Breadcrumb
- Federal Resources
Federal Resources
Share with Youth: Advice to Young Adults from Young Adults: Helpful Hints for Policy Change in the Mental Health System
This resource (PDF, 8 pages) can guide youth- and young adult-led organizations that want to make policy changes in the mental health system. Developed bythe Research and Training Center for Pathways to Positive Futures and Portland State University, it contains recommendations and quotes from a series of interviews with young adult leaders from advocacy groups that focus on mental health challenges or living in foster care.
Resource: Understanding Neurobiology of Psychological Trauma: Tips for Working with Transition-Age Youth
This resource (PDF, 8 pages), developed by Pathways Research and Training Center, introduces service providers to scientifically-informed findings about brain development and trauma specific to young adults, and describes the implications for trauma-informed interventions and trauma-informed engagement of young people in services.
Share with Youth: Changing the Rules: A Guide for Youth and Young Adults with Mental Health Conditions Who Want to Change Policy
This policy guide, developed by Pathways RTC (Research and Training Center), is written for youth- and young adult-led groups and organizations that want to make changes in policies related to mental health and other human services that affect them and other transition-age youth. The guide is intended for use by youth and young adults working together within a group or organization to make specific change, usually in partnership with other agencies, groups, or organizations.
Preserve America Stewards
Preserve America Stewards is a designation program that recognizes organizations and agencies for volunteer programs that help care for our historic heritage. Preserve America Stewards run programs that 1) provide volunteers with opportunities to contribute in direct and tangible ways to the preservation of historic properties; 2) address an otherwise unfilled need in heritage preservation through the use of volunteers; and 3) are innovative in areas such as youth involvement, volunteer training, public education, and public/private partnerships.
Report: Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange
This report provides information on international students studying at higher education institutions in the U.S. and students from the U.S. studying abroad. Developed by the Institute of International Education, the report shows the number of international students at colleges and universities in the U.S. increased by 7% to a record high of 1,043,839 in the 2015-16 academic year, while U.S. students studying abroad increased by 3% to 313,415 students in the 2014-15 academic year.
Report: Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2015
This report presents the most recent data on school crime and student safety. Topics covered include victimization at school, teacher injury, bullying and cyberbullying, school conditions, student perceptions of personal safety at school, and a special spotlight section on juveniles in residential placement facilities.
Report: Co-Offending Among Adolescents in Violence Victimizations, 2004-13
This report presents estimates of nonfatal violence victimizations committed by adolescents during 2004-13 and compares the characteristics of victimizations committed by adolescents acting alone and with other young people. The data show adolescent offenders committed 22% of all violent victimizations during this period, and more violent victimizations were committed by adolescents who acted alone than those who acted with co-offenders.
Report: Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2016
This annual report presents data on crime at school from the perspectives of students, teachers, principals, and the general population. Topics addressed include victimization, bullying, school conditions, fights, weapons, the presence of security staff at school, availability and student use of drugs and alcohol, student perceptions of personal safety at school, and criminal incidents at postsecondary institutions.
American FactFinder
This U.S. Census website is a source for population, housing, economic, and geographic data.
Census Bureau
The Census Bureau site serves as the leading source of quality data about the nation's people and economy. It contains thePopulation & Housing Census collected every 10 years, the Economic Census collected every 5 years, the Census of Governments collected every 5 years, the American Community Survey collected annually, a number of Demographic and Econmic surveys, and Economic Indicators that are released on a specific schedule.
Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance in the United States in 2013
Released by the Census Bureau, this report illustrates key indicators of poverty and family income. The report shows that the overall poverty rate fell 14.5% in 2013, and the poverty rate for people under age 18 fell 1.9% from 2012 to 2013, which is equivalent to 1.4 million young people lifted out of poverty.
School Enrollment: 2012
This newly released set of tables from the Census Bureau describes the characteristics of children and adults enrolled in school at all levels, by age, sex, race, Hispanic origin, nativity, and foreign-born parentage. A notable trend seen in the data is a drop in college enrollment (both undergraduate and graduate) by 467,000 students in fall 2012 from one year earlier.
Resource: Statistics in Schools
This website uses Census data to educate K-12 students about statistical concepts and data analysis. Developed by educators to correspond with relevant education standards, teachers can incorporate these free resources into geography, history, math, and sociology activities.
Share with Youth: Youth Speak Out: Shared Experiences Help Rural Youth Leaders Connect
This podcast, developed by the National Clearinghouse on Families and Youth, features rural youth leaders who were once homeless or in foster care offering advice on how to engage vulnerable rural youth.
Civil Rights Guidance to K-12 Schools on Single-Sex Classes
Guidance from OCR advises schools on how to offer single-sex classes (PDF, 36 pages) while complying with Title IX. Presented in a question-and-answer format, the guidance addresses common scenarios that schools may face when designing single-sex programs.
Supporting the Success of Youth in Juvenile Justice Settings
On February 25, 2015, OCR and the Choice Program at UMBC partnered to host a symposium on supporting the education of young people in juvenile justice settings. At the event, young people who have had brushes with the law shared how the Choice Program is helping them to turn their lives around.
Report: Delivering Justice
This report (PDF, 44 pages) describes OCR’s efforts during the last year to protect students’ civil rights and increase educational equity. The report includes examples of OCR’s enforcement activities, highlights of notable cases, and the guidance documents OCR released in 2015.
Report: Sexual Victimization in Prisons, Jails, and Juvenile Correctional Facilities
This report (PDF, 97 pages) presents the findings of the Review Panel on Prison Rape. The Panel gathered information on the practices of selected correctional institutions that had either a low or a high prevalence of inmate sexual victimization and made recommendations that aim to help eliminate sexual victimization in prisons, jails, and juvenile correctional facilities.
Resource: Combatting Discrimination Against AANHPI and MASSA Students
This policy fact sheet (PDF, 1 page) supports educators and community leaders as they work to protect all students, including Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) and Muslim, Arab, Sikh, and South Asian (MASSA) students, from discrimination and to create safe and supportive learning environments.
Resource: Dear Colleague Letter on Gender Equity in Career and Technical Education
This Dear Colleague Letter (PDF, 17 pages) emphasizes that students, regardless of their sex, must have equal access to the range of career and technical programs offered. It also provides examples of how schools could fail to comply with these requirement and the actions they could take to remedy any violations.
Resource: Civil Rights of Students with ADHD
This guidance (PDF, 42 pages) clarifies the obligation of schools to provide students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) with equal educational opportunity under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
Resource: Protecting Students from Religious Discrimination
This website features federal resources regarding religious discrimination, as well as policy guidance and examples of OCR case resolutions involving religious discrimination claims.
Report: Securing Equal Educational Opportunity
This annual report (PDF, 44 pages) summarizes OCR’s compliance and enforcement activities in FY 2016. OCR received a record 16,270 complaint filings, resolved 8,625 cases, and initiated 13 proactive compliance reviews.
Resource: Parent and Educator Resource Guide to Section 504 in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools
This resource guide (PDF, 52 pages) summarizes key requirements of Section 504, the federal law that provides a broad spectrum of protections for students against discrimination on the basis of disability, and explains how Section 504 applies in various situations within public elementary and secondary schools. This guide can help members of the school community better understand Section 504 and assist parents of students with disabilities in ensuring their children secure all the services they are entitled to receive.
Resource: Restraint and Seclusion of Students with Disabilities
This Dear Colleague Letter (PDF, 124 pages) describes restraint and seclusion, and the limits federal civil rights laws impose on the use of these practices by public schools. This resource, and an accompanying question and answer document (PDF, 2 pages), can help schools and school districts understand how the use of restraint and seclusion may result in discrimination against students with disabilities.