National Center for Mental Health Promotion and Youth Violence Prevention

New resource page added to promoteprevent.org
A new resource page, American Indian and Alaska Natives/Violence Prevention Resources, has been added to the website. The page contains links to selected publications, federal and not-for-profit agency websites, and data summaries on violence, crime, and prevention strategies in American Indian and Alaska Native communities.
(http://www.promoteprevent.org/resources/resource_pages
/program_functions/native_yvp.htm)

SS/HS Evaluation Monograph now available on promoteprevent.org
An evaluation monograph containing evaluation summaries from 13 1999 Safe Schools/Healthy Students grantees is now available. The monograph highlights some of the positive accomplishments achieved through the Safe Schools/Healthy Students program. As you plan your own evaluation and sustainability strategies, you may want to read about what these 13 former SS/HS grantees were able to demonstrate through their local evaluations.

PDF's of the monograph will soon be available on promoteprevent.org. In the meantime, if you would like a copy, please contact smonroe@edc.org.

Don’t forget to register for the YVPP/TCE Annual Conference!
This year’s annual conference brings together grantees from the Youth Violence Prevention Programs and TCE Prevention/Early Intervention. It will take place in Reston, VA, June 1-3.
For registration and travel information, visit http://www.promoteprevent.org/tce-yvpp_national_meeting/index.html.

SS/HS upcoming events in June
SS/HS ’02. ’03, & ’04 grantees: The following events are scheduled for this summer. We look forward to working with you. For further information, please contact etackney@edc.org.

Adapting Olweus for an After-School Program
Olweus Bullying Prevention Program
York, Pennsylvania
YVPP grantee

Many prevention programs document their successes in reports that are never read by stakeholders such as policymakers, parents and community members whose support is needed for sustainability. The grantee stories that follow illustrate two ways to spread the news to important stakeholders about your program's success.

Building relationships with policymakers
JoAnne Pedro-Carroll, Project Director, Children's Institute
Rochester, NY
TCE Grantee

Using the Media to Generate Program Support
Carol Lee, Project Director
Russellville, Arkansas
SS/HS grantee

New website offers national education data as a source for developing school reform programs
The National Education Data Partnership, funded by grants from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Broad Foundation, launched a web site entitled School Matters. This resource enables educators looking for promising practices in school reform to find model schools with similar demographics but better academic performance. Among the information available on the site are student proficiency results and demographic information, district and state financial information, and ratios for academic and financial performance as they relate to demographics.
Visit the School Matters website at http://www.schoolmatters.com/.

Suicide screening programs evaluated for risk
An article from the April 6, 2005 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) examines whether asking adolescents about suicidal ideation and behavior during a screening program creates distress or increases suicidal ideation among high school students, especially those with depression symptoms, substance abuse problems, or previous suicide attempts. Investigators found no significant difference in distress levels or suicidal ideation between experimental and control groups and conclude that “universal screening for mental health problems and suicide risk should continue to be at the forefront of the national agenda for youth suicide prevention."
For the complete text, email news@promoteprevent.org

Components of prevention programs with staying power
Exactly what makes the difference between lasting prevention programs that take hold in a school or community for the long term and those that lose their potency and fade away? The current issue of The Challenge Newsletter, a publication of the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools, presents the insight of two implementation professionals - Eric Schaps, developer of the Child Development Project, and Maurice Elias, Vice-Chair of the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning - on changing school culture and overcoming challenges that prevent prevention programs from firmly establishing roots.
Prevention Programs with Staying Power: What Makes Good Prevention Programs Take Hold and Last? is available at http://www.thechallenge.org/18-v13no3/v13n3-PrevProgs-1.htm

Audience-specific Suicide Prevention Resources
The Suicide Prevention Resource Center, http://www.sprc.org, recently launched a series of web pages geared for specific audiences such as counselors, clergy, law enforcement personnel, and school health care providers. Each page, available in html and pdf format, can be reproduced and distributed and contains information on recognizing and responding to warning signs, useful websites, recommended further reading, and explains each group's role in preventing suicide.
To access the audience pages, visit http://www.sprc.org/featured_resources/customized/index.asp

The Grant Opportunities page http://www.promoteprevent.org/events/grant_opportunities/ is regularly updated with new announcements of available public and private grant competitions.

We regularly add to a detailed listing of conferences and events occurring within the Center and across the nation. Please visit the Events page for listings.