Breadcrumb
- Federal Resources
Federal Resources
USDA 1890 National Scholars Program
The USDA 1890 National Scholars Program is aimed at bolstering educational and career opportunities for students from rural or underserved communities around the country. The scholarship provides recipients with full tuition, fees, books, and room and board to attend one of the 1890 land-grant universities and pursue degrees in agriculture, food, natural resource sciences, or related academic disciplines. The scholarship may also include work experience at USDA.
Vital Signs: Demographic and Substance Use Trends Among Heroin Users — United States, 2002-2013
FDA and CDC analyzed data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health and National Vital Statistics System during 2002-2013 to assess trends in heroin use among demographic and particular substance-using groups. Results show that heroin use has increased significantly across most demographic groups. Results also suggest an increase in heroin abuse or dependence parallels the increase in heroin-related overdose deaths, and reflects heroin use is occurring in the context of broader poly-substance use.
Report: Frequency of Tobacco Use Among Middle and High School Students
Researchers from CDC and FDA analyzed data from the 2014 National Youth Tobacco Survey to determine how frequently middle school and high school students in the United States used cigarettes, e-cigarettes, cigars, and smokeless tobacco products. Among current users in high school, frequent use was most prevalent among smokeless tobacco users, followed by cigarette smokers, e-cigarette users, and cigar smokers. Among current users in middle school, frequent use was greatest among smokeless tobacco users, followed by cigarette smokers, cigar smokers, and e-cigarette users. Current use of two or more types of tobacco products was common.
Report: Flavored Tobacco Product Use Among Middle and High School Students
Researchers from CDC and FDA analyzed data from the 2014 National Youth Tobacco Survey to determine the prevalence of current use of flavored e-cigarette, hookah tobacco, cigar, pipe tobacco, or smokeless tobacco products, and menthol cigarettes among middle and high school students. An estimated 70% of all current youth tobacco users had used at least one flavored tobacco product in the past 30 days. Among current users, 63.3% used a flavored e-cigarette, 60.6% had used flavored hookah tobacco, and 63.5% had used a flavored cigar.
Share with Youth: This Free Life
This campaign aims to prevent and reduce tobacco use among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) young adults, ages 18-24, who are occasional smokers. As highlighted in a recent blog post describing the campaign, LGBT young adults in the United States are nearly twice as likely to use tobacco as other young adults.
Resource: New Tobacco Product Regulations
These regulations extend FDA authority to regulate all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, hookah, and cigars. According to the new rules, retailers will no longer be able to sell e-cigarettes, cigars, or other covered tobacco products to anyone under age 18 and all tobacco sales to those 26 and under will require photo identification.
Report: Tobacco Use Among Middle and High School Students — U.S., 2011–2016
This report analyzes data from the 2011–2016 National Youth Tobacco Surveys to determine recent patterns of current use of seven tobacco product types among U.S. middle and high school students. Decreases in cigarette and cigar use during 2011–2016 were offset by increases in hookah and e-cigarette use, resulting in no significant change in any tobacco use. In 2016, e-cigarettes remained the most commonly-used tobacco product among high school and middle school students.
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.
Problem-Oriented Guides for Police
The Problem-Oriented Guides for Police summarize knowledge about how police can reduce the harm caused by specific crime and disorder problems. They are guides to prevention and to improving the overall response to incidents, not to investigating offenses or handling specific incidents.
IACP Launches No-Cost Online Training on Child Trafficking
The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), in collaboration with COPS and the FBI’s Violent Crimes Against Children Section, released “Child Sex Trafficking: A Training Series for Frontline Officers.” This free, self-paced online course will educate frontline officers on how to recognize and respond to victims of child sex trafficking.
Resource: Focused Deterrence of High-Risk Individuals: Response Guide No. 13
This guide, developed by the Center for Problem-Oriented Policing, describes the concept of focused deterrence initiatives (FDI), administering and leading an FDI, and applying focused deterrence to specific crime problems. Police and police departments can use this guide to design and implement local FDIs.
Mymoney.gov
MyMoney.gov is the U.S. government's website dedicated to teaching all Americans the basics about financial education.
Enhancing Cultural Competence in Social Service Agencies: A Promising Approach to Serving Diverse Children and Families
This brief from HHS's Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation summarizes the state of the field on cultural competence in social services and provides service providers and administrators with concrete strategies for ongoing self-reflection and development. The brief also includes links and references for additional relevant resources, tools, and information.
Interim Report for the Department of Labor Youth Offender Demonstration Project: Process Evaluation
The U.S. Departments of Labor and Justice funded 14 local demonstration projects designed to assist youth at risk of criminal involvement, youth offenders, and gang members ages 14 through 24 into long-term employment . This process evaluation provides an interim assessment of the implementation process undertaken by each project and determines the extent to which each was effective in building upon existing programs and systems to serve targeted youth.
The Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP): Launching a Nationwide Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Effort
Authorized by Congress through the Affordable Care Act, PREP was designed to reduce teen pregnancies and their negative consequences. State PREP grantees had discretion to design their programs, but were expected to be evidence-based, provide education on both abstinence and contraceptive use, and educate youth on at least three of six adulthood preparation topics. States are also encouraged to target their programming to high-risk populations. This report illustrates states’ program decisions, using data gathered through telephone interviews with state grantee officials. Learn more (PDF, 92 pages).