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- Federal Resources
Federal Resources
Get Smart About Drugs
Get Smart About Drugs is DEA's websit for parents, educators, and caregivers that features information about different kinds of drugs and associated paraphernalia, trends and statistics related to substances and their use, teens and drug use, the consequences of using drugs, and how the public can be involved in drug prevention and awareness.
Resource: CampusDrugPrevention.gov
This website serves as a one-stop source of information on preventing and addressing college drug use, including data, news updates, drug scheduling and penalties, publications, research, and more. Institutions of higher education and their surrounding communities can use this information in their efforts to prevent drug abuse among college students and promote health and safety on campus.
Resource: Drugs of Abuse: A DEA Resource Guide
This guide (PDF, 94 pages) provides information on the most commonly abused and misused drugs in the U.S., including their effects on the body and mind, overdose potential, origin, legal status, and other key facts. Medical practitioners, law enforcement officials, educators, families, and communities can use this resource in their work to prevent and address substance abuse.
Campus Drug Prevention
Campus Drug Prevention is DEA’s website for professionals working to prevent drug misuse among college students.
Operation Prevention
Operation Prevention is DEA’s collaboration with Discovery Education that offers school-, community-, and workplace-based prevention resources.
Red Ribbon Campaign
The Red Ribbon Campaign is DEA's campaign for parents, teachers, educators, and community organizations to raise awareness about substance abuse.
Red Ribbon Patch Program
The Red Ribbon Patch Program is designed to provide Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts the opportunity to earn a patch from the DEA by engaging in anti-drug activities in celebration of Red Ribbon Week.
Get Smart about Drugs Publications
DEA's Get Smart about Drugs publications database, featuring English and Spanish versions of guides, posters, fact cards, and other materials.
- Drugs of Abuse: www.getsmartaboutdrugs.gov/sites/getsmartaboutdrugs.com/files/publications/Drugs%20of%20Abuse%202020-Web%20Version-508%20compliant-4-24-20.pdf
- Growing Up Drug Free: A Parent’s Guide to Prevention: www.getsmartaboutdrugs.gov/sites/getsmartaboutdrugs.com/files/publications/GrowingUpDrugFree%28Final-508%29%282017%29.pdf
- Preventing Marijuana Use Among Youth and Young Adults: www.getsmartaboutdrugs.gov/sites/getsmartaboutdrugs.com/files/publications/Preventing%20Marijuana%20Use%20%28Final-508%29%20%286-11-19%29.pdf
- Prescription for Disaster: How Teens Abuse Medicine: www.getsmartaboutdrugs.gov/sites/getsmartaboutdrugs.com/files/publications/DEA_PrescriptionForDisaster-2018ed_508_0.pdf
- Prevention with Purpose: A Strategic Planning Guide for Preventing Drug Misuse Among College Students: www.campusdrugprevention.gov/sites/default/files/Strategic%20Planning%20Guide%20%28Final-Online%29%20%281%29.pdf
- Fact cards for adults about various drugs – www.getsmartaboutdrugs.com/factcards
National Prescription Drug Take Back Day
National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is DEA's event for parents working with youth and young adults to plan programs to safely dispose of unwanted, unused, or expired prescription medicines.
College Preparation Checklist
This resource can help students of all ages to prepare academically and financially for education beyond high school (PDF, 28 pages). It provides an overview of options for financial aid for college, and checklists for students and parents to reference at each stage of a student’s education.
Share With Youth: Budgeting for College
ED’s Office of Federal Student Aid reminds students about the importance of budgeting to achieve future financial goals and prepare for unexpected bumps in the road.
Share with Youth: FAFSA Overview
The Office of Federal Student Aid at the Department of Education provides an overview of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The FAFSA takes about 30 minutes to complete, is free, and provides students access to grants, loans, and work-study funds from the federal government.
Share with Youth: Types of Federal Student Aid
The Office of Federal Student Aid offers more than $150 billion to students each year in the form of grants, loans, and work-study funds. While some colleges can also offer private student loans, federal loans often have lower fixed interest rates and other benefits.
Share with Youth: After the FAFSA — What Happens Next
This Office of Federal Student Aid video explains what happens after students complete and submit their FAFSA. The U.S. Department of Education will process the application and indicated colleges will be notified. Students will receive a Student Aid Report (SAR) and can check their student aid status online.
Resource: Program-Level Gainful Employment Earnings Data
This data set provides information on program-level outcomes of college students preparing for gainful employment that can be used by prospective students and their families to weigh their options. Overall, the data show graduates of career training programs at public institutions generally fare better than those of comparable programs at for-profit colleges, earning higher salaries and being more prepared to enter higher earning fields.
Report: National Student Loan FY 2014 Cohort Default Rate
These data describe the FY 2014 cohort student loan default rate, which increased slightly from 11.3% to 11.5% for students who entered repayment between fiscal years 2013 and 2014. During the tracking period, more than five million borrowers entered repayment and 580,671 of them defaulted on their loans.
Resource: Digital and Social Media Financial Aid Collateral
This website provides digital and social media resources to help teachers and counselors share important federal student aid information with students and parents. It features sample social media posts, messaging guidelines, blog posts, infographics, presentations, videos, and fact sheets on a variety of financial aid topics.
Share with Youth: Advice to Young Adults from Young Adults: Helpful Hints for Policy Change in the Mental Health System
This resource (PDF, 8 pages) can guide youth- and young adult-led organizations that want to make policy changes in the mental health system. Developed bythe Research and Training Center for Pathways to Positive Futures and Portland State University, it contains recommendations and quotes from a series of interviews with young adult leaders from advocacy groups that focus on mental health challenges or living in foster care.
Share with Youth: Changing the Rules: A Guide for Youth and Young Adults with Mental Health Conditions Who Want to Change Policy
This policy guide, developed by Pathways RTC (Research and Training Center), is written for youth- and young adult-led groups and organizations that want to make changes in policies related to mental health and other human services that affect them and other transition-age youth. The guide is intended for use by youth and young adults working together within a group or organization to make specific change, usually in partnership with other agencies, groups, or organizations.
Internet Safety
This site, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Educational Technology, includes a consolidated list of federal links providing information on internet safety for children and youth.
Resources: High School Issue Briefs
These issue briefs are the latest in a series that presents strategies high schools can use to help at-risk students stay in school and graduate:
- Case Management for High Schools
Provides information on case management, a school-based dropout prevention strategy
in which a social worker or school professional advises students and connects them to services to address their academic and non-academic needs - Social Services
Describes the social services high schools can provide to address the non-academic issues that can negatively affect student participation and outcomes, such as health care, mental health care, and assistance with shelter, clothing, or transportation
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).
Guidance: Raising Awareness on Specific Learning Disabilities
This guidance for state and local educational agencies clarifies that students with specific learning disabilities — such as dyslexia, dyscalculia, and dysgraphia — have unique educational needs. The guidance also clarifies that there is nothing in the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act prohibiting the use of the terms dyslexia, dyscalculia, and dysgraphia in a student’s evaluation, determination of eligibility for special education and related services, or in developing the student’s individualized education program.