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Federal Resources
Understanding EVIDENCE
This website offers public health practitioners, as well as CDC grantees, researchers, program evaluators, technical assistance providers, and other decision-makers, resources for making evidenced-informed decisions around youth violence prevention. The free, interactive training modules, case studies, and other resources on the site can help users define the multiple forms of evidence, identify standards of rigor, explore ways to collect evidence, and understand key stages of evidence-based decision making.
Youth Violence Protective Factors
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control convened a panel of experts in the fields of youth development, violence prevention, and analytic methods to discuss protective influences against youth violence and how these can shape prevention efforts. Work from this panel is featured in a special supplement of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine titled, “Protective Factors for Youth Violence Perpetration Issues, Evidence, and Public Health Implications."
Prevalence of Sexual Violence Against Children and Use of Social Services — Seven Countries, 2007-2013
As a member of the global public-private partnership Together for Girls, CDC collaborated with Cambodia, Haiti, Kenya, Malawi, Swaziland, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe to conduct national household surveys of children and youth, ages 13–24, to measure the extent of violence against children. The lifetime prevalence of experiencing any form of sexual violence in childhood ranged from 4.4% among females in Cambodia to 37.6% among females in Swaziland, with prevalence in most countries greater than 25%. In most countries surveyed, the proportion of survivors who received services, including health and child protective services, was ≤10.0%.
Second National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence
Children’s Exposure to Violence, Crime, and Abuse: An Update (PDF, 16 pages) presents findings from the second National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence (NatSCEV II), conducted in 2011. NatSCEV II gathered data about exposure to violence among a new group of 4,500 children and youth, and added new categories of crime and victimization. Findings from the NatSCEV II show that 60% of young people were exposed to violence in the past year, and more than one in 10 reported five or more exposures.
Report: School-Level Practices to Increase Availability of Fruits, Vegetables, and Whole Grains, and Reduce Sodium in School Meals — United States, 2000, 2006, and 2014
CDC researchers analyzed school-level implementation of the Department of Agriculture’s school nutrition standards, specifically on practices related to fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and sodium. Results show almost all schools offer whole grain foods, vegetables, and fruits during the school day, and the percentage of schools making efforts to increase the availability of these foods and decrease sodium increased from 2000 to 2014.
Resource: Healthy Schools Website
CDC’s School Health Branch launched the Healthy Schools website. The site will serve as the main resource for information on school-based physical activity and management of chronic conditions. It also contains information on school health guidelines, local school wellness policy, and related resources and tools.
Report: 2014 School Health Policies and Practices Study
CDC’s Division of Adolescent and School Health released the 2014 School Health Policies and Practices Study (SHPPS). SHPPS is a national survey periodically conducted to assess school health policies and practices at the state, district, school, and classroom levels. Two additional resources accompany the report: 2014 Overview (PDF 4 pages) and Trends Over Time: 2000-2014 (PDF, 6 pages).
Resource: Essentials for Childhood Framework: Steps to Create Safe, Stable, Nurturing Relationships and Environments for All Children
This framework proposes strategies communities can use to promote children and families’ positive development and to prevent child abuse and neglect. It includes four goal areas and suggested steps based on best available evidence to achieve each goal.
Resource: STOP SV: A Technical Package to Prevent Sexual Violence
This technical package (PDF, 48 pages) provides strategies based on the best available evidence to help communities and states prioritize the prevention activities with the greatest potential to reduce sexual violence and its consequences. This accompanying infographic highlights statistics related to sexual violence as well as the prevention strategies found in the technical package.
Resource: Zika Guidance for Schools
This interim guidance addresses concerns about the risk for Zika virus infections in schools, provides recommendations for prevention measures schools can take to reduce the potential risk for Zika transmission on school premises and among students, and shares information on responding to a confirmed case of Zika virus.
Resource: INSPIRE — Seven Strategies for Ending Violence Against Children
This evidence-based technical package (PDF, 108 pages) contains solutions to help countries and communities prevent and respond to violence against children and adolescents.
Resource: Striving to Reduce Youth Violence Everywhere (STRYVE)
This web app provides information and space for practitioners and teams to develop and edit customized youth violence prevention plans and measure progress.
Report: Physical Education Attendance Among U.S. High School Students
This report analyzes long-term trends in physical education attendance among high school students in the United States over the past 20 years. The report shows that half of high school students do not attend physical education classes and attendance in these classes steadily declines as students move through high school.
Share with Youth: Advice for Safe and Healthy Travel for Students
This webpage provides information that can assist students in staying healthy while studying abroad. It contains advice and resources that can help students prepare to travel, protect their health abroad, and safely return home.
Resource: A Comprehensive Technical Package for the Prevention of Youth Violence and Associated Risk Behaviors
This technical package (PDF, 64 pages) highlights six youth violence prevention strategies that represent the best available evidence on preventing youth violence and its consequences. It also articulates a select set of strategies and approaches to achieve the vision of CDC’s national initiative, Striving To Reduce Youth Violence Everywhere. Communities and states can use this resource to guide and inform decision-making related to youth violence prevention efforts.
Resource: Increasing Physical Education and Physical Activity: A Framework for Schools
This framework (PDF, 8 pages) from the CDC’s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion can help schools plan and organize physical education and activity before, during, and after school to increase students’ overall physical activity and health.
Report: 2016 School Health Policies and Practices Study
This report describes the findings of the 2016 School Health Policies and Practices Study (SHPPS), a national study periodically conducted to assess school health policies and practices at the state, district, school, and classroom levels. SHPPS addresses health education, physical education and physical activity, nutrition environment and services, and other tenets of the whole child approach.
Resource: Health Education Curriculum Analysis Tool (HECAT) E-Learning Module
This self-paced, online training module provides an overview of the HECAT, describes how to use the HECAT to develop or select a curriculum, and shares information and examples to ensure curriculum decisions meet student needs. School districts and schools can use the HECAT to select or develop appropriate and effective health education curricula and improve the delivery of health education.
Resource: Parent Engagement
This webpage provides an overview of parent engagement in schools, a promising protective factor that has been linked to better student behavior, higher academic achievement, and enhanced social skills. It also features fact sheets and other resources on parent engagement for school districts, school administrators, teachers, other school staff, parents, and families.
2017 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) Results
These reports present information about the percentages of high school and middle school students who engage in certain risk behaviors, along with the status of school health policies and programs designed to address those behaviors.
2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) Results
The 2019 YRBS results present a promising picture for some behaviors and experiences among high school students; however, other areas reveal that teens are still engaging in behaviors that put them at risk. While these health risk behaviors vary by sex, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation and grade, the 2019 YRBS results show that there is more work to do to help all teens create lifelong healthy behaviors.
Preventing Teen Dating Violence and Youth Violence Program
Different types of violence are connected and often share the same root causes. CDC’s Preventing Teen Dating and Youth Violence by Addressing Shared Risk and Protective Factors program funds 5 local health departments to engage in primary prevention activities to prevent teen dating violence and youth violence.
Youth Advisory Councils
Youth Advisory Councils (YACs) provide ongoing advice and support to school districts on policies and practices that affect students. This webpage provides a detailed overview of Youth Advisory Councils (YACs). It describes the role YACs play in improving the schools and communities they serve, discusses how they can use data to make decisions and create action plans, and outlines the structure of a YAC.
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.
National Guard Youth Challenge Program
The mission of the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program is to intervene in and reclaim the lives of at-risk youth to produce program graduates with the values, skills, education and self-discipline necessary to succeed as adults.