Announcements

#KTFF is a public health awareness campaign that provides teen girls, ages 13-19, with accurate information about STDs and STD prevention so that they can make informed decisions about sexual activity. The campaign’s website aimed at teens includes facts about STDs and sex, as well as resources for getting tested. A section aimed at adults includes campaign materials, including posters and a YouTube video. Learn more.

CDC offers a personalized eCard for pregnant women as a reminder to protect themselves and their babies by obtaining flu shots. Learn more.

This report provides an overview of a project in which NCJFCJ visited OJJDP-funded mentoring programs at 10 juvenile treatment drug court sites and conducted a focus group to discuss youth’s strengths and challenges. Learn more.

The BJA and the IACP collaborated on the creation of the Safeguarding Children of Arrested Parents Roll Call Training Video based on the IACP/BJA Model Policy. This video is intended to introduce the Model Policy (PDF, 38 pages) to law enforcement agencies and includes interviews with law enforcement leaders, police officers, mental health practitioners, and children of arrested parents. Learn more: Watch the video, and read the feature article.

A new guide helps parents involved in the criminal justice system work with the child welfare system to stay involved with their children and understand the reunification process. The guide is grouped into seven sections that provide incarcerated parents with guidance on how to stay involved with their children and how to understand the reunification process. Read the youth.gov feature article on the guide for more information, or download the guide (PDF, 34 pages).

WWC developed a widget that users can add to their websites to link to WWC products, including practice guides, intervention reports, single study reviews, the reviewed studies database, and the Find What Works tool. The WWC widget will be automatically updated as new products and features are released. Learn more.

On September 30, 2015, Education Secretary Arne Duncan gave a speech at the National Press Club, addressing the role of teachers in ending the school to prison pipeline. In his comments, Duncan shared statistics and real stories of youth that illustrated the racial disparities in incarceration rates and the deleterious impact that being involved with the justice system can have on the education and future of a young person. Duncan suggested an approach that includes providing high-needs schools with quality teachers and creating new paths for youth that allow them a better chance at becoming contributing members of society. Learn more.

Dates: October 1-31, 2015
National Youth Justice Month, 2015 is an opportunity to reinvigorate efforts to prevent youth from entering the juvenile justice system and promote diverse opportunities for young people to lead productive and successful lives. In this press release announcing the observance, President Barack Obama describes the racial disparities among detained and incarcerated youth and the negative impact that involvement in the juvenile justice system can have on young people. The President also lists federal initiatives and programs that aim to address opportunity gaps, reduce recidivism, and improve youth outcomes. Learn more.

This guide provides information for public and private businesses interested in facilitating internship programs (PDF, 60 pages) that attract all young adults, including those with disabilities. The information in the guide can be adapted by employers to meet the goal of their internship program, regardless of size, and can be used to promote overall inclusion in their organization or agency. Learn more (PDF, 60 pages).

Dates: Multiple (Details Below)

“Adolescent Health: Exploring Effective Screening and Referral Processes” is a webcast series that will address successful practices in screening, referral, and overall care of adolescents. The series will focus on preventive services covered by the Affordable Care Act, including well-care visits and sexual health services, as well as treatment for alcohol use, drug use, and depression. All professionals who provide health and social services to adolescents are invited to participate in-person or join via webcast. Each session, as listed below, requires its own registration. Learn more.

Confidential Risk Assessment for Adolescent Sexual Health Services
Hosted in partnership with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and the Adolescent Health Initiative
Date: August 12, 2015, 2 p.m. EST
Location: Online and at James B. Henry Center for Executive Development, 3535 Forest Road, Lansing, MI 48910
Using real cases as a framework, this session will review the literature, laws, and guidelines on adolescent risk assessment and confidentiality, discuss practical ways to implement confidential risk screening in a clinical setting, and provide best practices for addressing risk behavior with patients and parents. The session will highlight an effective screening counseling practice process for chlamydia. Learn more.

Applying Motivational Interviewing to SBIRT for Alcohol and Drug Use Screening and Referral
Date: August 27, 2015, 2 p.m. EST
Location: Online and at Indiana University School of Medicine, Walther Hall C203, 980 W. Walnut Street, Indianapolis, IN 46202
This session will describe the successful SBIRT (Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment) that has been proven effective in diagnosing and treating adolescents for alcohol and drug use. It will focus on tools for health and social service providers to easily facilitate SBIRT using motivational interviewing techniques. Learn more.

Effective Screening and Referral Processes for Depression in Adolescents
Date: September 10, 2015, 10:30 a.m. EST
Location: Online and at University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital, Wilf Family Center, 2450 Riverside Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55454
This session will discuss an integrated, interdisciplinary approach to mental health promotion. It will provide practical skills to evaluate adolescent mental health in an open-ended and efficient manner. Practitioner response, care, and engagement of community resources will be featured to demonstrate the complete process of effective adolescent depression screening and referral. Learn more.

Effective Screening and Referral Processes for Tobacco Use in Adolescents
Date: TBA
Location: Online and at site TBA, Chicago, IL

Topic TBA
Date: TBA
Location: Online and at site TBA, Madison, WI

In commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, ODEP and MCHB have released a joint letter emphasizing the importance of health care transition for youth with chronic health conditions and disabilities and highlights opportunities to integrate health care transition and career planning through the Affordable Care Act and the Workforce Innovation Act. The letter includes information and resources that youth-serving professionals within each transition domain — including education, health, community living, employment, housing, and transportation — can use to promote youth success. The letter also includes resources for youth, including ”The Transition QuickGuide: Take Charge of Planning and Managing Your Own Health and Career Goals” (PDF 6 pages). Created by an Alliance with the Youth Transitions Collaborative, Got Transition/ Center for Health Care Transition Improvement, and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy, the QuickGuide includes information about health insurance coverage, self-care, health care transition, decision-making, and career planning and management. Learn more.

OAH announced the award of more than $86 million in 81 new teen pregnancy prevention grants to non-profit organizations, school districts, universities and others in communities where teen birth rates remain high. These grants, which provide the first year of funding for a five-year grant period, support replication of evidence-based teen pregnancy prevention programs in communities with the greatest need; increase capacity in communities to serve vulnerable youth; fill gaps in the knowledge of what works to prevent teen pregnancy; and test innovative approaches to combating teen pregnancy. Learn more.

OAH awarded a grant to JSI Research and Training Institute, Inc., to support the online National HIV/AIDS Resource Center, which is focused on preventing HIV/AIDS in adolescents. The Resource Center will promote practical strategies for community-based providers and youth-serving professionals, offer information and resources targeted to adolescents who might be at high risk for HIV infection and those living with AIDS, provide linkages to training and technical assistance, and incorporate interactive media and social media as tools to improve the health and well-being of adolescents. Learn more.

This interactive Guide can be used by community-based organizations to integrate financial capability services into existing programs. The interactive tools in the Guide walk organizations step-by-step through the process of developing an integration plan. The tools in the Guide can also be used on their own and adapted to meet the user’s needs. Read the Youth.gov feature article on the Guide for more information or learn more.

This initiative (PDF, 34 pages) will provide funding to: (1) develop statewide juvenile indigent defense legal delivery systems; (2) implement standards of practice and policy; and (3) establish state or regional resource centers to help juvenile defense systems enhance legal representation, leverage resources, and collect and analyze data to measure the effectiveness of specific initiatives. Learn more (PDF, 34 pages). 

Date: June 17, 2015, 2-3:30 p.m. EST
This webinar will discuss the Dear Colleague Letter on the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act for Students With Disabilities in Correctional Facilities (PDF, 21 pages), which was released as part of the Correctional Education Guidance Package. Presenters will discuss the provisions of the letter and the major challenges that juvenile secure care settings face in providing a free appropriate public education to students with disabilities, and will highlight jurisdictions that exemplify the recommended practices in the letter. Registration will be available online soon.

IdentityTheft.gov is a new website, developed by the FTC, that can help people report and recover from identity theft. This resource can help users understand the critical steps to take if identity theft occurs and includes printable checklists and sample letters. IdentityTheft.gov also features information on child identity theft and data breaches. The website is also available in Spanish at RobodeIdentidad.gov. Learn more.

The March/April edition of the Child Support Report includes resources and information about programs that help parents who are, or have been, incarcerated and their children. Learn more (PDF, 9 pages).

Developed by the American Psychological Association, this resource can help parents develop resilience in their children, which can prepare them to face and overcome negative experiences throughout life. It provides information for fostering resilience in the home, the community, the child care environment, and at school. Learn more.

OJJDP recently launched its new training and technical assistance request system, TTA360. TTA360 is used by all of OJJDP’s training and technical assistance providers and offers a single point-of-entry for requesters to access the full range of OJJDP’s services.