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- Federal Resources
Federal Resources
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.
Grants.gov
Grants.gov is a secure, reliable entry way to discretionary federal grants from multiple agencies. Applicants can use a single comprehensive site to discover and apply for opportunities from all 26 federal grant-making agencies.
Young Workers
This resource from the Department of Labor's Occupational Safety & Health Administration provides teens, educators, parents, and employers with information on young worker issues. Details about workers' rights and links to training and other educational tools, including state youth employment laws, may also be found on this site.
Civil Rights Guidance to K-12 Schools on Single-Sex Classes
Guidance from OCR advises schools on how to offer single-sex classes (PDF, 36 pages) while complying with Title IX. Presented in a question-and-answer format, the guidance addresses common scenarios that schools may face when designing single-sex programs.
Supporting the Success of Youth in Juvenile Justice Settings
On February 25, 2015, OCR and the Choice Program at UMBC partnered to host a symposium on supporting the education of young people in juvenile justice settings. At the event, young people who have had brushes with the law shared how the Choice Program is helping them to turn their lives around.
Report: Delivering Justice
This report (PDF, 44 pages) describes OCR’s efforts during the last year to protect students’ civil rights and increase educational equity. The report includes examples of OCR’s enforcement activities, highlights of notable cases, and the guidance documents OCR released in 2015.
Report: Sexual Victimization in Prisons, Jails, and Juvenile Correctional Facilities
This report (PDF, 97 pages) presents the findings of the Review Panel on Prison Rape. The Panel gathered information on the practices of selected correctional institutions that had either a low or a high prevalence of inmate sexual victimization and made recommendations that aim to help eliminate sexual victimization in prisons, jails, and juvenile correctional facilities.
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.
Resource: Dear Colleague Letter on Gender Equity in Career and Technical Education
This Dear Colleague Letter (PDF, 17 pages) emphasizes that students, regardless of their sex, must have equal access to the range of career and technical programs offered. It also provides examples of how schools could fail to comply with these requirement and the actions they could take to remedy any violations.
Resource: Civil Rights of Students with ADHD
This guidance (PDF, 42 pages) clarifies the obligation of schools to provide students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) with equal educational opportunity under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
Resource: Protecting Students from Religious Discrimination
This website features federal resources regarding religious discrimination, as well as policy guidance and examples of OCR case resolutions involving religious discrimination claims.
Report: Securing Equal Educational Opportunity
This annual report (PDF, 44 pages) summarizes OCR’s compliance and enforcement activities in FY 2016. OCR received a record 16,270 complaint filings, resolved 8,625 cases, and initiated 13 proactive compliance reviews.
Resource: Parent and Educator Resource Guide to Section 504 in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools
This resource guide (PDF, 52 pages) summarizes key requirements of Section 504, the federal law that provides a broad spectrum of protections for students against discrimination on the basis of disability, and explains how Section 504 applies in various situations within public elementary and secondary schools. This guide can help members of the school community better understand Section 504 and assist parents of students with disabilities in ensuring their children secure all the services they are entitled to receive.
Resource: Restraint and Seclusion of Students with Disabilities
This Dear Colleague Letter (PDF, 124 pages) describes restraint and seclusion, and the limits federal civil rights laws impose on the use of these practices by public schools. This resource, and an accompanying question and answer document (PDF, 2 pages), can help schools and school districts understand how the use of restraint and seclusion may result in discrimination against students with disabilities.
Education: A Key Social Determinant
In response to data reflecting low graduation rates among some racial and ethnic minorities, the Institute for Research and Reform in Education developed First Things First (FTF) a comprehensive school reform initiative. FTF aims to engage students intellectually and emotionally in their schools through instructional improvement, small learning communities, and family and student advocacy systems. FTF is currently implemented in schools throughout the country, reaching over 60,000 students, and successfully increasing high school graduation rates.
Promise Neighborhoods
To address the challenges faced by students living in communities of concentrated poverty, Promise Neighborhoods grantees and their partner organizations will plan to provide services from early learning to college and career, including programs to improve the health, safety, and stability of neighborhoods, and boost family engagement in student learning.
The Education Innovator
Weekly, archived newsletters from the Department of Education, Office of Innovation and Improvement.
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.