The National Center for Mental Health Promotion and Youth Violence Prevention provides technical assistance and training to 83 school districts and communities that receive grants from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Upcoming SS/HS Grantee Events:
May 13-15, 2008
Communications Institute for 2007 and Sustainability Working Meeting for 2006 Project Directors
For other upcoming SS/HS events, click here.
Recent SS/HS Events:
April 10, 2008
Cultural and Linguistic Competence: The National Center's Framework
April 17, 2008
Engaging Latino Families
Registration Is Now Open—2008 Georgetown University Training Institutes NEW!
The Training Institutes will focus on developing local systems of care for children and adolescents with or at risk for emotional disturbances and their families. Systems of care emphasize community-based care, comprehensive and individualized services and supports, services provided within the least restrictive environment, full participation of families and youth, coordination among child-serving agencies and programs, and cultural and linguistic competence. In-depth, practical information will be provided on how to develop and operate systems of care and how to provide high-quality, effective, clinical interventions and supports within them.
SS/HS grantees are encouraged to attend and should contact their FPOs about using grant money for this event. Information and registration can be found at http://gucchd.georgetown.edu/programs/ta_center/TrainingInstitutes/index2.html.
SS/HS Evaluation Toolkit NEW!
The SS/HS Evaluation Toolkit
gives grantees access to tools, information, and resources to design and implement an evaluation that provides information for the improvement of the program while fulfilling federal reporting requirements and obligations to the cross-site National Evaluation. The four sections of the Evaluation Toolkit guide project directors through the evaluation process, from hiring an evaluator to communicating evaluation results to help sustain the program. Visit the toolkit at http://www.promoteprevent.org/resources/evaluation_toolkit.
Cultural and Linguistic Competence (CLC) Toolkit
The National Center has published a toolkit on Cultural and Linguistic Competence that is based on a model of three interconnected arches that represent organizational structure, engagement, and services/activities/interventions. Together, the three arches provide the support needed to create a solid foundation for the SS/HS initiative. The toolkit includes benchmarks that grantees can use to gauge their level of implementation in each of the three areas. It also includes corresponding resources that grantees can use to move their initiatives to the next level of implementation.
Visit the toolkit at http://www.promoteprevent.org/Resources/clc/index.html.
Project Resource Guide for SS/HS Grantees
The National Center has published a guide to help grantees review the progress of their grant and engage partners in both the leadership and management aspects of the Safe Schools/Healthy Students initiative. It reflects the experiences of over 200 SS/HS sites in achieving program outcomes and creating systems change. The narrative discusses the unique phase of start-up and delineates its key tasks, concerns, partnerships, and events. Subsequent sections focus on implementation, partnership and collaborations, evaluation, and sustainability.
The Project Resource Guide can be viewed and downloaded at http://www.promoteprevent.org/Publications/ProjectResourceGuide.html.
Creating Safer School Environments
The Consortium to Prevent School Violence Web site was launched November 13, 2007. It can be accessed at http://www.preventschoolviolence.org. The Consortium to Prevent School Violence (CPSV) is committed to reducing school violence nationally. The Web site provides fact sheets, research briefs, training PowerPoints, video materials, and Web links to relevant resources.
The Consortium is primarily a volunteer effort. CPSV is focused on advocacy that promotes effective implementation of positive school violence prevention practices, and fostering technical assistance, information dissemination, and professional development based on high-quality scientific research. CPSV promotes open access where researchers, practitioners, and other stakeholders in schools and surrounding communities are an integral part of the Consortium’s work.
The position statement of the Consortium to Prevent School Violence describes four key elements of an effective approach to creating safer schools: balance, communication, connectedness, and support. They recommend that schools
- Use a balanced approach to safety and appropriately allocate resources
- Build trust within the school and with the larger community to encourage open communication
- Create a connected social unit and reach out to marginalized students
- Create support systems within the school community to address students’ mental health needs and incidents of bullying and intimidation; and garner support from local law enforcement, mental health agencies, and politicians for assistance.
Our resource page Preparing and Responding to Crises in Schools also provides information on this important topic.
