drug free presentation for elementary students

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Page title School & Educator Resources

Teachers, administrators, student assistance professionals, and other school staff members work hard every day to prepare students for future success. Use of alcohol and other drugs, such as marijuana or opioids, can seriously undermine a child’s academic success and life goals.

Learn more about the role of student assistance professionals and the ways educators can share prevention messages with their students’ parents and caregivers:

Student Assistance Program (SAP) Webinar Series

From November 2021 - March 2022, SAMHSA's “Talk. They Hear You.” campaign hosted a five-part, monthly webinar series focused on SAPs. This series built on the campaign’s “Student Assistance – A Guide for School Administrators” and related resources for student assistance professionals and programs. It also provided a platform for leading student assistant professionals and educators (PDF | 360 KB) to highlight select SAP elements and showcase states that are doing exceptional work in this area.

Watch all five webinars and download each corresponding PowerPoint (PPT) presentation:

WEBINAR #1: Student Assistance Programs (SAP) (November 10, 2021)

• Watch the video recording of webinar #1 (1 hour, 7 minutes)
• Download the PPT presentation from webinar #1 (PDF | 2.5 MB)

WEBINAR #2: Standing up SAP Services (December 9, 2021)

• Watch the video recording of webinar #2 (1 hour, 5 minutes)
• Download the PPT presentation from webinar #2 (PDF | 3 MB)

WEBINAR #3: Assessing Needs and Building Capacity (January 26, 2022)

• Watch the video recording of webinar #3 (1 hour, 2 minutes)
• Download the PPT presentation from webinar #3 (PDF | 2.3 MB)

WEBINAR #4: Planning and Implementation (February 23, 2022)

• Watch the video recording of webinar #4 (1 hour, 3 minutes)
• Download the PPT presentation from webinar #4 (PDF | 4.5 MB)

WEBINAR #5: Program Evaluation and Improvement (March 30, 2022)

• Watch the video recording of webinar #5 (1 hour, 2 minutes)
• Download the PPT presentation from webinar #5 (PDF | 2.6 MB)

Conversation Resources

• What Educators Can Do to Help Prevent Underage Drinking and Other Drug Use Fact Sheet (PDF | 1.9 MB)
• Five Conversation Goals

Student Assistance Resources

• Student Assistance—A Guide for School Administrators
• Student Assistance Resources Guide (PDF | 3.5 MB)
• “By Your Side” Student Assistance Discussion Starter Video
• “The Incident” Student Assistance TV PSA
• “The Incident” Student Assistance Radio PSA
• Student Assistance Print PSAs
• Student Assistance Posters:

You are Not Alone (Educators)

• Color. 11 in. x 17 in. (PDF | 3.8 MB)
• Color. 18 in. x 24 in. (PDF | 4.2 MB)
• Color. 24 in. x 36 in. (PDF | 3.9 MB)

Get the Full Picture (Educators)

• Color. 11 in. x 17 in. (PDF | 2 MB)
• Color. 18 in. x 24 in. (PDF | 1.8 MB)
• Color. 24 in. x 36 in. (PDF | 1.9 MB)

Get the Full Picture (Parents and Caregivers)

• Color. 11 in. x 17 in. (PDF | 2.8 MB)
• Color. 18 in. x 24 in. (PDF | 2.4 MB)
• Color. 24 in. x 36 in. (PDF | 2.5 MB)

Last Updated: 05/04/2022

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Drug Awareness and You - Red Ribbon Week Teaching Slides

Updated:  13 Sep 2023

Teach your students about the dangers of drugs and alcohol, peer pressure, and ways to say no to drugs with an interactive Red Ribbon Week teaching slide deck.

Editable:  Google Slides

Pages:  1 Page

Grades:  3 - 6

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Teach Drug Awareness During Red Ribbon Week

Red Ribbon Week is approaching, and it’s time to start prepping those Drug Awareness lesson plans! We are thrilled to introduce our latest educational resource – an editable Google Slides presentation designed to engage and educate students about the history of Red Ribbon Week, the perils of drugs and alcohol, and more!

No-Prep Red Ribbon Week Activities for Schools

This no-prep teaching slideshow covers various topics to help your students understand the importance of a drug-free lifestyle. Drug awareness concepts discussed in this slideshow are

• What is Red Ribbon Week?
• Why do we celebrate Red Ribbon Week?
• What are Drugs?
• What is the difference between good drugs and bad drugs?
• What are the dangers of drugs and alcohol?
• What is peer pressure?
• How to deal with peer pressure
• How to say no to drugs
• Alternatives to drinking alcohol or using drugs
• How to pledge to be drug free

This slide deck features high-interest graphics, engaging opportunities for students to interact, a summarizing activity, and an accompanying Red Ribbon Week poster activity. It’s everything you need to rock your Red Ribbon Week lessons.

Before You Download Your Red Ribbon Week Activity

Start the planning process with a single click of the Download button. Your Google Slides teaching slideshow will be in your hands and on your board in no time!

Need More Red Ribbon Week Ideas?

Need more ideas to fill your plan book? Make sure you check out these resources while you’re here.

teaching resource

Printable red ribbon week poster.

Build a beautiful bulletin board for Red Ribbon Week with our Pledge to be Drug-Free Poster template.

"Owl" Stay Drug Free - Red Ribbon Week Craft

Celebrate Red Ribbon Week with this Owl Craft and writing activity!

Red Ribbon Week Word Search - Primary

Have a bit of word find fun during Red Ribbon Week with a word search!

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Elementary School Prevention Curriculum

The following programs are free of charge , healthy alternatives for little ones (halo) .

This program is designed to address risk and protective factors for substance abuse and other health behaviors, by providing children with information on healthy choices. HALO is an evidence-based program that encourages healthy eating, exercise, and emotion recognition, and educates children about the harmful effects of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs (ATOD) on the body. HALO provides learning opportunities for children through fun, hands-on activities that involve educational songs, videos, group activities, and books.

Suggested Schedule:

8 Classroom Sessions

Pre-K – 1st Grade

Life Skills Training

This is a developmentally appropriate program that improves personal self-management, general social skills, and drug resistance. It has been proven to promote self-esteem, healthy attitudes, and learning skills that will promote healthy and positive development. Included within each lesson is a student guide with informational pieces as well as activities to create a pro-active impact.

3rd – 6th Grades

I Can Problem Solve

5 classroom sessions 

Pre-K – 3rd Grades

Operation Prevention

This  is a PowerPoint presentation designed for students to examine the reasons people turn to opioid use and misuse, and act as investigative reporters to consider the who, what, when, where, why, and how of opioid use and misuse. They will also investigate how the opioid epidemic may be impacting their own community.  This program is sponsored by the DEA.

3 Classroom Sessions

Too Good For Drugs

TGFD is an evidence-based program to promote healthy decision-making and positive, healthy, youth development. TGFD teaches students about goal-setting, decision- making, bonding with others, identifying and managing emotions, and communicating effectively. In addition, the curriculum includes information about the harmful effects of the use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs on students’ bodies and minds. The curriculum is engaging and educational, utilizing hands-on activities, such as, group work, games, and role-playing activities. Please note that the Too Good for Drugs program correlates with the Pennsylvania Health Education Content Standards.

10 Classroom Sessions

Kindergarten – 6th Grades

Too Good For Drugs – Social Perspective

Too Good for Drugs- Social Perspectives is an evidence-based program that lays the groundwork for peaceable living through a fun and interactive journey of setting reachable goals, communicating effectively, and making responsible decisions.  The program focuses on developing students’ social skills and reinforces those skills through interactive, social activities. *The Social Perspective lessons can be partially conducted in conjunction with the Too Good for Drugs program for a total of 15 lessons.

The CATCH My Breath E-Cigarette and Juul Prevention Program provides students with the skills to resist peer pressure and media influences to try e- cigarettes. The overall goal of the program is to prevent the initiation of e- cigarette use among preteen and teen adolescents through educational strategies such as, social emotional learning, peer-facilitated cooperative learning groups, large group discussions, analysis of mass media, and goal setting.

4 Classroom Sessions

5th & 6th Grades

Wise Owls’ Drug Safety Kit

This is a prevention approach using an animated three video lesson based on healthy decisions related to drugs and medicine. This interactive method uses questions as the base of the three videos which features Wise Owl and his niece Wendy and descriptive problem-solving solutions. Poster’s, games, and activities are all apart of the lesson objectives.

Kindergarten – 2nd Grades

We Know Better

This  is an alcohol, tobacco, other drug, and gambling (ATODG) prevention program that offers interactive hands-on lessons about media influence, the disease of addiction, decision making and refusal skills while also raising student’s awareness of all forms of addiction including gambling.

5 Classroom Sessions

4th – 6th Grades

2M2L (Too Much to Lose)

2M2L is a curriculum developed to address problem gambling among youth. Through interactive games, activities, and class discussions the program educates young people about the dangers of problem gambling. Information will guide students in making healthy life decisions. Studies show that youth are at risk for developing a gambling problem the younger they start.

3rd-6th Grades

• Understand the Issue
• Safe Storage and Disposal
• Helping Others
• Learn at Home
• Goals & Outcomes
• Enroll in Ambassadors
• Older Adult
• Resources & Downloads
• Discussion Board
• Request a Speaker

Share Your Story

How do you advocate prescription drug safety? Help our community by sharing your personal tips and stories here.

Elementary Student Resources

Medication Safety Patrol

Prescription and over-the-counter medicines are typically accessible and visible in our homes, and children should understand prescription and over-the-counter medication safety at an early age. What follows is a collection of age-appropriate, engaging resources that educate children about medication safety principles, equipping them with a foundation for understanding how to use medicines safely before they enter their teen and adult years. They may be used in small or large groups, as stand-alone activities, or in combination with other lessons. Some activities may be better suited for younger children (grades K-2), while others may be more appropriate for older students (grades 3-5).

• 1 Getting Started
• 2 Activity Stations
• 3 Medication Safety Games
• 4 Supplemental Worksheets
• 5 Visual Aids
• 6 Other Resources
• 7 Elementary en Español

Getting Started

This section provides an introduction and overview of the Medication Safety Patrol resources and how to use them. It also includes a letter to parents.

Elementary Presentation Trips and Tricks

The following video was created to help presenters prepare to present the Elementary Toolkit. It includes tips and tricks on everything from talking to youth, to setting up a classroom to playing the games and activities outlined in this toolkit. It is a great resource for first-time presenters!

Elementary Presentation Videos

The following videos were created to capture a real-life Elementary Toolkit presentation, so viewers can understand how to play certain games and activities while teaching the Generation Rx messages and interacting with children.

Activity Stations

This section includes a set of stations and a facilitator’s guide to support active  learning about medication safety principles.

Medication Safety Games

This section includes games to help children learn important medication safety  lessons.

“Medication Safety Trivia”

“medication safety: is it candy or medicine”, “medication safety: good choice or bad choice”, supplemental worksheets.

This section includes activities that can be added to your program.

Visual Aids

This section includes visual aids that can be used as standalone tools or with other activities.

Other Resources

FDA’s Kids Home Page The FDA’s Kids’ Homepage is an interactive site detailing everything the FDA does and how it impacts children. The child friendly site offers quizzes, an interactive skeleton named Yorrick, opinion polls, an “In The News” section and more. Its “Health Information for Teens” provides information about drugs, other issues related to drug use and overall health.

Elementary en Español

GenerationRx Elementary en Español (.zip)

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614.292.2266 [email protected]

©2007-2021.  The Ohio State University.  All Rights Reserved.

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Lesson Plans and Activities

Search for free lessons and activities on the science and consequences of drug use. All lessons are based on national science and education standards and were developed by scientists from leading universities and the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Cannabis: The Facts You Need to Know

Can Too Much Screen Time Harm You?

Toxicity Testing: The Effect of Chemicals on Radish Seeds

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Opioids: What You Need to Know

What You Need to Know About Prescription Stimulants

Stressed Out?

Nurturing My Mental & Emotional Health

Mind Matters: Drugs and the Brain

Mind Matters: The Body's Response to Prescription Stimulants

Mind Matters: The Body's Response to Opioids

Mind Matters: The Body's Response to Nicotine, Tobacco and Vaping

Mind Matters: The Body's Response to Methamphetamine

Mind Matters: The Body's Response to Marijuana

Mind Matters: The Body's Response to K2/Spice and Bath Salts

Mind Matters: The Body's Response to Inhalants

Mind Matters: The Body's Response to Cocaine

How Nicotine Affects the Teen Brain

NDAFW Activity Ideas: Community, School-wide, and Online

Drug Prevention Education Programs for Elementary School

Sunny’s story.

A drug prevention book written by a mother who lost her son to a drug overdose from the viewpoint of the family beagle, Sunny . It's a great learning tool for kids, parents, teachers, and others.

Educational Programs & Curriculum

Learn more about Courage to Speak® substance use prevention education programs for Elementary, Middle, and High School students.

Request More Program Info

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Request This Program For Your School

The Courage to Speak® Drug Prevention Education Programs and Curriculum for Elementary School (grades 4-6) is an evidence based program that teaches students age appropriate social and emotional skills on living a healthy lifestyle, how and why to avoid drugs, communication and decision making strategies, and how to identify and avoid risky behaviors. The program incorporates the book Sunny’s Story , a tale of family love and tragedy told through the eyes, ears, and mind of Sunny, the pet beagle, as a tool for the program.

• Creative writing
• Group Discussion
• Scientific Demonstration

A recent Yale University evaluation reported among the key findings, that the Program increased:

• Knowledge and perceptions of harm regarding alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs
• Parent-child communication about alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs
• Coping strategies and assets to avoid use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs

Given the cost-effectiveness and ease of implementation for schools, this study demonstrates the program’s effectiveness at positively changing attitudes and behavior for students in grades 4th– 6th regarding substance abuse.

Madison School 6th Grade Class Yearbook (Bridgeport, CT):

6th Grade Class Favorite Book: Sunny’s Story

A Favorite Lesson: When we read Sunny’s Story … -Brenda

Best Book I Read: Sunny’s Story -Derek  

Sunny’s Story (written by Ginger Katz), is a drug prevention book told from the perspective of Sunny , the family beagle, and it tells of joyful times and sad times and how his young master’s life was needlessly lost to addiction. Sunny’s Story opens a dialogue around drug use and is read by people of all ages, in schools and homes nationwide and is part of the Courage to Speak® Drug Prevention Programs and Curriculum.

“This book is an important and unique addition to the list of preventative tools so necessary for children in today’s world. Sunny’s Story masterfully opens a dialogue and introduces complex issues to a young audience. Teachers, parents and children will benefit from the dialogue.”   Dr. Deborah Prothrow-Stith, Professor of Practice and Associate Dean, Harvard School of Public Health

“Sunny’s story is a perfect way to introduce the sensitive topic of substance abuse to children in elementary, middle, and high school. It engages the students at the outset and keeps their attention throughout.”    Dominic Splendorio, Health Educator

“Educators and parents need to be as strong in voice as Sunny is in the story. This story has to be told, and it will save lives.”   David Hay, Brookside Elementary School Principal

Courage to Speak Drug Prevention Education Programs for grades 4-12 are available nationwide.

Ian James Eaccarino

The Courage to Speak Foundation

144 East Ave Suite #200 Norwalk, CT 06851

Phone: Office (203) 831-9700

Fax: (203) 831-9800

Email: [email protected]

Web: Courage to Speak Foundation

Learn more about Courage to Speak® substance use prevention education programs and curriculum for Elementary, Middle, and High School students.

Request more program info

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• The Courage to Speak ® – Drug Prevention Education Presentation
• Substance Use Education Programs for Youth

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Red Ribbon inspires our kids to Be Happy, Be Brave, Be Drug Free

Red ribbon week takes place each year from october 23 through 31st., join us in our mission to help keep kids drug-free..

INTRODUCING THE 2024 NATIONAL RED RIBBON WEEK THEME:

"life is a movie, film drug free.™".

This creative theme was submitted by Cheryl Holsapfel, Digital Art Teacher, and Devansh Aggarwal from Solon Middle School. It serves as a powerful reminder that ordinary Americans nationwide contribute significantly to their communities every day by embracing a drug-free lifestyle.

Support healthy, drug free kids

The red ribbon campaign relies on your generosity.

For every dollar invested in prevention, $7 are saved in drug-addiction treatment. Join the movement, donate today.

Red Ribbon Blog

National family partnership unveils 2024 red ribbon week theme, jan 31, 2024 by elizabeth golshteyn, 13 min read, the red ribbon photo contest brings others to join forces with their community (big or small), dec 4, 2023 by nfp, cornyn, whitehouse resolution recognizing red ribbon week passes senate, nov 8, 2023 by audrey cook, red ribbon movie mondays:.

Lights, camera, action! Join us in celebrating a Drug-Free Life with our latest feature: "Life is a Movie. Film Drug Free!"

Every Monday, we roll out the red carpet to spotlight one of YOU living your best life, without drugs. Show us your star power by sharing a video showcasing what it means to you to live drug-free. Take center stage and let your story shine by completing our survey. The spotlight's on you, and we can't wait to see your blockbuster performance!

Share Your Story.

Use the form below to send us your Red Ribbon Monday Story. You may be featured on our website!

Grassroot Beginnings

Enrique "Kiki" Camarena was a Drug Enforcement Administration Agent who was tortured and killed in Mexico in 1985.  In honor of  Kiki's memory and his battle against illegal drugs, friends and neighbors began to wear red badges of satin.  Parents then began to form coalitions using Camarena as their model while embracing his belief that one person can make a difference. These coalitions adopted the symbol of Camarena's memory, the Red Ribbon. Today, the Red Ribbon serves as a catalyst to mobilize communities to educate youth and encourage participation in drug prevention activities.

Get Involved

Check out our Red Ribbon Week 2023 Planning Guide.

Red Ribbon Merchandise

When you purchase Red Ribbon themed merchandise, you're helping support drug-use prevention efforts nationwide.

Take the Pledge

Take the National Red Ribbon Campaign Pledge now and be a part of the creation of a drug free America.

One person can make the difference

The Red Ribbon Campaign serves as a catalyst to mobilize communities, educate youth and encourage participation in drug prevention activities.

Sign up to the Red Ribbon newsletter.

Get email updates and learn how to get involved.

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Substance Abuse and Addiction Prevention - Health - 9th Grade

It seems that you like this template, substance abuse and addiction prevention - health - 9th grade presentation, free google slides theme, powerpoint template, and canva presentation template.

Introduce your 9th graders to the important topic of substance abuse and addiction prevention with this fully customizable Google Slides and PowerPoint template. With its eye-catching design and ready thinking exercises, you'll be able to grab your students' attention and foster meaningful discussions about the dangers of drug use. From teaching them how to resist peer pressure to exploring the consequences of drug use on their future, this template provides all the tools you need for an impactful health class. Don't miss the opportunity!

Features of this template

• 100% editable and easy to modify
• 35 different slides to impress your audience
• Contains easy-to-edit graphics such as graphs, maps, tables, timelines and mockups
• Includes 500+ icons and Flaticon’s extension for customizing your slides
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The University of Chicago The Law School

Civil rights & police accountability clinic—significant achievements for 2023-24.

Our Clinic students continue to make a difference in the community, while learning all that it means to be a lawyer.

The Federal Civil Rights Consent Decree Governing the Chicago Police Department

Years of advocacy by Clinic students and our clients resulted in the 2019 federal civil rights Consent Decree that seeks to remedy the Chicago Police Department’s (CPD’s) pattern and practice of excessive and discriminatory violence targeted disproportionately against Black people. Highlights from our Consent Decree work during the 2023-24 academic year include: (1) our success in remedying CPD’s practice of violent, dehumanizing, and discriminatory home raids that have targeted and traumatized Black and Brown children and families in Chicago; (2) the relief that we won in emergency proceedings that we initiated to prevent unlawful mass arrests and First Amendment violations during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago; (3) our progress toward remedying racially discriminatory practices of targeting Black people for unlawful stop-and-frisks and pretextual traffic stops; and (4) advocacy for critical modifications to strengthen and improve the Decree.

Ending Illegal and Discriminatory Home Raids

Clinic students and our community-based clients won a complete overhaul of the policies that govern residential search warrants in Chicago in months-long court supervised multi-party negotiations, briefs, and court proceedings. CPD’s new policies will seek to restrict home raids to circumstances in which they are necessary and forbid raids whenever the potential harms outweigh the expected benefits. CPD will be required to develop a written plan for the execution of every residential warrant to minimize the harm, trauma, and intrusion to families and their homes. Officers will be evaluated for their success in mitigating harm when executing search warrants. The new policies will protect children and vulnerable people from unnecessary harm, including requiring police to schedule raids at times when they are least likely to be home. They ban high-risk nighttime raids and limit no-knock warrants to circumstances in which people’s lives and physical safety are in jeopardy. They prohibit police from leaving families with broken doors and locks vulnerable to crime. And they will require police to thoroughly document and publicly report on each raid to enhance transparency and accountability. In addition, we won measures that will prevent wrong raids, including requiring CPD to independently investigate and corroborate tips, maintain records of any instance in which the informant provided false or inaccurate information, and provide the prosecutor and court with any information that may undermine the credibility of the informant and tip before seeking a warrant. The proposed new policies will soon be subject to public review and comment in anticipation of full implementation. The public and judicial scrutiny that we brought to bear during our enforcement proceedings has already resulted in a tenfold reduction of home raids and prevented the traumatization of thousands of children.

Protecting First Amendment Rights to Protest and the DNC

In spring 2023, we learned that the CPD intended to implement a new policy to facilitate mass arrests during protests and other First Amendment activities in anticipation of the Democratic National Convention. The proposed new policy would have eviscerated relief that we had won in 2021 that fundamentally transformed Chicago police policies governing the policing of First Amendment activities—relief that requires CPD to protect the rights of people to engage in public protest and dissent rather than to stamp out protests. The Clinic filed an emergency enforcement action to enjoin the proposed mass arrest policy. In the proceedings that followed, we succeeded in preventing the parts of the policy that threatened people’s First Amendment rights from taking effect. The First Amendment policy that we had won in 2021 continues to govern during the DNC and all public demonstrations now and in the future. For example, the revised policy on mass arrests will now prohibit police from arresting people engaged in First Amendment conduct for minor offenses unless they pose an immediate threat to the physical safety or property of others. It also explicitly bans retaliation against people for exercising their First Amendment rights.

Strengthening the Consent Decree and Advancing Racial Justice

Having won our community-based clients’ historic power to enforce the Decree, Clinic students continue to fight to strengthen the Decree to make our clients—people who have been most impacted by CPD’s civil rights violations—full and equal partners in the process. As a result of our advocacy, throughout the 2023-24 academic year, the federal court ordered the City to engage with community representatives when developing policies, procedures, and training—including the recent mass arrests policy that the CPD had initially sought to impose without any meaningful community engagement. Clinic students participated in five full-day public hearings in federal court focusing on potential modifications to the Decree and issues of racial justice. Students presented powerful testimony and legal memoranda that advocated for Consent Decree revisions that (a) require de-escalation and reductions in CPD violence; (b) divert people from the criminal legal system through alternatives to arrest and the elimination of unnecessary negative interactions with police; (c) develop non-criminal responses to people experiencing mental health crises (we won implementation of an historic pilot program on this); (d) prohibit police from pointing guns at people unless they present an immediate threat to serious injury or death to another person; (e) require officers to file a written report each time they point a gun at a community member; (f) provide services to survivors of CPD violence and their family members; and (g) address barriers to police accountability that were erected in the new collective bargaining agreements with the unions representing Chicago police officers. We also succeeded in subjecting CPD’s racially discriminatory stop-and-frisk practices to federal court supervision.

The court is currently deciding whether to also subject CPD traffic stops to federal court oversight under the Consent Decree, as traffic stops have become a flashpoint for unnecessary police violence in Chicago as they have skyrocketed in Black and Brown communities. Eighty-five percent of the instances in which Chicago police used force in traffic stops have been directed at Black people. We presented testimony and briefs that seek to outlaw CPD’s practice of using pretextual stops to harass Black and Brown people, disband police tactical units that have been responsible for unnecessary and disproportionate violence directed toward Black and Brown people, and limit CPD traffic stops to violations that pose genuine threats to public safety.

Ending Incommunicado Detention—A Second Consent Decree

The Clinic continues to advance its historic work in making real the fifty-eight-year-old promise of Miranda v. Arizona in Chicago. Tyler Lawson, ’24 , and Katherine Stanton, ’25, led a team of Clinic students that did outstanding advocacy work with our community-based clients and the Office of the Cook County Public Defender after having won a second consent decree that went into effect in February 2023 in Cook County Circuit Court—a decree that is designed to end the decades-long practice of incommunicado detention in CPD stations that has facilitated torture, coerced confessions, and wrongful convictions. Clinic students produced an empirical report with Professor Kyle Rozema that analyzed data from every arrest in Chicago that took place during the first year of the Decree. The Report found ninety-nine percent of people in CPD custody did not access an attorney and more than half of the people most vulnerable to interrogation did not get prompt access to a phone. Inspections by Clinic students inside Chicago police stations revealed that legible signs required by the Consent Decree that inform people in custody of their rights under the Decree and the Public Defender’s free 24-hour hotline number for legal assistance were routinely missing in the places where CPD detains people who may be subject to interrogation. Clinic students also documented that contrary to the Decree, many of the visiting rooms that CPD is required to maintain in every police station did not allow for private and confidential meetings between people in custody and their attorneys. The Clinic presented the Report and our findings to the court. In response, the Honorable Judge Neil H. Cohen directed CPD to work with the Clinic to ensure the installation of appropriate signs and remedy the documented deficiencies with respect to privacy. We are administering a survey to people at their first court appearance to provide the court with additional information about the reasons why people in CPD custody have not promptly accessed phones and counsel. Our preliminary findings indicate that CPD has failed to offer phones or provided the Public Defender’s 24-hour number to people subject to police interrogation. A quarter of the people surveyed report that CPD interrogated them without access to counsel. In addition, Clinic students have engaged in targeted outreach to people at risk of arrest and criminal defense attorneys in Chicago, created fantastic flyers, social media, and written material to educate people about their rights under the Decree, and developed a long-form interview tool to gain additional insight about barriers to access to counsel and phones.

Individual Cases

While we fight for systemic change, the Clinic has continued its tradition of excellence in serving individuals and families in need.

Clinic students won a stage three post-conviction hearing with our client Christopher Ellis before the Honorable Carol Howard in Cook County Circuit Court that can result in vacating Mr. Ellis’s conviction. Two Chicago police officers pulled Mr. Ellis out of his car, beat and tased him, and then falsely accused Mr. Ellis of aggravated battery against the police officers to cover up their abuse. Mr. Ellis was convicted and sentenced to six years in prison. Based on a phenomenal set of briefs written by Clinic students Hannah V.L. George, ’24, and Becky Marvin, ’24, and Professor Herschella Conyers ’ students Amara Shaikh, ’24 , and Liam Grah, ’25, in the Criminal and Juvenile Justice Clinic and Becky Marvin ’s outstanding oral argument, Judge Howard found that the Clinic has made a substantial showing of Mr. Ellis’s innocence and the ineffective assistance of his trial counsel. Judge Howard offered the highest praise to the students’ work. We expect Mr. Ellis’s case to go to trial in the fall.

 Erin Yonchak,’24, presented Clifton Young’s case before the Illinois Torture and Inquiry Relief Commission. Erin’s presentation and supporting written memorandum were nothing short of superb. As a result of Erin’s scrupulous investigation, factual and legal determinations, and recommendations, the Torture Commission found credible evidence that Mr. Young was tortured by Chicago police and ordered a full evidentiary hearing in Cook County Circuit Court that may result in his freedom after having served more than twenty years in prison.

Amrita Krishnan, ’25, is investigating a novel claim of police torture before the Illinois Torture Commission that is based on Chicago police detectives’ exploitation of a person’s withdrawal symptoms from heroin and denial of medical treatment to obtain a confession. This is the first of a series of claims of torture before the Commission based on deliberate indifference to a person in custody’s severe physical and psychological pain associated with drug withdrawal to leverage an incriminating statement. Amrita’s legal and medical research into whether and under what circumstances drug withdrawal can form a basis for a torture claim is precedential. It has the power to establish the governing legal standards in Illinois for assessing torture claims involving withdrawal.

Gabbie Zook, ’24 , Hannah V.L. George, ’24 , and Becky Marvin, ’24, led an investigation with a client who was repeatedly sexually assaulted by a Chicago police officer in public housing when she was a mere teenager. The Clinic helped to connect our client with the Chicago Torture Justice Center to provide her with critical support as she continues to work through her trauma from the repeated assaults. We face a myriad of legal challenges because of the years that have passed since the assaults and Illinois law that protects municipalities from liability when police officers abuse their state power to sexually assault people, but we remain committed to supporting our client in her fight for a measure of justice and healing. Our students’ work has shined a light on a path forward.

Policy Projects

Chicago police transparency.

Natalie Cohn-Aronoff, ’24 , and Amber Hunter, ’25, have led a critical project to prevent the return to a state of police impunity in Chicago. The Clinic is responding to the Fraternal Order of Police’s (FOP’s) efforts to shroud in secrecy the adjudication of cases in which Chicago police officers have been found to have committed the most serious forms of misconduct to warrant firing or suspension of more than a year. After the FOP won an arbitration award that sought to end a sixty-year history of public hearings before a neutral body to be replaced by secret hearings behind closed doors by a handful of handpicked arbitrators who have a long track record of protecting Chicago police officers from accountability, the Clinic began work with a coalition of community, civil rights, and good government groups organized to stop the FOP from turning back the clock on our progress. We drafted press releases and an op-ed that lifted the threat of Chicago police impunity to visibility. We drafted policy and legal material for City Council to provide the basis for challenging the arbitrator’s award. We provided testimony in public hearings that was widely cited in the media. Our work supporting the organization of community members persuaded the Mayor and City Council to reject the Arbitrator’s award by a 3/5 vote in City Council and challenge the award in court. The Cook County Circuit Court then ruled that the Arbitrator’s award violated fundamental state policy in Chicago police transparency and accountability and ordered that the Chicago police disciplinary cases must remain open to the public. The FOP has filed a notice of appeal. A team of Clinic students led by Ben Postone, ’24, is drafting an amicus brief before the Illinois Court of Appeals on behalf of the broad community-based coalition that will explain the nature and strength of the public interest at stake.

At the same time, Clinic students have conducted extensive research and consulted experts in labor law to draft proposed state legislation that requires the public adjudication of Chicago police misconduct cases. The Clinic is collaborating with stakeholders to devise a path to establish law that will guarantee public transparency on CPD misconduct now and in the future. The Clinic has also drafted potential municipal legislation that would enhance Chicago’s Civilian Office of Police Accountability’s (COPA’s) efforts to promote greater transparency and accountability by enabling COPA to promptly publicly release summaries of completed misconduct investigations, prosecute disciplinary proceedings that result from COPA investigations, and restrict the Police Department’s power to overturn misconduct findings only for clear error and disciplinary recommendations only for abuse of discretion.

Sam Hallam, ’25, and Katherine Stanton, ’25, are leading efforts to remedy other aspects of FOP’s new collective bargaining contract that thwart police accountability and transparency in Chicago, including a provision that prohibits the videotaping of conversations between officers and supervisors after a police officer shoots a community member. The recording and use of such conversations are critical tools to remedy the longstanding code of silence in the CPD—a code that has encouraged officers to manufacture a common narrative when an officer shoots or kills a person or is otherwise accused of misconduct.

Medical-Legal Partnership with University of Chicago Trauma Center

Rosie Gruen, ’25 , and Sam Hallam, ’25, have led a medical-legal project that we launched last year with the Trauma Center at the University of Chicago Medical Center (UCMC) and pro bono attorneys from the Akerman law firm to prevent police from to violating patient civil rights and medical privacy and interfering with critical medical care. We formed this partnership to address reports from the doctors and staff at the Medical Center of police abuse of patients who have suffered gunshot injuries; coercive interrogations of people who are being treated for serious injuries; interference with medical care and patient autonomy over medical decisions; searches and seizures of patients’ personal property; invasions of patient privacy and personal health information; shackling and physical abuse of patients; and forcing medical personal to perform invasive tests on patients. The Clinic team has been conducting and working to publish empirical research on interactions between police and professionals and staff at the Medical Center and patients and their family members. In addition to the conducting approximately fifty long-form interviews, the Clinic has researched the intersection of property law, criminal law and procedure, privacy law, constitutional law, and administrative regulations and practices in medical settings around the United States. Students have also consulted with national medical and legal experts. Based upon our research, the Clinic developed a first draft of recommended UCMC policies for internal feedback to prevent ongoing civil rights violations and interference with patient care. Our research has also taught us that despite similar civil rights violations in hospital settings and interference by law enforcement with medical treatment, there is a lack of model policies or established best practices on the subject. We are hopeful that the publication of our research and the policies that we develop at UCMC will serve as a model for hospitals throughout the country and prevent civil and human rights violations and improve health outcomes in the Trauma Center and beyond.

Partnership with the Cook County Public Defender and Zealous

We also built on our partnership with the Cook County Public Defender’s Office and Zealous, a national non-profit dedicated to supporting public defender offices, to identify and address systemic issues in the criminal legal system that deprive clients of the Public Defender and Clinic access to justice. Darius Diamond, ’24 , Gabbie Zook, ’24 , and Katherine Stanton, ’25, have led our efforts on this project. This year, our focus has been to support the Public Defender’s work to create two holistic community defender offices in Chicago—the first is scheduled to open this fall in the Roseland community on Chicago’s South Side. The second will be in the Austin community on the West Side. Clinic students have been on the ground floor in designing the offices and services with community members, public defenders, and people in jail. We are developing plans for Clinic students to maintain a regular presence in the Community Defender Offices to work with public defenders and their clients in addressing police accountability and other systemic barriers to justice.

In addition, students are working with public defenders in Cook County to achieve greater independence from county prosecutors and judges when advocating with their clients to change and enjoin laws, policies and practices that impair the ability of public defenders to represent their clients and to improve the criminal legal system. For example, Clinic students are currently working with the Public Defender to explore ways to change the law to give the Public Defender the power to retain counsel to bring affirmative civil rights litigation.