National Center for Mental Health Promotion and Youth Violence Prevention

Teleconference on Evidence-Based Practices: Multi-Systemic Therapy
National Center staff recently facilitated a teleconference on Multi-Systemic Therapy (MST) , an evidence-based program addressing determinants of anti-social behavior in adolescents and their families through intensive, family-based treatment.

Six grantee sites participated in the teleconference - three YVPP and three SS/HS. They ranged in experience from four-year veterans of MST program implementation to those considering implementing MST. The call was intended to 1) provide a networking opportunity for grantees using MST, 2) identify challenges and concerns of grantees implementing MST, and 3) determine ways in which the National Center can effectively support grantees in MST implementation.

The teleconference covered fidelity and adaptation, cost, sustainability, and evaluation. Next steps for technical assistance will include disseminating new research and resources, support on evaluation projects, and further teleconference/networking opportunities. To access the MST Teleconference meeting notes, click here .

Contact your TA Specialist if you would like to request a teleconference with other grantees on a topic of interest.

State and Population-Based Networking Groups take up Residence on Discussion Board
During the April National Conference in Kansas City , grantees had the opportunity to attend State Networking meetings or Population-Based Interest Groups. These integration meetings were held to identify common goals and concerns and build grantee peer support and advocacy networks. More than 200 grantees attended these meetings and found them to be extremely useful and important. Approximately 20 groups asked the center to assist them so that they could continue networking and discussing common issues beyond the meeting.

The center is establishing a number of Web Board discussion groups to allow grantees to continue to network on-line. These on-line discussion groups are a private forum for grantees to share information, engage in discussions with TA specialists and experts, and participate in scheduled dialogues. Each state- or population-based group has been assigned a Center staff member to serve as moderator; the moderator will set up the initial welcome message and instruct participants how to access and utilize the Web Board ; be on the look-out for an email from your moderator. Contact your TA Specialist if you have any questions about joining or participating in a group discussion.

Gang Violence Prevention Resources
The Center has recently received several requests for resources on youth gangs and gang prevention programs. According to the 2002 National Youth Gang Survey results, it is estimated that in 2002 youth gangs were active in more than 2300 cities with a population of 2500 or more. The survey also reported an "appreciable increase" in the proportion of respondents who regarded their gang problem as growing worse. The websites below provide up-to-date, important information and prevention resources:

The National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS) (website)
http://www.ncjrs.org

In the Spotlight: Gangs Resources
http://www.ncjrs.org/gangs/summary.html

Highlights of the 2002 National Youth Gang Survey (2004)
http://www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles1/ojjdp/fs200401.pdf

Strategies to Reduce Gang Involvement and crime violence (2000)
http://www.ncjrs.org/html/ojjdp/summary_2000_8/home.html

Juvenile Justice Bulletin: Youth Gangs in Schools (2000)
http://www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles1/ojjdp/183015.pdf

Juvenile Justice Bulletin: Preventing Adolescent Gang Involvement (2000)
http://www.ncjrs.org/html/ojjdp/2000_9_2/contents.html

Youth Gang Programs and Strategies: OJJDP Summary (2000)
http://www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles1/ojjdp/171154.pdf

National Youth Gang Center
http://www.iir.com/nygc/

Survey of School-Based Gang Prevention and Intervention Programs: Preliminary Findings (1999)
http://www.iir.com/nygc/gottfredson.pdf

Gang Prevention and Intervention: A Study in Best Practices (website)
http://www.stedwards.edu/educ/eanes/ganghome.html

California Attorney General's Crime and Violence Prevention Center: Gangs and Youth Violence
http://www.safestate.org/index.cfm?navID=12

Gangs: A Community Response (2003)
http://www.safestate.org/shop/files/Gangs_Comm.resp.pdf

Juvenile Justice Evaluation Center Online: Gang Prevention/Intervention (includes Process and Outcome Measures, Evaluation Issues, and Publications)
http://www.jrsa.org/jjec/programs/gang/

Truly empowered youth leaders can (and are) making a difference in violence prevention
Illinois Center for Violence Prevention
Chicago , IL
YVPP grantee

Strength in numbers- Grantee collaboration in Connecticut
Last fall, Connecticut 's Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services received a Youth Violence Prevention grant. As Cheryl Stockford, project director, was preparing to announce the grant initiative to the community, she learned from National Center staff there were four other YVPP grantees in Connecticut. Realizing that the Connecticut YVPP grantees could do far more with their limited resources if they worked together, Cheryl invited the other grantees to participate in the community announcement event. Those who attended agreed to form a standing grantee coalition that has expanded to include former YVPP grantees and other interested parties, including a valuable mix of direct service providers and administrators. They've met several times since last fall.

Thus far, the coalition has agreed to carry out four essential tasks:

Last month the coalition took their planning process one step further by inviting the National Center's communication team leader to facilitate the communications plan development process. The communications planning mod el used includes the following steps:

The coalition members now see how the communications plan is the blueprint that ties together all four of their tasks.

The Connecticut YVPP grantees are currently putting the finishing touches on their communications plan and expect to hold a legislative breakfast sometime in the fall where they will present their vision of the costs of violence and the benefits (or cost-savings) of prevention to legislators and their staff.

If you would like to explore ways to leverage the power of all your state's Mental Health and Youth Violence Prevention grantees, contact your technical assistance specialist at the National Center . There are many ways we can assist you to facilitate statewide collaboration.

And on another collaboration note, three grantees from the Portland , Oregon area have very recently hosted a mental health forum entitled "Collaborative Mental Health Care Service Delivery in Community Based Host". We look forward to sharing their experience with you in an upcoming newsletter.

Associations between Bullying Behaviors and Overweight/Obese School-Age Children
In the May 2004 edition of Pediatrics , Janssen, et. al. present results based on the 2001/2002 World Health Organization Health Behaviour in School-Age Children Survey , in which body mass index (BMI) and bullying behaviors were determined from self-reports of a representative sample of 5749 Canadian boys and girls aged 11-16 years-old.

Strong associations between BMI category and relational (withdrawing friendship, spreading rumors/lies) and overt (name-calling, hitting, pushing) victimization were seen in 11-14 year-olds, yet no association was seen between BMI category and bully- perpetrating within this age group. However, the opposite was found for 15-16 year-old boys and girls, who were more likely to perpetrate bullying than their normal-weight classmates. Only in girls were there associations between BMI and victimization independent of age. Janssen, et. al., discuss possible socio-behavioral explanations for these and other findings and offer suggestions for current bullying interventions.

For a copy of this journal article, contact news@promoteprevent.org .

Results from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, 2003
The May 21, 2004 edition of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) summarizes results from the 2003 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System(YRBSS), which monitors priority health-risk behaviors among youth in grades 9-12: behaviors that contribute to violence and unintentional injury; alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use; sexual behaviors that contribute to unintended pregnancy and STD's (including HIV infection); dietary behaviors; and physical activity.

The MMWR summary also reported risk behavior trends from 1991 to 2003. When analyzed together, this data sheds sobering light on present-day risk behavior trends. While, overall, many behaviors - such as being in a physical fight, carrying a weapon, attempting suicide, and alcohol use - decreased from 1991-2003, these significant decreases primarily occurred from 1991-1999. There has been virtually no change in risk behavior since 2000.

The YRBSS summary report and other documents are available at http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/yrbs/ .

You may also find YRBSS survey results at local levels by checking out your state's Dept. of Education website.

Maternal and Child Health Library Knowledge Paths
The Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Library, a virtual guide to MCH information, features Knowledge Paths for health professionals, educators, community activists, and families. Knowledge Paths are electronic resource guides on particular topics offering a vast selection of up-to-date, high quality resources from many disciplines which "measure and document the problem, identify risk and protective factors, and report on promising intervention strategies." The latest Knowledge Path edition highlights Adolescent Violence Prevention
( http://www.mchlibrary.info/KnowledgePaths/kp_adolvio.html ) and includes information on and links to Web sites, electronic publications, journal articles, databases, and E-newsletters.

Maternal Child Health Library Knowledge Paths: http://www.mchlibrary.info/KnowledgePaths/index.html

We regularly add to a detailed listing of conferences and events occurring across the nation. Please visit http://www.promoteprevent.org/events/national_events.htm

If you are interested in learning of the latest grant opportunities, the Grant Opportunities page is regularly updated with new announcements of available public and private grant competitions.