Breadcrumb
- Federal Resources
Federal Resources
Administration for Children and Families
This site provides information about resources for children, youth, and families, including child care, Head Start, child support enforcement, domestic violence services, runaway and homeless youth programs, child welfare services, and more.
Creating a Vision for Afterschool Partnerships
This tool is intended to help the growing number of new after school partnerships create a shared vision for their work.
Mental Health: The First Step to Well Being
This collection of articles from the National Clearinghouse on Families and Youth analyzes some of the most prominent mental health issues facing at-risk youth in order to provide youth workers with insight into the prevention and treatment of mental health challenges. Post-traumatic stress disorder, the risks and uses of psychotropic medications, and postpartum depression in teen mothers are discussed.
National Clearinghouse on Families and Youth (NCFY)
NCFY is a free information service for Community, organizations, and individuals interested in developing new and effective strategies for supporting young people and their families. Their website includes youth development resources, funding announcements for FYSB's programs, free publications, and a calendar of conferences and trainings.
Q&A: Helping Families Protect Themselves From Recurring Trauma
Produced by the National Clearinghouse on Families & Youth, this interview with Laurel Kiser, of the University of Maryland’s Family-Informed Trauma Treatment Center, discusses the potential negative effects of anticipatory stress and highlights Strengthening Family Coping Resources, a multi-week program that Kiser and her colleagues facilitate that helps families deal with recurring stressors.
Improving Attachment Between Mothers and Children
This article describes a recent study on whether new mothers dealing with past trauma would be able to develop an attachment to their babies. If the mothers could develop an attachment, the study examined if addressing the mother’s issue would help with bonding. The results show that all the mothers in the study who were dealing with past trauma had trouble bonding with others and over 75% of the mothers with unresolved trauma had insecurely attached infants. The researchers found that being in the process of dealing with past trauma can help mothers form secure bonds with their children, despite the mothers themselves having difficulty attaching to others around them.
5 Tips for Providing Trauma-Informed Sex Education
This article highlights the work of two researchers who are pioneering changes in sex education that bridge the gap between sex education and trauma-informed care by better understanding how sex education could be more sensitive to students’ traumatic experiences. This article also offers tips, based on this research, for implementing a trauma informed approach to sex education.
Slideshow: 5 Collaborations to Ensure Trauma-Informed Care for Youth and Families
This slideshow highlights five types of professionals that runaway and homeless youth program managers can collaborate with to support youth who have experienced trauma.
Brief: Developing a Trauma-Informed Child Welfare System
This issue brief provides an overview of trauma and its effects, and describes some of the primary areas of consideration for state or county child welfare systems as they design and implement approaches that are more responsive to trauma.
Resource: Narrative Writing Exercises for Promoting Health Among Adolescents: Promises and Pitfalls
This resource describes a literature review that explores the potential mental health benefits and concerns of using narrative writing with youth and young adults.
Resource: Helping Youth Prevent Suicide Among Their LGBTQ Peers
This article highlights free resources educators and youth service providers can use to implement the Trevor Project’s Lifeguard Workshop, a program encouraging young people to be “lifeguards” for one another by having the knowledge to help in a crisis. Professionals can request a free, in-person workshop or use the resources highlighted in the article to create personalized trainings.
Resource: Integrating Medical and Mental Health Care for Teen Moms
This article describes the mental health challenges teen moms face and highlights a Denver-based program that integrates mental health screening and treatment into their existing medical care.
John H. Chafee Foster Care Program for Successful Transition to Adulthood
The John H. Chafee Foster Care Program for Successful Transition to Adulthood (the Chafee program) provides funding to support youth/ young adults in or formerly in foster care in their transition to adulthood. The program is funded through formula grants awarded to child welfare agencies in States (including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands) and participating Tribes. Chafee funds are used to assist youth/ young adults in a wide variety of areas designed to support a successful transition to adulthood. Activities and programs include, but are not limited to, help with education, employment, financial management, housing, emotional support and assured connections to caring adults. Specific services and supports are determined by the child welfare agency, vary by State, locality and agency, and are often based on the individual needs of the young person. Many State or local agencies contract with private organizations to deliver services to young people.
Caring for Our Children: National Health and Safety Performance Standards Guidelines for Early Care and Education Programs
These national standards represent the best evidence, expertise, and experience in the country on quality health and safety practices and policies that should be followed in today's early care and education settings. This is the fourth edition of this report (PDF; 626 pages).
Child Health USA
The Child Health USA Databook is an annual report of the health status, well-being and service needs of America's children and youth. Coalitions, program planners and policy makers can identify national trends by examining and comparing data from one year to the next. Indicators for youth, or adolescents, cover multiple issues, including childbearing, substance abuse, violence, mental health treatment, and mortality from traffic and firearms injuries. The section, Population Characteristics, provides information about poverty status and school dropouts. Each topic includes a written summary and at least one graph that clearly depicts key statistical facts.
Health Center Program Technical Assistance
This resource provides technical assistance to health centers. The Bureau of Primary Health Care has developed partnerships with state, regional and other national organizations to provide:
- Training and technical assistance on fiscal and program management
- Operational and administrative support
- Program development/analysis
- Primary care/clinical care development and operations
- Support to meet the needs of special populations
- Support to develop and implement health and other information technology systems
Health Resources and Services Administration
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the primary Federal agency for improving access to health care services for people who are uninsured, isolated or medically vulnerable.
Maternal and Child Health Library
The MCH Library is a virtual guide to MCH information. It offers a combination of MCH information compiled by library staff and pathways to the best MCH information available on other Web sites, from organizations, and in libraries.
Resource: Benefits for Children with Disabilities
This resource (PDF, 20 pages) can help parents, caregivers, or representatives of children younger than age 18 who have disabilities understand Supplemental Security Income payments and Social Security Disability Insurance, including the rules and processes.
Education Resources Information Center
ERIC provides ready access to education literature to support the use of educational research and information to improve practice in learning, teaching, educational decision-making, and research.
Using MTSS to Support Student Well-being: Fact Sheets for Schools
Many schools and districts are turning to multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS)—a framework for implementing a cohesive set of evidence-based programs and practices—to promote students’ social, emotional, and mental health. This REL Northeast & Islands blog post highlights five fact sheet designed to support educators' use of MTSS. Topics cover:
- What are Multi-Tiered Systems of Supports?
- Meeting Social, Emotional, and Mental Health Needs with MTSS
- Data is Key to Taking an MTSS Approach
- Don't Forget about Educator Well-being
- MTSS Efforts Thrive When Equity is at the Core
What Works Clearinghouse
This resource collects, screens, and identifies studies on the effectiveness of educational programs, products, practices, and policies for educators, policymakers, researchers, and the public. This resource is designed to help schools, school districts, and educational program developers identify potential researchers (individuals and organizations) to conduct studies of effectiveness of educational interventions.
Report: Preparing for Life after High School: The Characteristics and Experiences of Youth in Special Education
This multi-volume descriptive report presents information from the National Longitudinal Transition Study 2012, a longitudinal study conducted over several decades to examine the characteristics, experiences, and post-high school outcomes of youth with an individualized education program (IEP). The report shows that, overall, youth with an IEP feel positive about school but are more likely than their peers to struggle academically and to lag behind in taking key steps toward postsecondary education and jobs.
Report: System of Least Prompts
This report, developed by the What Works Clearinghouse, reviews the research on the System of Least Prompts, a practice that involves defining and implementing a hierarchy of prompts to assist students in learning a skill.