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- Federal Resources
Federal Resources
Children's Bureau
The Children's Bureau (CB) is one of two bureaus within the Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Administration for Children and Families, of the Department of Health and Human Services. The Children's Bureau seeks to improve the safety, permanency and well-being of children through leadership, support for necessary services, and productive partnerships with states, tribes, and communities. It has the primary responsibility for administering federal programs that support state child welfare services.
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.
Report: Child Maltreatment 2015
This report from the Child Welfare Information Gateway provides state-level data from the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System on reports of abuse and neglect made to child protective services (CPS) agencies, the children involved, types of maltreatment, CPS responses, child and caregiver risk factors, services, and perpetrators.
Resource: Engaging Youth in Foster Care
This podcast shares the perspective of a youth formerly in foster care. It provides tips to caseworkers for engaging youth in developing their case plans and identifying supportive adults in their lives. This resource can help caseworkers as they work with youth who are in foster care or preparing to transition to adulthood.
Share with Youth: Being an Engaged and Involved Teen in Foster Care
This webpage provides information to teens in foster care about their permanency options, tools to help them transition to adulthood, and how to find support from other teens who have been in foster care.
Supporting Families Impacted by Incarceration — A Dialogue with Experts
This report, developed by the National Child Abuse and Neglect Technical Assistance and Strategic Dissemination Center, is the outcome of a meeting that convened national child welfare experts on families impacted by incarceration. It features key issues around this topic for practitioners and identifies needed resources and tools to support the workforce and families, along with a practical framework of intervention points from arrest to release.
John H. Chafee Foster Care Program for Successful Transition to Adulthood
The John H. Chafee Foster Care Program for Successful Transition to Adulthood (the Chafee program) provides funding to support youth/ young adults in or formerly in foster care in their transition to adulthood. The program is funded through formula grants awarded to child welfare agencies in States (including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands) and participating Tribes. Chafee funds are used to assist youth/ young adults in a wide variety of areas designed to support a successful transition to adulthood. Activities and programs include, but are not limited to, help with education, employment, financial management, housing, emotional support and assured connections to caring adults. Specific services and supports are determined by the child welfare agency, vary by State, locality and agency, and are often based on the individual needs of the young person. Many State or local agencies contract with private organizations to deliver services to young people.
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.
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.
Academic Achievement Trajectories of Homeless and Highly Mobile Students: Resilience in the Context of Chronic and Acute Risk
As featured by the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, the University of Minnesota released a study, Academic Achievement Trajectories of Homeless and Highly Mobile Students: Resilience in the Context of Chronic and Acute Risk, which examined academic achievement of students identified as homeless or highly mobile as compared with other students in the federal free meal program, reduced price meals, or neither. This study was partially federally funded by the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Science Foundation.
Framework For Evaluating Impact Of Informal Science Education Projects
Details the National Science Foundation's work to advance the informal science education field as a whole and provides an overview of impact evaluation and a look at some of the common issues,concerns, and opportunities in evaluation practice.
Beyond Looking Both Ways
This article describes a study funded by the National Science Foundation's Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences directorate, which is trying to understand the factors that put children at risk when crossing the street on a bike and on foot. The ultimate goal of the study is to provide information to parents that could help them when discussing safety with young children.
Report: National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) in Health and Health Care Department/Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Minority Health
This report (PDF) describes National CLAS Standards implementation activities supported and undertaken by state government agencies.
Above the Influence
This is the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign's site for teens. The site allows teens to examine the negative influences in their lives and how to rise above them. It offers extensive drug information in a fun, exploratory way
Drug Free Communities Support Program
The Drug-Free Communities Support Program is led by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). This anti-drug program provides grants of up to $100,000 to community coalitions that mobilize their communities to prevent youth alcohol, tobacco, illicit drug, and inhalant abuse. The grants support coalitions of youth; parents; media; law enforcement; school officials; faith-based organizations; fraternal organizations; State, local, and tribal government agencies; healthcare professionals; and other community representatives. The Drug-Free Communities Support Program enables the coalitions to strengthen their coordination and prevention efforts, encourage citizen participation in substance abuse reduction efforts, and disseminate information about effective programs.
Evidence-based Principles for Substance Abuse Prevention
This website presents a set of research-based principles upon which prevention programming can be based, as developed by ONDCP.
Methamphetamine Resources
The Federal government's central Web site for information and resources related to methamphetamine. The site was developed to assist policy makers, law enforcement, educators, health care professionals, and others who are working to reduce meth production, trafficking, and abuse. The site features a listserv to promote information sharing and interactive communication with professionals across the Nation.
Springtime: A Good Time to Think About Our Kids and Steroids
This blog post was written by Don Hooten, president of the Taylor Hooton Foundation, an advocacy group that raises awareness about the dangers of young people’s use of appearance- and performance-enhancing drugs (APED). It describes the prevalence and perception of APED use among youth and shares the story of Hooten’s son Taylor, who died after using anabolic steroids.
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.