Breadcrumb
- Federal Resources
Federal Resources
Addressing the Problem of Juvenile Bullying
This brief provides child caretakers and educators with a definition of bullying and strategies for how to address and prevent it.
Bullying in Schools: An Overview
The Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), created a bulletin, “Bullying in Schools: An Overview,” that discusses types and frequencies of bullying, as well as truancy and student achievement, and what effect engagement in school has on these factors (PDF, 12 pages).
Bullying and Civil Rights: An Overview of School Districts’ Federal Obligation to Respond to Harassment
This archived webinar addresses the obligations of school districts to respond, per federal anti-discrimination laws, to allegations of harassment in a quick and thorough manner. Inappropriate and appropriate responses are discussed, as well as steps to take if harassment continues.
Report: Student Victimization in U.S. Schools: Results from the 2015 School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey
This report examines student criminal victimization and the characteristics of crime victims and nonvictims. It also provides findings on student reports of the presence of gangs and weapons, and the availability of drugs and alcohol at school, student reports of bullying, and fear and avoidance behaviors of crime victims and nonvictims at school.
'Margins of the Margins': FYSB Grantee Coordinates Response to Trafficking in New York
Edwin Gould Services for Children and Families, a New York City-based program, is one of three programs chosen to participate in a two-year demonstration project aimed at helping victims of severe trafficking. In this article, a representative from the organization discusses the project’s goals and wider efforts to combat trafficking in New York.
Bought and Sold: Helping Young People Escape from Commercial Sexual Exploitation
This booklet provides youth workers with an overview of the issue of human trafficking as well as concrete information about how to help survivors. Information about populations of youth that may be more at risk for trafficking, signs of sexual exploitation, tips for providing appropriate supports and services to survivors, and suggestions for when to involve the victim’s family and the police are included.
Bright Idea: Emergency Shelters Look for Human Trafficking When Youth Walk in the Door
This article provides tips for youth workers on recognizing youth who may be survivors of sexual exploitation. The article notes that many youth will seek services for other issues and, if made to feel comfortable, will divulge their experience with trafficking. The article recommends that youth workers have the knowledge to recognize the signs of trafficking, go appropriately off-script in their interactions with youth if they suspect trafficking is taking place, and maintain a non-judgmental stance when speaking with youth to build trust.
Confronting Commercial Sexual Exploitation and Sex Trafficking of Minors in the United States
This OJJDP-sponsored report, released by the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council, aims to strengthen prevention, identification, and response efforts by offering recommendations for the response to commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking of minors.
Educating Young Men as a Way to End Commercial Sexual Exploitation
This article from the National Clearinghouse on Families and Youth features a Q&A with a representative from the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation (CAASE) who discusses the organization’s research on the demand for prostitution and how youth-serving professionals can use the curriculum developed by CAASE to encourage young men to take a stand against sexual exploitation.
Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB)
FYSB supports the organizations and communities that work every day to reduce the risk of youth homelessness, adolescent pregnancy and domestic violence. Learn more about FYSB programs.
Most At Risk: Population-Based Approaches for Helping Trafficking Victims
This set of articles explores youth populations who are most prone to trafficking and what youth and family workers can do to help them recover from that trauma.
Prevent Trafficking by Reaching Out to Transportation and Hospitality Providers
This article describes how anti-human-trafficking groups are partnering with organizations in the hospitality and transportation industry to prevent the commercial sexual exploitation of youth and what youth programs can do to raise awareness in their communities.
Preparing Staff to Work with Trafficked Youth
Highlighted by the National Clearinghouse on Families & Youth, these resources from the Polaris Project, an organization that works to combat sex trafficking and labor trafficking, can help youth-serving professionals learn how to work with youth who are survivors of human trafficking. A slideshow developed for service professionals provides an overview of the issue of human trafficking, associated myths, and challenges to victim identification and offers suggestions for raising awareness of human trafficking in local communities, reaching out to potential victims, and assessing and working with survivors. A downloadable assessment form is also available for youth-serving professionals to use to assess potential victims of human trafficking.
Sexually Exploited or Abused Minors Reporting
Call the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s (NCMEC) hotline at 1-800-THE-LOST to report sexually exploited or abused minors or submit a tip online at http://www.cybertipline.org.
Understanding and Supporting Trafficking Victims
Highlighted by the National Clearinghouse on Families & Youth, this cheat sheet from the Polaris Project, an organization that works to combat sex trafficking and labor trafficking, provides youth-serving professionals with a brief overview of the issue of human trafficking, as well as related laws, statistics, and common myths and misconceptions.
Web Forum Shares Tips on Providing Services to Young Victims of Human Trafficking
This article provides highlights from the web forum, Providing Services to Runaway Youth and Victims of Human Trafficking, which was cosponsored by the Department of Justice’s Office for Victims of Crime and its Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Tips and takeaways from the forum include collecting data from trafficked youth to support future applications for funding, understanding that trafficked youth may not see themselves as victims, and promoting a victim-centered approach, versus seeing victims of human trafficking as criminals.
Report: New Partners in the Fight Against Trafficking
This report examines multiple youth programs that are working to prevent human trafficking and support survivors. It also provides guidance for providers who are working with young human trafficking survivors who have recently exited abuse.
Resource: Serving Trafficked Youth
This podcast features representatives from Tumbleweed Runaway Program, a grantee in FYSB’s Domestic Victims of Human Trafficking Program, describing some of the challenges they face while serving trafficked youth and how the grant will help.
Report: Youth Involvement in the Sex Trade: A National Study
This report (PDF, 166 pages) describes a recent multi-method, multi-site study using interviews with more than 900 youth involved in the sex trade to better understand the lives and needs of these youth.
Report: Intersections of Human Trafficking, Domestic Violence, and Sexual Assault
This report (PDF, 21 pages) highlights the nexus between domestic and sexual violence and human trafficking. Developed by FYSB’s Family Violence Prevention and Services Program (FVPSA) and the Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence, the report shares information and recommendations from a roundtable hosted by FVPSA. The roundtable addressed models and strategies to deliver survivor-centered, trauma-informed services, policies that sustain coordination, and capacity building across federal, state, national, and local agencies and systems.
Attorney General’s Advisory Committee on American Indian and Alaska Native Children Exposed to Violence: Ending Violence so Children Can Thrive
Commissioned as part of Attorney General Eric Holder’s Defending Childhood initiative, this report from the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee on American Indian and Alaska Native Children Exposed to Violence provides recommendations to address the impact of violence on tribal youth (PDF, 258 pages) through trauma-informed and culturally appropriate programs and services.
Best Practices to Address Community Gang Problems: OJJDP's Comprehensive Gang Model
The Comprehensive Gang Model developed by the OJJDP focuses on community prevention and intervention in balance with law enforcement suppression activities. The model involves five strategies for responding to gang-involved youth and their families. These include community mobilization, opportunities provision, social intervention, suppression, organizational change and development. This brief discusses best practices for implementing the model.
Child and Youth Victimization Known to Police, School and Medical Authorities
This report from the Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention outlines what types of violence children report and what professionals are aware of the reported violence. The report shows that 46 percent of victimized children were known to school, police, or medical authorities.
Children, Youth, and Families Education and Research Network
CYFERnet is a national network of Land Grant university faculty and county Extension educators working to support community-based educational programs for children, youth, parents and families. It provides program, evaluation and technology assistance for children, youth and family community-based programs and is funded as a joint project of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's NIFA and the Cooperative Extension System
Children and Identity Theft
This resource from the Federal Trade Commission offers steps to help parents avoid, recognize, and repair the damage caused by child identity theft.