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- 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.
Report: Advance Youth Suicide Prevention
This report helps link national, state, and community data systems to existing data from suicide prevention efforts for the advancement of youth suicide prevention research.
ChooseMyPlate.gov
Choose my Plate offers personalized eating plans, interactive tools to help you plan and assess your food choices, and advice to help you make better choices.'
Stay Healthy at College With MyPlate On Campus
The MyPlate On Campus Initiative aims to spread healthy eating messages to college students to empower them to improve their eating and exercise habits and encourage their peers to do the same. MyPlate On Campus offers tools, such as a tracker that develops personalized nutrition and activity plans for users, and tip sheets on topics such as choosing healthy snacks and creative ways to exercise. Students interested in promoting wellness at their schools can become MyPlate On Campus Ambassadors and gain leadership experience while hosting fitness and healthy eating activities for their fellow students.
Resource: 2015 Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (BRFSS) Data
This resource includes 2015 BRFSS data and related information. The BRFSS is a state-based surveillance system that uses survey phone calls to collect information on risk behaviors, clinical preventive health practices, and health care access for adults 18 and older.
Report: Expenditures on Children by Families, 2015
This report presents the most recent estimates of expenditures by families on children annually across childhood and adolescence. The report indicates that a middle-income married-couple family will spend between $12,350 and $13,900 annually, or $233,610 from birth through age 17, on child-rearing expenses.
Get Smart About Drugs
Get Smart About Drugs is DEA's websit for parents, educators, and caregivers that features information about different kinds of drugs and associated paraphernalia, trends and statistics related to substances and their use, teens and drug use, the consequences of using drugs, and how the public can be involved in drug prevention and awareness.
Resource: CampusDrugPrevention.gov
This website serves as a one-stop source of information on preventing and addressing college drug use, including data, news updates, drug scheduling and penalties, publications, research, and more. Institutions of higher education and their surrounding communities can use this information in their efforts to prevent drug abuse among college students and promote health and safety on campus.
Resource: Drugs of Abuse: A DEA Resource Guide
This guide (PDF, 94 pages) provides information on the most commonly abused and misused drugs in the U.S., including their effects on the body and mind, overdose potential, origin, legal status, and other key facts. Medical practitioners, law enforcement officials, educators, families, and communities can use this resource in their work to prevent and address substance abuse.
Campus Drug Prevention
Campus Drug Prevention is DEA’s website for professionals working to prevent drug misuse among college students.
Operation Prevention
Operation Prevention is DEA’s collaboration with Discovery Education that offers school-, community-, and workplace-based prevention resources.
Red Ribbon Campaign
The Red Ribbon Campaign is DEA's campaign for parents, teachers, educators, and community organizations to raise awareness about substance abuse.
Red Ribbon Patch Program
The Red Ribbon Patch Program is designed to provide Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts the opportunity to earn a patch from the DEA by engaging in anti-drug activities in celebration of Red Ribbon Week.
Get Smart about Drugs Publications
DEA's Get Smart about Drugs publications database, featuring English and Spanish versions of guides, posters, fact cards, and other materials.
- Drugs of Abuse: www.getsmartaboutdrugs.gov/sites/getsmartaboutdrugs.com/files/publications/Drugs%20of%20Abuse%202020-Web%20Version-508%20compliant-4-24-20.pdf
- Growing Up Drug Free: A Parent’s Guide to Prevention: www.getsmartaboutdrugs.gov/sites/getsmartaboutdrugs.com/files/publications/GrowingUpDrugFree%28Final-508%29%282017%29.pdf
- Preventing Marijuana Use Among Youth and Young Adults: www.getsmartaboutdrugs.gov/sites/getsmartaboutdrugs.com/files/publications/Preventing%20Marijuana%20Use%20%28Final-508%29%20%286-11-19%29.pdf
- Prescription for Disaster: How Teens Abuse Medicine: www.getsmartaboutdrugs.gov/sites/getsmartaboutdrugs.com/files/publications/DEA_PrescriptionForDisaster-2018ed_508_0.pdf
- Prevention with Purpose: A Strategic Planning Guide for Preventing Drug Misuse Among College Students: www.campusdrugprevention.gov/sites/default/files/Strategic%20Planning%20Guide%20%28Final-Online%29%20%281%29.pdf
- Fact cards for adults about various drugs – www.getsmartaboutdrugs.com/factcards
National Prescription Drug Take Back Day
National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is DEA's event for parents working with youth and young adults to plan programs to safely dispose of unwanted, unused, or expired prescription medicines.
Guidance: Raising Awareness on Specific Learning Disabilities
This guidance for state and local educational agencies clarifies that students with specific learning disabilities — such as dyslexia, dyscalculia, and dysgraphia — have unique educational needs. The guidance also clarifies that there is nothing in the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act prohibiting the use of the terms dyslexia, dyscalculia, and dysgraphia in a student’s evaluation, determination of eligibility for special education and related services, or in developing the student’s individualized education program.
Resource: Improving Outcomes for Youth with Disabilities in Juvenile Corrections
This toolkit includes evidence- and research-based practices, tools, and resources that educators, families, facilities, and community agencies can use to better support and improve the long-term outcomes for youth with disabilities in juvenile correctional facilities. The toolkit focuses on four key areas identified as part of an OSEP-sponsored focus group series on juvenile corrections: facility-wide practices, educational practices, transition and re-entry practices, and community and interagency practices.
Share with Youth: A Transition Guide to Postsecondary Education and Employment for Students and Youth with Disabilities
This guide (PDF, 62 pages) aims to educate students and youth with disabilities and their families about the transition from school to post-school activities. It includes information about transition planning, transition services and requirements, and education and employment options.
Center for Effective Collaboration and Practice: Schools and Special Education
Resources on how to foster collaboration and implement best practices in school and special education settings.
Department of Education "Dear Colleague" Letter on Braille
The Department of Education released a Dear Colleague Letter to provide information to states and agencies about the importance of Braille instruction, clarify when these services should be provided to students, help school teams understand the evaluation required to guide decisions about services, and highlight available resources that can help personnel meet the needs of students who are blind or visually impaired (PDF, 6 pages).
Disability Employment 101
The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services within the Department of Education has released and updated its Disability Employment 101 guide. This guide provides information about hiring employees with disabilities, including information about how to find qualified workers with disabilities, how to put disability and employment research into practice, and how to model what other businesses have done to successfully integrate individuals with disabilities into the workforce.
Early Warning, Timely Response: A Guide to Safe Schools
Early Warning, Timely Response: A Guide to Safe Schools offers research-based practices designed to assist school communities identify these warning signs early and develop prevention, intervention and crisis response plans.
Federal Resource Center for Special Education
The Federal Resource Center for Special Education supports the work of the six OSEP-funded Regional Resource Centers (RRCs) that provide technical assistance (TA) to assist states in complying with IDEA and to implement evidence-based educational practices.