worked hard to strengthen Illinois’ Traffic Safety Resource Prosecutor Program encouraging the use of search warrants in DUI cases and starting a program to train law enforcement officers as phlebotomists. In addition, he has utilized federal highway safety funds to help revive Illinois’ Drug Evaluation & Classification Program that has more than doubled the number of Drug Recognition Experts in the state over the last two years. 

This webinar was recorded on April 13, 2021. No CEUs are offered for recorded webinars.

Presenters: Casssandra Tourre, National Alcohol Beverage Control Association and Carrie Christofes, National Liquor Law Enforcement Association

Summary: This webinar will review current policies on home delivery, direct shipping and curbside services while providing information on strategies to protect the public from alcohol-related harms. 

Home delivery of alcohol is on the rise nationwide, posing regulatory and enforcement challenges. The alcohol marketplace is changing quickly, from direct shipment and third-party delivery services to cocktails to-go, requiring enforcement, prevention and public health stakeholders to react with creative solutions and strategies to regulate and enforce this new alcohol marketplace.

Cassandra Tourre 

Cassandra Tourre is the Director of Public Policy at the National Alcohol Beverage Control Association (NABCA), a trade association representing alcohol regulators. She has 15 years of public health experience related to the regulation, enforcement, and marketing of alcohol. Prior to joining NABCA, Cassie was Faculty Associate at The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health where she worked on both statewide and national projects implementing and assessing strategies to address excessive alcohol consumption. 

Carrie Christofes 

Carrie Christofes has over 6 years of law enforcement experience and 15 years in the development, direction, and management of substance use disorder prevention programming at the local level as well as managing grants at the state and federal levels. She is currently the Executive Director of the National Liquor Law Enforcement Association, a non-profit association of law enforcement personnel dedicated to the enforcement of liquor laws and regulations.   

This webinar was recorded on February 20, 2024. There are no CEUs available for recorded webinars.

Alcohol use and gun violence are leading causes of preventable injury and death in the United States. These issues are most deadly when they intersect with one another. This webinar will discuss research and policy recommendations from the report “Alcohol Misuse and Gun Violence: An Evidence-Based Approach,” pointing to alcohol misuse as a risk factor for all forms of gun violence, including homicides and suicides, confirming the urgent need to adopt evidence-based policies that address this troubling link.

Joshua Horwitz, J.D. is the Dana Feitler Professor of the Practice in Gun Violence Prevention and Advocacy at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Co-Director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions. He works to reduce gun violence by utilizing public health research and health equity analysis to build advocacy campaigns that meet critical opportunities in the policy development process. With over 30 years of experience, Professor Horwitz is a key leader in firearm policy development and education. Along with a small group of colleagues, Professor Horwitz developed the Extreme Risk Protection Order Policy, which is now law in 21 states and the District of Columbia. As a result, Josh is now the principal investigator of the National ERPO Resource Center at Johns Hopkins, a Department of Justice-funded training and technical assistance hub that provides support to states implementing extreme risk protection orders. Professor Horwitz has also developed many policy translation reports, including the newly released Alcohol Misuse and Gun Violence: An Evidence-Based Approach for State Policy and the original report from the Consortium for Risk-Based Firearm Policy identifying ERPO as a needed policy tool titled, Guns, Public Health, and Mental Illness: An Evidence-Based Approach. He has also testified before numerous state legislatures and the U.S. Congress. Professor Horwitz is the co-author of Guns, Democracy and the Insurrectionist Idea, published by the University of Michigan Press in 2009. He received his B.A. from the University of Michigan in 1985 and his J.D. from The George Washington University in 1988.

Silvia Villarreal is the Director of Research Translation at the Center for Gun Violence Solutions. Her goal is to bridge the gap between research and policy by translating research into evidence-based materials for different audiences. Silvia is also the Managing Director for the Consortium for Risk-Based Firearm Policy where she coordinates a group of experts to craft gun violence policy solutions from a public health perspective. She has led several reports on firearm policy, such as the “Racial Equity Impact Assessment Framework for Gun Violence Prevention” and “Alcohol Misuse and Gun Violence: an Evidence-Based Approach for State Policy”.

Silvia began her career doing research and evaluation for community-based violence prevention programs in vulnerable communities in Mexico. Her research around gun trafficking, gun violence in Mexico, and the impact of US gun policies abroad has been published in different academic journals and news outlets. She has a bachelor’s degree in international relations and a master’s degree in public policy from Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey.

This webinar was recorded on March 16, 2022. No CEUs are offered for recorded webinars.

Presenter: David Jernigan, PhD

Summary: This presentation will show the research behind excessive alcohol use and violence, the histories of structural racism that contributed to this situation, and the concrete steps that communities can take to influence and reduce alcohol outlet density within their borders. 

Excessive alcohol use and violence have a close relationship. Numerous studies have documented a relationship between a high density of alcohol outlets and increased violence. There are significant disparities in alcohol outlet density: while alcohol consumption is highest among higher income people, and while whites are far more likely than African American or Latinx people to report heavy drinking, across the country poor, African American and Latinx communities have far more than their share of alcohol outlets.

David Jernigan, PhD

David Jernigan, PhD, is a professor in the Department of Health Law, Policy and Management and Assistant Dean for Practice at the Boston University School of Public Health. He is also the senior policy advisor to CityHealth, an initiative of the de Beaumont Foundation and Kaiser Permanente. He has written more than 140 peer-reviewed journal articles, was the principal author of WHO’s first Global Status Report on Alcohol and Global Status Report on Alcohol and Youth, and co-author of Alcohol in the Developing World: A Public Health Perspective, Media Advocacy and Public Health: Power for Prevention, and Cannabis: Moving Forward, Protecting Health. 

This webinar was recorded on May 5, 2021. No CEUs are offered for recorded webinars.

Presenter: Jason R. Kilmer, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington 

Summary: In this presentation, risk factors will be reviewed, with a spotlight on how alcohol impacts judgement and decision making directly related to suicide.

Heavy episodic (or “binge” drinking) is associated with higher reports of suicidal thoughts, making a suicide plan, and attempting suicide.? Research has looked at distal risk factors (relatively stable characteristics/events leading up to suicidal behavior) and proximal risk factors (variables that increase risk in the moments before suicidal behavior).? In this presentation, these factors will be reviewed, with a spotlight on how alcohol impacts judgement and decision making directly related to suicide.? Studies that make the assertion that “alcohol prevention is suicide prevention” will be summarized, along with other associated variables.? Implications for prevention and intervention will be discussed. 

Jason R. Kilmer, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington 

Dr. Jason Kilmer is an Associate Professor in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington (UW), and serves as an investigator on several studies evaluating prevention and intervention efforts for alcohol, marijuana, and other drug use by college students. In addition to research and teaching, he has worked extensively with college students and student groups around alcohol and other drug prevention programming and presentations throughout his career (including student athletes, fraternity and sorority members, residence life, and first-year students), both at UW and on campuses across the nation. Jason worked for 10 years as an Addictive Behaviors Specialist in the Counseling Center at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, then worked for 10 years as the LiveWell Assistant Director for Alcohol and Other Drug Education in LiveWell: Center for Student Advocacy, Training, & Education at UW (formerly Health & Wellness). As faculty in the School of Medicine, Jason continues his direct work with students through presentations for intercollegiate athletics and residence life. Jason also serves as the chairperson of Washington state’s College Coalition for Substance Abuse Prevention. 

Jason has been project faculty for several national learning collaboratives in the US, including NYU’s National College Depression Partnership, Dartmouth’s National College Health Improvement Program, and the NCAA’s 360 Proof project. He was one of the six members of the development team for the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism’s College Alcohol Intervention Matrix (CollegeAIM). 

Jason was the 2014 recipient of the National Prevention Network’s Award of Excellence for outstanding contributions to the field of prevention. He was a 2017 recipient of the Sue Kraft Fussell Distinguished Service Award from the Association of Fraternity/Sorority Advisors, and was also the 2017 recipient of the Washington State Prevention Professional Award of Excellence. He received the 2018-2019 Research Award from NASPA’s Student Athlete Knowledge Community for outstanding contributions to scholarship highlighting the shared interests of athletics and student affairs. Jason has been a 2017, 2018, and 2019 recipient of the Excellence in Teaching award by the MEDEX Northwest Physician Assistant Training Program. 

These 60-minute recorded webinars on Authentic Youth Engagement targets adults who work with youth; adults who seek to learn about authentic youth engagement; educators; and prevention professionals. Certificates of Completion/CEU's are not provided for recorded webinars.

Authentic Youth Engagement - Part One (February 15, 2022)

These 60-minute recorded webinars on Authentic Youth Engagement targets adults who work with youth; adults who seek to learn about authentic youth engagement; educators; and prevention professionals. Certificates of Completion/CEU's are not provided for recorded webinars.

Authentic Youth Engagement - Part Two (March 29, 2022)

This webinar was hosted on June 15, 2022. There are no CEUs offered for viewing this recording. 

This special Pride Month webinar looks at what it takes to be an LGBTQ+ ally. This webinar will explore how you can support members of the LGBTQ+ community and fight against the risk factors that contribute to increased substance misuse and mental health challenges.

Presenters: Bryant Laiche, Randyl Wilkins, and Makenna Gill

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