This section summarizes the key findings from a current research study in the field of education, mental health, violence prevention, or youth substance abuse prevention. Research Notes are linked to the full report when available online.

The Benefits and Limits of School-Based Mentoring Programs
Three studies conducted by Public/Private Ventures shed light on the benefits and limits of school-based mentoring programs. These studies concluded that school-based mentoring programs

• are better at recruiting some types of volunteers than community-based mentoring programs. These include older (over 50 years of age) and younger (under 21 years of age) people and ethnic minorities.
• may be reaching underserved groups of youth, since they are referred by school staff rather than parents.
• can result in strong, supportive relationships between mentors and mentees.
• are most effective at improving classroom behavior and peer relationships that are close to the school environment in which they occur. They are less effective at improving relationships with parents and other adults that occur outside of the school environment.
• do not lead to direct improvements in academic performance; rather, they improve academic attitudes that may serve as precursors to improved grades.

This Research Note was drawn from School-based Mentoring: A Closer Look (2004),
Mentoring School-Age Children: Relationship-Development in Community-Based and School-Based Programs (2000), and School-based Mentoring: A First Look Into Its Potential (1999).

These studies can be downloaded, at no cost, from the Public/Private Ventures Web site at http://www.ppv.org/ppv/publications/publications.asp?search_id=7.

This section highlights just a few updates from the prevention field. Please go to http://library.promoteprevent.org for more news items and resources.

Promoting Relationships and Eliminating Violence Network
The Promoting Relationships and Eliminating Violence Network (PREVNet) is a coalition in Canada concerned about bullying. Its Web site aims to spread awareness about bullying, provide assessment and intervention tools, and promote policy related to problems associated with bullying. It includes resources in the form of toolkits and resource communiqués, which briefly outline the findings of recent research papers. These resources are organized according to PREVNet’s four pillars: education, assessment, intervention, and policy.

To access PREVNet’s Web site, please visit http://prevnet.ca/Home/tabid/36/Default.aspx.

Adolescent Violence Prevention Knowledge Path
The Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Library at Georgetown University has compiled a knowledge path about adolescent violence prevention. It includes resources from a variety of disciplines, such as public health, medicine, criminal justice, education, and social services. Separate sections on bullying, firearms, gangs, media violence, school violence, and violent crime victims highlight recent resources on these specific aspects of adolescent violence. The path can be viewed at http://www.mchlibrary.info/KnowledgePaths/kp_adolvio.html.

Responding to the Needs of Underserved Populations
While an increasing amount of research is being conducted on the effectiveness of programs and interventions being used to improve the mental health of adolescents, many have struggled to demonstrate effectiveness for populations that are historically underserved. The summer issue of Focal Point, a semiannual bulletin produced by the Research and Training Center on Family Support and Children’s Mental Health, places its spotlight on various interventions and programs that respond to specific needs of populations such as Hispanic, GLBT, Asian American, and American Indian youth. The online version of this journal, along with its free full-text articles, can be accessed at http://www.rtc.pdx.edu/pgFPS07TOC.php.

Due to recent studies that have revealed alarming trends of medicine abuse among young people, the U.S. Senate has passed a resolution designating August 2007 as National Medicine Abuse Awareness Month. Examples of medicines that are gaining popularity include over-the-counter cough medicines that contain the cough suppressant dextromethorphan (DXM) which can cause users to get high when abused.

More information about medicine abuse can be found at http://www.StopMedicineAbuse.org.

The Grant Opportunities page is updated regularly with new announcements of available public and private grant competitions. Here is just one of the listings you'll find:

Title: Grants to Address Youth Violence and Related Issues in Persistently
Dangerous Schools
Funder: U.S. Department of Education
Description: The Grants to Address Youth Violence and Related Issues in Persistently Dangerous Schools Program supports the implementation of programs, activities, and strategies that address youth violence and related issues in local educational agencies (LEAs) with schools that have been identified as persistently dangerous for school year 2006-2007.
Award: Approximately $661,077
Eligibility: LEAs in which at least one school was identified as persistently dangerous in the school year 2006–2007.
Deadline: August 08, 2007
For more information: http://www.grants.gov/search/search.do?oppId=14741&mode=VIEW

We regularly add to a detailed listing of conferences and events occurring within the National Center and across the nation. For example,

Date: August 6–7, 2007
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Title: Implementation Guide Training for Principals and School Teams
Sponsor: Collaborative for Academic Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL)
Description: This workshop is designed to equip school administrators and their teams with the tools and skills needed to implement high quality, sustainable, evidence-based social and emotional learning programming that is integrated into all aspects of schooling.
Web site: http://www.casel.org/pub/training.php

Please visit the Events page at http://www.promoteprevent.org/events/ for a complete listing.