Announcements

Sol Flores (founding executive director of La Casa Norte in Chicago) and Margaret Mitchell (president and CEO of YWCA Greater Cleveland) share tips for how runaway and homeless youth programs can adopt a “housing-first” approach that emphasizes stable, permanent housing as a primary strategy for ending homelessness. Learn more.

This fact sheet illustrates the steps that the Obama administration and its federal partners are taking to support foster youth. These efforts include ensuring access to healthy meals, protecting the welfare of Native youth, building financial security, keeping young people out of the justice system, creating paths to employment, supporting educational success, and developing public service and private investment opportunities. Learn more.

ED encourages all college students to fill out the FAFSA. This blog post outlines the reasons why and provides links to resources that can help students understand their financial aid options. Learn more.

National Impaired Driving Prevention Month is a time to spread awareness of the risks, and strengthening efforts to prevent drugged driving. This blog post highlights the potential fatal outcomes of drugged driving and highlights the efforts of individuals, communities, and states to work toward improving safety. Learn more.

This blog post outlines the issues discussed at a recent meeting that Secretary of Education Arne Duncan held with Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander education stakeholders. At the meeting, attendees requested a clear statement that Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs) are indeed in the same class of institutions as Historically Black Colleges and Universities and other minority-serving institutions under the Higher Education Act (HEA). In response to these concerns, the Department updated its website, recommending listing AANAPISIs along with the other classes of schools delineated under HEA. Learn more.  

This report introduces the Children and Youth Task Force in Disasters model, which promotes the effective coordination of the diverse systems and agencies that serve children and youth following a disaster. This model has been implemented in the wake of multiple recent disasters, including the Joplin, Missouri, tornado and Hurricane Sandy. It provides recommendations to states, tribes, territories, and communities about launching their own task forces and describes how the Administration for Children and Families can provide support. Learn more (PDF, 14 pages).  

This article highlights the work of Tulane’s Drop-In Clinic, which provides free medical care to teens in New Orleans. It shares some of the best practices that have helped the clinic successfully reduce barriers and connect youth to care. Learn more.

Liz Marks shares how her accident from texting while driving changed her life. Learn more.

This blog entry outlines the four things recent graduates should do as they prepare to make their first student loan payment: get organized, contact the loan servicer, estimate monthly payments, and select a repayment plan. Learn more.

The Child Welfare Information Gateway has developed two new Logic Model Builders, Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention and Family Support Programs and Postadoption Services Programs. These Logic Model Builders can help programs define their goals, outcomes, and indicators of success and select appropriate evaluation instruments. Learn more.

In a new video, Attorney General Eric Holder announced the integration of multiple online tools to expand the reach of the AMBER Alert early warning system of urgent child abduction cases. Facebook will send targeted AMBER alerts to users in certain search areas, and Bing will allow users to access alerts through its online broadcast tools. Learn more.

”Coverage of Behavioral Services for Youth with Substance Use Disorders,” (PDF, 16 pages) aims to help states (a) design a benefit that will meet the needs of youth with substance use disorders and their families and (b) comply with their obligations under Medicaid’s Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment requirements. This guidance is based on research and results of a SAMHSA-supported technical expert panel. Learn more (PDF, 16 pages).

CDC offers many opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to gain experience in the field of public health. Opportunities for summer internships and year-long fellowships for 2015 are now available. Learn more.

”Child Maltreatment, 2013” (PDF, 250 pages) is the 24th edition of the annual report on child abuse and neglect data collected through the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System. According to the report, from 2009 to 2013, overall rates of victimization declined from 9.3 to 9.1 per 1,000 children in the population. Learn more (PDF, 250 pages).

To gather public feedback about the Administration’s plan to address rising college costs, the Department of Education hosted three public forums across the country and will hold the final forum at Louisiana State University on November 21. Learn more about the forums and President Obama’s agenda to address the cost of higher education. 

OWH developed the new Communication Skills Building program to help community organizations lead discussions with families and caregivers about improving their communication with their preteen and teen daughters. The free materials include facilitators’ guides, online videos, and tip sheets for parents to use with African-American and Hispanic communities. Learn more.

Date: January 30 and 31, 2014
Convened by MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership and host committee members―CNCS, the Harvard School of Public Health, OJJDP, and United Way Worldwide―the 2014 National Mentoring Summit will highlight evidence-based mentoring practices, innovative program models, and emerging research. Learn more.  

CDC has updated its GetTested website, which helps users find confidential HIV and STD testing. Updates include adding a quiz to its testing locator to help users determine which sexually transmitted disease tests they need. Learn more.

This web-based guide offers facility leadership and staff who work with confined youth information on principles, concepts, and practices in use in custody facilities. Learn more.

This blog post discusses the issue of sexual assault on college campuses and the damaging effects of sexual assault for victims and communities. The post also describes key elements of sexual assault prevention campaigns and provides links to resources from the Department of Justice created to aid in campus sexual assault prevention efforts. Learn more.