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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.
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.
Report: Rates of Nonmedical Prescription Opioid Use and Opioid Use Disorder Double in 10 Years
This report illustrates the urgent public health problem of prescription opioid misuse. As described in the report, a recent study by the NIAAA shows the use of prescription opioids more than doubled among adults in the United States from 2001-2002 to 2012-2013.
Resources: High School Issue Briefs
These issue briefs are the latest in a series that presents strategies high schools can use to help at-risk students stay in school and graduate:
- Case Management for High Schools
Provides information on case management, a school-based dropout prevention strategy
in which a social worker or school professional advises students and connects them to services to address their academic and non-academic needs - Social Services
Describes the social services high schools can provide to address the non-academic issues that can negatively affect student participation and outcomes, such as health care, mental health care, and assistance with shelter, clothing, or transportation
Cultivating Evaluation Capacity: A Guide for Programs Addressing Sexual and Domestic Violence
Cultivating Evaluation Capacity: A Guide for Programs Addressing Sexual and Domestic Violence (PDF, 58 pages) helps programs that serve survivors of domestic and/or sexual violence assess their evaluation capacity and identify areas of strength, as well as areas for improvement.
National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS)
NVDRS collects data on violent deaths from a variety of sources, including death certificates, police reports, medical examiner and coroner reports, and crime laboratories.
National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline
The National Dating Abuse Helpline is the direct service provider behind loveisrespect.org, operating the 24/7 text, phone, and live chat services. The texting function of the Helpline allows for users to text the Helpline advocates 24 hours a day, seven days a week about anything ranging from questions about healthy dating to raising red flags about relationships. The Helpline’s peer advocates serve thousands of teens and young adults through the 24/7 phone service. Users call 1-866-331-9474 to be connected with an advocate who is trained to offer education, support and advocacy to those involved in dating abuse relationships as well as concerned friends, siblings, parents, teachers, law enforcement members and service providers. The live chat (IM-style) of the Helpline is another way for users to contact a peer advocate. They receive the same one-on-one, real-time, confidential information from a trained peer advocate as they do if they contact loveisrespect.org by text and phone.
Office of Violence Against Women
The Office on Violence Against Women (OVW), a component of the U.S. Department of Justice, provides national leadership in developing the nation's capacity to reduce violence against women through the implementation of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).
Teen Dating Violence
This site provides information about teen dating violence
The Halls: Web Series
Created by the Building Healthy Teen Relationships Initiative and the Defending Childhood Initiative at the Boston Public Health Commission, Division of Violence Prevention, The Halls is a web series featuring the stories of three young men living in Boston who are struggling with issues related to relationships, trauma, violence, and identity. The goal of the series is to prevent gender-based violence, promote healthy relationships among adolescents, and encourage young people to challenges the messages they have received about how to act in relationships. A discussion guide (PDF, 34 pages) is available on The Halls website which can help facilitators foster discussions around the themes of the series.
Tribal Justice and Safety
The site features the latest announcements, press releases, speeches and information regarding Department of Justice initiatives in tribal communities. It also provides comprehensive resources available through the Office of Tribal Justice and the Department's grant-making divisions: the Office of Justice Programs, Community Oriented Policing Services and the Office on Violence Against Women. Access to the Department's Combined Tribal Assistance Solicitation (CTAS) is also available on the Web site.
Resource: A National Protocol for Sexual Abuse Medical Forensic Examinations
This guide (PDF, 233 pages) provides information for healthcare providers who conduct sexual abuse medical forensic examinations of prepubescent children, as well as agencies involved in community response to child sexual abuse. It addresses the health care needs of these children and the gathering of forensic evidence for potential use within the criminal justice and/or child protection systems.
Report: Impact of Domestic Violence Policies and Practices on Girls and Young Women
This summary report (PDF, 19 pages) by OJJDP’s National Girls Initiative explains the issues discussed during a roundtable event with advocates from the violence against women and juvenile justice reform for girls communities. The report describes a set of principles identified by participants; research gaps; and promising future federal, state, and local directions to ensure girls and young women are not criminalized for behaviors due to experiences of trauma, and can access services and supports.
Resource: HIV Prevention Toolkit: A Gender-Responsive Approach
This toolkit (PDF, 138 pages) can help HIV prevention program planners and managers understand how to integrate gender into HIV prevention programs and support services for women and adolescent girls. As described in this blog post, the toolkit includes background information on how gender influences HIV vulnerability of women and girls, basic concepts related to gender and gender-responsive HIV prevention programming, and gender analysis and how it can be applied.
Suicide Prevention: Get Help Now
This fact sheet provides immediate resources for young people currently having suicidal thoughts and for supporting someone who is having thoughts of harming themselves. It also includes information on the warning signs and risk factors for suicide.