National Center for Mental Health Promotion and Youth Violence Prevention

Upcoming YVPP and TCE Sustainability Teleconference on March 2, 2006
Communicating for Sustainability, the second in a series of five YVPP/TCE sustainability teleconferences, will take place on Thursday, March 2, from 1:00–2:30 p.m. EST. Diane Barry (National Center staff) will give a presentation and lead a discussion on communicating effectively with important stakeholders, including potential funders and political, business, and community leaders. The focus will be on thinking strategically about who the target audiences are, what the key messages should be, and how best to disseminate these messages. Registration information for the March 2 teleconference will be sent to invitees by e-mail.

Please contact your Technical Assistance Specialist with any questions.
To view the materials from the February 2, 2006, sustainability teleconference, Planning for Sustainability: Leaving a Legacy, please visit http://learn.aero.und.edu/pages.asp
?PageID=76791

2005 Safe Schools/Healthy Students Grantee Evaluation Meeting
2005 Safe Schools/Healthy Students Project Directors and local evaluators are invited to the upcoming Evaluation and Technical Assistance Workshop to be held March 1–3, 2006, in Washington, D.C. For any questions, please contact etackney@edc.org or (617) 618-2423.

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline’s mission is to provide immediate assistance to individuals in suicidal crisis by connecting them to the nearest available suicide prevention and mental health service provider through a toll-free telephone number: 1-800-273-TALK (1-888-628-9454 for Spanish-speaking callers). Individuals in emotional distress or suicidal crisis can call the Lifeline at any time, from anywhere in the nation, to talk in English or Spanish with a trained crisis worker who will listen to and assist callers in getting the help they need.

For more information about the Lifeline, visit www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org. For information on how to connect your schools and communities to the Lifeline, click here.

Positive Strategies for Engaging Latino Families
At the January 26, 2006, Latino Networking Group teleconference, participants discussed successful approaches for outreach to Latino parents and families, and strategies for dealing with language and cultural barriers. Examples of such positive approaches include:

For more resources on working with Latino children and families, please read our Center Briefs, Meeting the Needs of Latino Youth: Part 1: Risk and Part 2: Resilience. Please also see a relevant story in the In the News section of this e-newsletter. For the notes and resources from this teleconference, click here.

Deterring Gang Involvement
School District Five of Lexington & Richland Counties
Ballentine, South Carolina
Safe Schools/Healthy Students Grantee

We want to hear from you!
Let us hear about your own Grantees at Work story. If you’ve developed a creative solution to a problem you’ve faced, come up with interesting ideas for programs or events, or successfully implemented strategies that you think would be useful for other grantees to hear about, please e-mail a brief description and your contact information to news@promoteprevent.org. You could be featured in an upcoming Grantees at Work story, and your experiences could help other grantees!
To read past Grantees at Work stories, go to http://www.promoteprevent.org/grantees_at_work/.

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

RAND study says early childhood intervention programs save money and benefit children, families, and society
A new report released by the RAND Corporation, Early Childhood Intervention: Proven Results, Future Promise, shows that well-designed programs for disadvantaged children age four and younger can produce economic benefits ranging from $1.80 to $17.07 for each dollar spent on the programs. In addition, 19 of the 20 identified programs demonstrated favorable effects on child outcomes. All of these programs, providing child development services from the prenatal period until kindergarten entry, fall into one of three approaches: home visiting or parent education; home visiting or parent education combined with early childhood education; and early childhood education only. The RAND researchers found that high-quality early childhood programs have been proven to

To read the full report, go to http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2005/
RAND_MG341.pdf.

The Partnership Series: Helpful brochures for teachers and parents
The Laboratory for Student Success (LSS) Partnership Series has a variety of brochures aimed at teachers and parents that focus on increasing the chances of academic success and healthy development among children and youth. Topics include the following:

Each guide includes an overview of the topic, action items and suggestions, and references. To access these brochures online, go to http://www.temple.edu/lss/partnerships.htm.

A recent study links preventive interventions to increased standardized test scores
In the recent Journal of School Health article, “Do Social and Behavioral Characteristics Targeted by Preventive Interventions Predict Standardized Test Scores and Grades?” researchers analyzed longitudinal data from students participating in Raising Healthy Children (RHC), a multicomponent preventive intervention. Results indicated that higher levels of school bonding and better social, emotional, and decision-making skills were related to higher test scores and better grades. Lower test scores and lower grades were predicted by elevated levels of attention problems, negative behavior of peers, and disruptive and aggressive behavior. Lower test scores also were predicted by early use of alcohol and cigarettes. These findings support the premise that school-based social development interventions that boost social and emotional skills, increase children’s ability to focus in the classroom, and improve school bonding are likely to improve student academic achievement. These findings support prior research, but are unique in that they show a link between risk and protective factors in early adolescence and performance on standardized tests and grades in high school. For a copy of this article, e-mail news@promoteprevent.org.

“Expanded School Mental Health: A Collaborative Community–School Example"
This article, from a recent issue of Children & Schools, presents an expanded school mental health framework involving school and community staff working together to enhance mental health programs in school for children in both general and special education. This new framework requires increased interaction and collaboration among education staff, community mental health staff, school and community stakeholders, and children and families. The article presents an overview of collaboration, including challenges to interdisciplinary collaboration; strategies for sustaining the collaboration and for improving communication and decision making; and a real-world example of an expanded school mental health program. For a copy of this article, e-mail news@promoteprevent.org.

“After-School Multifamily Groups: A Randomized Controlled Trial Involving Low-Income, Urban, Latino Children”
This study, published in Children & Schools, evaluated a culturally representative parent engagement strategy with Latino parents of elementary school children. Ten urban schools serving low-income children from mixed cultural backgrounds participated in a large study. Classrooms were randomly assigned to either an after-school, multifamily support group (Families and School Together: FAST) or to receive eight behavioral parenting pamphlets with active follow-up (Family Education: FAME). Two-year follow-up teacher data were collected for 130 Latino children. Results showed that children enrolled in FAST had significantly better outcomes than children enrolled in FAME on academic performance and classroom behavior indicators, including aggression and social skills. For a copy of this article, e-mail news@promoteprevent.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: Mattel Children's Foundation Domestic Grantmaking Program
Funder: Mattel, Inc., and the Mattel Children's Foundation
Description: Unsolicited applications are accepted from organizations working to benefit children in need in the United States. Applicant organizations must have a mission that focuses on direct service to children up to 12 years old. Two types of grants will be considered: (1) Program-specific grants; and (2) Core operating support.
Award: Up to $25,000
Eligibility: Applicants must be organizations with 501(c)(3) public charity status that are able to demonstrate they directly service children in need. Applicant organizations must have an annual operating budget of less than $1 million.
Deadline: April 7, 2006
For more information: http://www.mattel.com/about%5Fus/philanthropy
/ci_mcf_ philanthropy_grantmaking.asp

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

Date: April 6–8, 2006
Location: Canmore, Alberta, Canada
Title: Creating Connections 2006: An International Conference in School-Based Mental Health
Sponsors: Wellsprings Education and Human Service Consulting; Health and Human Development Programs at Education Development Center, Inc.
Description: Creating Connections will be an excellent opportunity for practitioners, researchers, and policymakers in the health and education sector to learn and share experiences about creating a school environment that promotes and supports the mental health of students. World experts in the field of school-based mental health will lead discussions and workshops on the current status and future direction of mental health in schools.
Web site: http://www.creatingconnections2006.org/
For more information: Contact Mora Oommen at moommen@edc.org or 1-800-225-4267, ext. 2845.