National Center for Mental Health Promotion and Youth Violence Prevention

The National Conference in Kansas City is only two months away! Letters have gone out to all grantees explaining pre-registration and travel procedures. Also enclosed is a brochure that describes pre- and post-conference offerings (Monday, April 26th and Friday, April 30th) as well as the Tracks and Themes for the main conference (Tuesday, April 27th through Thursday, April 29th). Please visit http://www.promoteprevent.org/national_conference/ for pre- and post-meeting content, registration and travel information. Updated conference information will be added to the website on a regular basis.

March 5th is the official cut-off date for pre- and post-conference registration - you can expedite your registration by completing an online registration form right now at http://www.promoteprevent.org/national_conference/ .

The Safe Schools/Healthy Students team is pleased to introduce Woody Clift, new technical assistance specialist. Woody most recently served as the Project Director for the SSHS initiative in Hampshire County, MA. The team is also in Washington DC this week conducting an Evaluation Training Meeting scheduled for new grantees.

The Targeted Capacity Expansion team recently completed its first sustainability conference call with half the grantees in their final year of the grant. This is a first in a series designed to determine the most suitable and useful technical assistance and trainings for this cohort as they plan for the future. We'll be expanding the conference calls to the other three cohorts later this spring.

The Youth Violence Prevention Program team is planning for its first interactive event of the year entitled Communication for Sustainability to be held at 1:30-3:00 p.m. EST March 31, 2004
This teleconference is for 2002 Youth Violence Prevention Program grantees who have identified communications and sustainability as two areas for technical assistance. The session will enable grantees to identify individuals and organizations that can help sustain their efforts, develop strategies to reach them, convey program impact in meaningful ways, and enlist these constituencies as partners to sustain their efforts. Individual follow-up technical assistance will be available at the national conference in April. Watch for your e-mail invitation and registration information. If you have questions, contact Shamia Monroe: smonroe@edc.org

Creating a Cohesive Implementation Team
Kelli Hoekstra, program manager
Puget Sound Educational Service District
Fife, WA
SS/HS granteem

Campaign for America's Mental Health Partners:
The National Mental Health Association is looking for a few good youth -
children, teens and young adults - who have spoken out about mental health
disorders to help eliminate stigma. The disorder could affect them, a friend
or a family member. The nominee could have addressed mental health issues
any number of ways, including:
* forming a peer support group or club,
* advocating for mental health policy or system change,
* speaking to classmates or a youth group,
* writing an song, article or essay, or
* talking with the media.
Please fill out the form below and submit it via fax (703-684-5968) or
e-mail (campaign@nmha.org) by March 10, 2004. Winners will receive the NMHA
mpower Youth Awards "Medal of Excellence," in recognition of their service
to the mental health field, at NMHA's Annual Conference June 9-12, 2004 in
Washington, DC.
More information: http://www.nmha.org/annualconference/awards/mpower.cfm
Nomination form:
http://www.nmha.org/annualconference/awards/2004NMHAawardsBrochure.pdf

New Online Resource: Community Mobilization for Prevention
CSAP's Southwest Center for the Application of Prevention Technologies (CAPT)/Southwest Prevention Center at the University of Oklahoma released a new online community resource, "Community Mobilization for Prevention" (CMP). CMP is a web-based, self-directed guide for individuals and groups promoting comprehensive, community-wide prevention through each stage of the mobilization process. Information, tools, commentaries, checklists, and resources are available to all who register for the Guide. Registration information is available at http://www.swcapt.org/cmp.html .

CDC's Multisite Violence Prevention Project
The January 2004 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine includes a special supplement covering the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Multi-site Violence Prevention Project, a five-year project to compare the effects of a universal intervention (all students and teachers) and a targeted intervention (family program for high risk children) on reducing aggression and violence among sixth graders. The issue includes: an introduction to the issue; background and overview of the Prevention Project; research design; overviews of the three Guiding Responsibilities and Expectations of Adolescents for Today and Tomorrow (GREAT) Programs used in the universal and/or targeted interventions; evaluation of program impact; and implications and lessons learned. The entire issue is available at no cost at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/07493797 .

Preventing Violence and Aggression: An Evaluation of the Second Step Program in a Community-Based Sample of Adolescents
This study's purpose, presented in the February issue of Journal of Adolescent Health, was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Second Step Violence Prevention program in community-based settings to improve adolescents' skills based knowledge, attitudes, intentions, and behaviors towards aggression and violence. The sample of urban youth from predominantly minority and lower SES backgrounds demonstrated significantly greater scores for problem-solving, anger management, and trends in attitudes toward violence and reported violent behaviors. Investigators supported the use of violence prevention programs in community-based settings as either alternatives or complements to school-based settings. A copy of this research brief is available at http://www.journals.elsevierhealth.com/periodicals/jah/current.

Faith Web Page Is Newest Link on Anti-discrimination/Anti-stigma Web Site
A new web page, launched as part of the Resource Center to Address Discrimination and Stigma (ADS Center), allows faith-based communities to increase their awareness of mental health issues and find ways to welcome and support people with mental illnesses, thus reducing discrimination and stigma. Resources include brochures and fact sheets; books, articles, and research; and organizations, including the Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives ( http://www.hhs.gov/fbci/ ) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the White House Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives ( http://www.fbci.gov ). For more information go to
http://www.adscenter.org/resources/faith.shtml

Wednesdays, through May 26, 2004: Boston, MA
Judge Baker Children's Center Academic Teaching Conference: "Child Mental Health: Development and Society"
Log on to the Judge Baker Children's Center website to view topics for each session.
http://www.jbcc.harvard.edu/lectures.htm

March 1, 2004: Washington, DC - Launch Date
" Take a Stand. Lend a Hand. Stop Bullying Now!"
Health Resources and Services Administration's (HRSA's) National Bullying Prevention Campaign
HRSA, the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services are committed to raising awareness of, and educating individuals about, the serious problem bullying poses for our nation's schools and communities. Beyond raising awareness, the campaign will inspire effective bullying prevention efforts at the state and local level in the areas of education, health and safety, law enforcement, mental health, youth organizations and other key constituencies with specific information about best practices and critical "next steps" that should be pursued. HRSA and the U.S. Dept. of Education Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools has developed and is hosting a national video teleconference to be held in April (exact date and time TBD). All campaign materials - including animated webisodes, public service announcements, and resources for educators, health & safety professionals, parents, and others - will be available online at www.StopBullyingNow.hrsa.gov . The resources will also be available by calling 1-888-ASK-HRSA.

March 1-5, 2004; Nationwide
No Name-Calling Week
A coalition of over 40 education, mental health, youth advocacy, and social justice organizations, including the American School Health Association, have joined forces to address the problem of name-calling and verbal bullying in U.S. schools. During the week of March 1-5, 2004, schools serving grades five through eight across the nation will be asked to take part in a week of educational activities aimed at stopping name-calling and creating safer and more affirming schools for all students. Visit www.NoNameCallingWeek.org to register your school, receive educational materials, and find our more about this project.

March 7- 10, 2004: Savannah, GA
Georgia Southern University 15th Annual Youth-At-Risk Conference
Conference objectives include: identify factors that contribute to high student achievement; identify conditions that protect against risk factors; and identify strategies that foster resiliency in children at risk.
http://conted.georgiasouthern.edu/yar.html

March 8 - March 26: six-module course delivered over three weeks
Northeast Center for Application of Prevention Technology (CAPT)
Data Collection Methods: Getting Down to Basics is the second in a series of courses developed by CSAP's Northeast CAPT on evaluation. It is designed to help practitioners identify and collect the data they need to design, implement, and evaluate effective prevention activities. Participants in this course will have an opportunity to explore:
. How data can improve prevention activities and mobilize program support
. How to mine existing data sources-both local and national-to better understand a community's drug and alcohol problem
. How to collect new data (e.g., define a target group, write and/or locate useful questions, implement a data collection effort that yields quality information)
. How to choose among different data collection methods
For registration and further information, please visit http://www.northeastcapt.org/collecting/registration

March 31-April 3, 2004: Clearwater Beach, FL
Supporting Young Children's Social/Emotional Development and Addressing Challenging Behavior
National Training Institute on Effective Practices (sponsor)
Topics to be covered include: strategies for promoting positive relationships; classroom arrangement and transition strategies to prevent challenging behavior; cultural and linguistic competence; and strategies for parents at home.
http://www.challengingbehavior.org

April 1-2, 2004: Baltimore, MD
The Third National Conference on Children & Adolescents
University of Maryland (sponsor)
This year's conference title is: "Youth and Violence".
http://nursing.umaryland.edu/ncca/

April 24-26, 2004: New York City
A New York Academy of Sciences Conference: Scientific Approaches to Youth Violence Prevention
The purpose of this symposium will be to summarize and assess the current state of knowledge about strategies to prevent youth violence.
http://www.nyas.org/calendar/cal_details.cfm?ItemID=709

Click here to view a full listing of Conferences and Events.

Title: Elementary and Secondary School Counseling Programs
Funder: U.S. Department of Education
Description: The Elementary and Secondary School Counseling program will award grants to local educational agencies to establish or expand elementary or secondary school counseling programs.
Award: $250,000-$400,000
Eligibility: Local educational agencies.
Deadline: March 19, 2004
For more information: http://fedgrants.gov/Applicants/ED/HRO/DCMGC/ED-GRANTS-020304-001/Grant.html

Title: School Based Health Centers
Funder: Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Maternal and Child Health Programs
Description: School Based Health Centers provide comprehensive primary and preventive health care services including mental health, oral health, ancillary, and enabling services in the school or on school grounds on a full-time basis. These services are culturally sensitive, family oriented, and tailored the meet the health care needs of youth, adolescents and the community.
Award: $4 million is available for sixteen awards.
Eligibility: Applicants are limited to currently funded SBHC programs whose project periods expire during FY 2004 and new organizations proposing to serve the same areas or populations being served by these existing programs.
Deadline: May 3, 2004
For more information: http://www.hrsa.gov/grants/preview/primary.htm#hrsa04033

Title: Rural Health Network Development Grant Program
Funder: Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Rural Health Outreach and Rural Network Development Program
Description: The Rural Health Network Development Program shall support organizations that wish to further ongoing collaborative relationships of providers in rural areas to integrate systems of care administratively, financially, and/or technologically.
Award: Not specified.
Eligibility: The applicant must be a public or nonprofit entity that represents a network that includes at least three health care providers, and must fit one of three requirements listed at the link below.
Deadline: September 20, 2004
For more information: http://www.hrsa.gov/grants/preview/rural.htm#hrsa04002