National Center for Mental Health Promotion and Youth Violence Prevention

Preparing and Responding to Crises in Schools
Media reports of recent threats of school violence across the country underscore the importance of having a solid school safety and response plan in place. Although we may not prevent individuals from making threats to hurt others or to attempt suicide, we can have systems in place to provide a caring and nurturing climate for all students in schools, structures to build social and emotional learning, screening for and recognition of signals of risk, positive supports and interventions for students in need, and clear steps to take that may avoid tragedy. Heightened awareness (or vigilance) and collective efforts among school and community to provide comprehensive systems of safety and crisis preparedness, response and intervention, and for clear guidelines for reporting, triage, and action has resulted in positive outcomes to avert potential tragedies, as well as to respond effectively to crises and disasters.

School crisis preparedness and response is most effective during and after a crisis (e.g. hurricane, tornado, gas leak, death, etc.) when comprehensive plans are clear and have been developed by school, parents, local emergency responders, and community; and training and practice occur prior to a crisis or emergency.

The resource page Preparing and Responding to Crises in Schools provides a comprehensive listing of resources from how to create a safety/response plan to how to talk about traumatic events. There is also an upcoming Crisis Planning for Schools training May 15-17 in Pittsburgh sponsored by the United States Education Department.

Upcoming YVPP and TCE Sustainability Teleconference on May 4, 2006
Strategies for Creating Revenue, the fourth in a series of five YVPP/TCE sustainability teleconferences, will take place on Thursday, May 4, from 1:00–2:30 p.m. ET. The speakers will focus on the various ways that grantees can market products or services to develop revenue and sustain programs. Grantees will discuss the successful revenue development strategies they have used. To register for this event please visit: http://www.promoteprevent.org/registration/register050406.asp
Please contact your Technical Assistance Specialist with any questions.

You can also view the materials from the first three sustainability teleconferences: Planning for Sustainability: Leaving a Legacy; Communicating for Sustainability; and Finding and Developing Foundation Funding.

Upcoming Safe Schools/Healthy Students Regional Meetings
On behalf of the federal SS/HS partners, the National Center for Mental Health Promotion and Youth Violence Prevention is sponsoring four regional SS/HS meetings this year in place of a national conference. The National Center is looking forward to hosting these three-day meetings that will bring your regions' sites together to work on improving mental health, law enforcement/juvenile justice and education partnerships, reaching diverse stakeholders, and sustaining successful programs. We will be introducing and using the Project Director's Resource Guide: From Start-Up to Sustainability during this working meeting.

New! SS/HS Grantee Council
This year the National Center launched a new way to gain insight into and feedback on how to provide technical assistance to best serve grantees. The SS/HS Grantee Council is composed of 10 present and former SS/HS grant site project directors representing diverse demographic and programmatic characteristics. They were selected to give voice to a wide range of grantee concerns and requests.

The first Grantee Council meeting was held on April 3. Grantee Council members were asked to comment on a variety of new and existing programmatic elements. Among those elements were the upcoming regional meetings. Their insights will be incorporated into the agenda as well as the SS/HS Project Director’s Resource Guide: From Start-Up to Sustainability, a new product that will be introduced at the upcoming meetings. Their input will also be used to make improvements to the PromotePrevent Web site and E-Newsletter.

Since the SS/HS Grantee Council is the National Center’s link to grantee voices, council members will be hosting open forums at the regional meetings to hear your concerns, needs, and ideas for improved technical assistance.

Grantee Council members serve for two years, attend an annual Grantee Council meeting, and participate in several teleconferences. For a list of current SS/HS Grantee Council members, please see below. If you’d like to be considered for the Grantee Council in the future, please contact Laura Towvim, National Center managing director, at ltowvim@edc.org.

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

National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day: May 8, 2006
This campaign presents an opportunity for communities to promote resilience, recovery, and the transformation of mental health services delivery for children and youth with serious mental health needs and their families. SAMHSA has welcomed the SS/HS, YVPP, and TCE grantees to join in the celebration by collaborating with systems of care communities and others to implement activities on May 8, 2006. SAMHSA has developed a comprehensive Planning Notebook of technical assistance materials in order to support these activities. It contains tips, resources, a fact sheet, and a directory of program partners to facilitate collaboration. For more information on National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day and to view the Planning Notebook, go to http://www.systemsofcare.samhsa.gov/nationalawareness/index.aspx.

“Taking Steps to Promote Safer Schools”
This article, published in the April 2006 issue of the Journal of School Health, discusses bullying and exposure to media violence, two major factors that contribute to aggressive and violent behavior. The article provides an overview of these two issues and makes the case for two evidence-based programs proven effective in addressing both bullying and exposure to media violence: The Student Media Awareness to Reduce Television (SMART) curriculum, and the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program. The SMART curriculum has been shown to be effective in reducing aggressive behavior in young children. The Olweus program, a whole-school approach, has shown reductions in bullying and in being bullied, reductions in fighting, and increases in positive social relationships and attitudes toward school. For a copy of this article, e-mail news@promoteprevent.org.

Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report draws on data and research to provide a comprehensive view of juvenile crime across the nation. Citing FBI and other data sources, the report demonstrates that while the rate of juvenile violent crime arrests has consistently decreased since 1994, the female proportion of juvenile violent crime arrests has increased, marking an important change in the types of youth entering the juvenile justice system and in their programming needs. The report also describes when and where juvenile violent crime occurs, focusing attention on the critical afterschool hours. Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report is a great resource for information on juvenile crime and the justice system's response. To read the report, go to http://ojjdp.ncjrs.gov/ojstatbb/nr2006/downloads/NR2006.pdf.

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: Small, Rural School Achievement Program
Funder: Department of Education, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education
Description: This program awards grants on a formula basis to eligible Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) to address the unique needs of rural school districts.
Award: Not specified
Eligibility: An LEA is eligible if: (a) the total number of students in average daily attendance at all the schools served by the LEA is fewer than 600, or each county in which a school served by the LEA is located has a total population density of fewer than 10 persons per square mile; and (b) all of the schools served by the LEA are designated with a school locale code of 7 or 8 by the National Center for Education Statistics, or the LEA is located in an area defined as rural by a governmental agency of the state.
Deadline: June 2, 2006
For more information: http://www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/announcements/
2006-1/031306c.html

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

Date: May 23 at 2:00 p.m. ET
Location: Webcast and satellite broadcast
Title: Preventing Gangs in Our Communities (Part 1 of 2)
Sponsors: The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services
Description: Gang specialists from federal and local law enforcement agencies and community and faith-based organizations will join participants in discussing what law enforcement and communities are doing to share the responsibility for gang prevention.
Special note: Part 2 of this Webcast will be broadcast on June 6 at 2:00 p.m. ET.
Web site: http://www.dojconnect.com/index.cfm?page=3.010