Dept. of Health and Human Services

June is Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Awareness Month. Recently, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, gave a statement on the importance of this challenging and debilitating condition.

National Drug Facts Week (NDFW) is a health observance, held this year from January 28th to February 3rd, for teens that aims to shatter the myths about drugs and drug abuse.  Through community-based events and activities on the Web, on TV, and through contests, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), within the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is working to encourage teens to get factual answers from scientific experts about drugs and drug abuse.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently launched a new Web page, designed with input from teens to motivate teens to make healthy choices around sex by providing empowering messages on specific actions teens can take to prevent teen pregnancy.

The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development is accepting applications from teens and young adults ages 15-20 for its Media-Smart Youth® Teen Leaders Program.

Learn how you can raise awareness about child abuse and neglect and create strong communities to support children and families to help prevent child abuse during Prevention Month in April and throughout the year. Visit the 2011 National Child Abuse Prevention Month website for resources and strategies on engaging communities and supporting families. The site features:

National Children's Mental Health Awareness Day (Awareness Day) 2010 is a day for everyone to promote positive youth development, resilience, recovery, and the transformation of mental health services delivery for children and youth with serious mental health needs and their families. Awareness Day raises awareness of effective programs for children's mental health needs; demonstrates how children's mental health initiatives promote positive youth development, recovery, and resilience; and shows how children with mental health needs thrive in their communities.

National Children's Mental Health Awareness Day is a key strategy of the Caring for Every Child's Mental Health Campaign (the Campaign), which is part of the Public Awareness and Support Strategic Initiative by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.

What is National Drug Facts Week?
Teens and drug experts will connect for the next annual National Drug Facts Week from January 22nd through January 28th, 2018. This weeklong observance will bring together teens and scientific experts in community events across the country to discuss scientific facts about drug abuse.

This is cross-posted in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children & Families The Family Room blog. See the original post here.

By Tyler Hatch, Truman-Albright Fellow, Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation & Catherine Heath, Child and Family Program Specialist, Children’s Bureau

New funding opportunities released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) offer the opportunity to replicate evidence-based programs and support innovative strategies and community-wide initiatives.