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- Federal Resources
Federal Resources
Upcoming Event: November is National Adoption Month
This observance aims to increase national awareness of the need for permanent families for children and youth in the foster care system. This year’s theme, “We Never Outgrow the Need for Family—Just Ask Us,” reflects a focus on the importance of identifying permanent families for the thousands of 15- to 18-year-olds in foster care who are currently less likely to be adopted or who may age out of the system without a stable home. A new tip sheet, Talking with Older Youth About Adoption (PDF, 2 pages) provides child welfare professionals with a framework for how to talk with older youth about permanency and includes suggestions for how to make these conversations more effective.
Program Evaluation: A Variety of Rigorous Methods Can Help Identify Effective Interventions
This GAO report describes how program evaluations can help identify effective interventions.
Report: Access to Federal Financial Assistance for Homeless and Foster Youth
This report highlights obstacles faced by homeless youth and youth who have been in foster care in securing financial aid for college. The report includes six recommendations to improve access to financial assistance for these youth, including centralizing college information and considering legislative proposals to simplify federal requirements.
How Americans Are Expanding Their Use of the Internet (2001) Chapter 5: How Young People Have Embraced Computers and the Internet
A report by the U.S. Department of Commerce: Children and young adults have embraced new information technologies in large numbers. More than any other age group, these younger age groups use computers and the Internet widely for many of their daily activities.
How Access to Technology Benefits Children
This site includes a report, created by the Department of Commerce, which contains 11 stories about people who are working hard to ensure technology will enhance the lives of children.
Report: HHS's Response to the Recommendations of the Commission to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities
This report to Congress responds to recommendations for HHS contained in the March 2016 final report of the Commission to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities. It identifies areas in which the vision of HHS specifically overlaps with the Commission's recommendations and responds briefly to each of the individual recommendations that affect HHS.
Resource: Health Care Coverage for Homeless and At-Risk Youth
This fact sheet describes eligibility for health care coverage, including through Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), for youth experiencing or at risk of homelessness. It also provides information on subpopulations of youth who may be eligible, services covered, enrollment, and Medicaid and CHIP income eligibility levels for each state.
Resource: Social Media and Disaster Response
This website features resources related to social media’s role in emergency management, including a free online course, informational videos, and a literature review of current research and tools.
Report: Exploring Cross-Domain Instability in Families with Children
This brief examines different types of instability among children and families, using data on employment, income, moves, and changes in family and household composition. The brief shows significant differences in the prevalence of instability for children by household education level.
Report: Multi-Site Family Study on Incarceration, Parenting, and Partnering: Program Impacts Technical Report
This report presents findings on the impact of family strengthening services in four prison-based programs from the Multi-Site Family Study on Incarceration, Parenting, and Partnering and discusses the implications for policy, programs, and future research.
Report: Predictive Analytics in Child Welfare: An Assessment of Current Efforts, Challenges and Opportunities
This environmental scan, developed by the MITRE Corporation, explores how child welfare agencies currently use predictive analytics in their work. It describes several agencies’ motivations for using predictive analytics, how their models support casework practice, and the challenges encountered.
Resource: Attachment Behaviors in Children with Incarcerated Fathers
This podcast, created by the Institute for Research on Poverty, describes a new study on attachment in children who have an incarcerated father and discusses some of the factors that may lead to differences in children’s attachment behaviors.
Report: Psychotropic Medication Use among Children Who Are Subjects of Child Protective Services Investigations: Does Court Oversight Matter?
This brief examines courts’ roles in overseeing psychotropic medication prescriptions for children who were the subjects of child maltreatment investigations. It also explores the relationship between oversight roles, rates of psychotropic medication use, and rates at which children were re-reported to child protection agencies.
Report: Patterns of Foster Care Placement and Family Reunification following Child Maltreatment Investigations
This brief identifies characteristics of children and families who reunified with parents or family following the child’s stay in foster care, patterns regarding success or failure of reunification, and maltreatment re-reports among children reunified with their families.
Report: Parental Incarceration and Children in Nonparental Care
This brief compares children in nonparental care as a result of parental incarceration with those who experienced parental incarceration but not as a reason for nonparental care, and those with no experience of parental incarceration.
Department of Defense STARBASE
The DoD STARBASE is an educational program sponsored by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs. Students can participate in challenging "hands-on, mind-on" activities in aviation, science, technology, engineering, math, and space exploration. The program provides students with 20-25 hours of stimulating experiences at National Guard, Navy, Marine, Air Force Reserve and Air Force bases across the nation.
Adolescent Literacy Research Network
The Adolescent Literacy Research Network is a partnership of The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE), and Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), designed to support each agency's effort to enhance literacy and employment skills of young American adults.
Rural Education Resource Center
The Rural Education Resource Center is designed to disseminate information regarding research and practice to stakeholders on a wide range of topics of particular importance to schools and communities in rural America and to bring renewed attention to the problems and issues of students in rural schools.
SCOTUS Decision Supports LGBT Behavioral Health
This blog post by SAMHSA Administrator Pamela Hyde describes the importance of the Supreme Court’s historic ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, which states that the Constitution requires LGBT couples be allowed to marry no matter where they live, and marriages performed in one state must be recognized in every state. The post also highlights other steps the federal government has taken this year to improve the health and well-being of LGBT people.
Celebrating Minority Mental Health Month: Spotlight on Tribal Behavioral Health Needs
Minority Mental Health Month provided an opportunity to raise awareness of how mental health and substance use issues affect ethnic minority groups. This blog post, written by a SAMHSA intern and member of the Rosebud Sioux and Oglala Sioux Tribes, describes a personal journey with addiction and provides hope and encouragement to tribal youth, tribal leaders, scholars, and community members to seek help and promote recovery and healing.
Now Available: Children's Mental Health Awareness Day Webcast
The 2015 Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day national event recorded webcast is now available. The event highlighted the needs of youth and young adults with mental or substance use disorders and their families, while demonstrating how these needs can be best met through integrated care. The event also introduced cutting-edge community strategies for integrating behavioral health care with primary health care, education, and child welfare.
Is it ADHD or Trauma Symptoms?
This podcast describes how children exposed to traumatic events can exhibit symptoms that overlap with ADHD and, in some cases, could result in inaccurate diagnoses. It also provides suggestions for ways to talk about impulsive and disruptive behaviors with school staff and pediatricians to make sure that children receive the services they need.
Behavioral Health Equity Barometer
The “Behavioral Health Equity Barometer” (PDF, 20 pages) report is a one-year snapshot of the state of behavioral health of youth and adults by demographics and insurance status. Highlights of the findings show there are gaps in treatment for some behavioral health conditions among racial/ethnic minority populations and people without health insurance.
Quick Guide for Clinicians Based on TIP 57: Trauma-Informed Care in Behavioral Health Services
This resource equips care providers and administrators with information on caring for people who have experienced trauma or may be at risk for developing trauma stress reactions. It addresses prevention, intervention, and treatment issues and strategies.
SAMHSA's "Talk. They Hear You." Start the Talk Trailer
Start the Talk is the newest component of SAMHSA's "Talk. They Hear You." Underage Drinking Prevention National Media Campaign aimed to reduce underage drinking among youth ages 9 to 15. This online role-play tool gives parents and caregivers the opportunity to practice talking with their children about underage drinking, helping to build practical skills and confidence to conduct these conversations in real life.