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Home --> Publications --> E-Newsletters --> Archive --> June 2006

Key Learnings from the SS/HS Regional Meetings
The first two SS/HS regional meetings were held in Washington, D.C., and Memphis, Tennessee, in June 2006. Grantees were introduced to the new Project Resource Guide, which provides resources from start-up to sustainability. The main theme emphasized at these meetings was collaboration, which plays a key role in (1) putting together a successful grant, (2) implementing the grant well, and (3) sustaining the grant. Topics discussed included how to strengthen collaborations; how to get a better understanding of the mutual benefits among partners; where it makes sense to deepen collaborations for systems change purposes; where there may be opportunities for strategically expanding partnerships; and understanding the role of the coalition as the engine that drives the initiative forward. The next two regional meetings, to be held in July, will also focus on this theme.

Upcoming EBI Teleconferences
On Monday, July 17, 2006, at 2:00 p.m. ET, there will be a peer-to-peer teleconference on Incredible Years, an evidence-based intervention (EBI) designed to promote social competence and to prevent, reduce, and treat aggression and related conduct problems in young children. This will be an opportunity to participate in a facilitated discussion about the successes and challenges of implementing and sustaining the Incredible Years program. Registration information will be sent to invitees by e-mail. Please contact Emily Doerr at edoerr@edc.org or (617) 618-2321 with any questions.

New Resource Pages on Creating a Safe School Environment
The following three new resource pages were designed to help you in your efforts to address some of the Safe Schools/Healthy Students elements, including safe school environment; violence, alcohol, and drug abuse prevention and early intervention programs; and safe school policies.

• Bullying and Bullying Prevention: This resource page provides information on bullying prevention programs, online resources on bullying and school safety issues, and links to Web sites and publications related to bullying and bullying prevention.
• School Safety/Security and Law Enforcement: This page provides links to the Web sites and resources developed by various federally funded programs, including the Department of Justice’s Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) and the National Center for Law Enforcement School Violence Resource Center. The resource page also provides links to other helpful online publications and resources.
• Violence Prevention for Schools: This page provides links to fact sheets, databases of conferences and funding opportunities, and various other publications and materials related to violence prevention. A guidebook for planning and implementing violence prevention programs and a compendium of tools intended to measure violence-related attitudes and behaviors are also highlighted.

For an example of a successful collaboration between law enforcement and schools, please read the Grantees at Work story from an SS/HS grantee in Springfield, Missouri.

Working with Law Enforcement and Juvenile Justice
School District of Springfield R-12
Springfield, Missouri
SS/HS Grantee

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

“Safe Schools through Strategic Alliances: How Assessment of Collaboration Enhances School Violence Prevention and Response”
This article, published in a recent issue of the Journal of School Violence, was written by Rebecca Gajda, who has been the principal investigator/director of evaluation for two Safe Schools/Healthy Students grants. The article defines the essential characteristics of inter-organizational collaboration and offers a process that has been utilized nationwide to evaluate and strengthen school violence prevention efforts through the Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative. For a copy of this article, e-mail news@promoteprevent.org.

“School-Based Mental Health: An Empirical Guide for Decision-Makers”
This guide, produced by the Research and Training Center for Children’s Mental Health at the University of South Florida, provides practical information and advice for those who are developing and implementing evidence-based services in schools. This resource (1) reviews the history of mental health services in schools; (2) summarizes the major conceptual models that influence the implementation of services; (3) provides an overview of the evidence base for school-based interventions; (4) reviews federal policies and funding strategies that affect implementation; and (5) suggests how science, policy, and practice can be integrated to achieve effective school-based mental health service systems through the adoption of the public health model. To read the guide, go to http://rtckids.fmhi.usf.edu/rtcpubs/study04/SBMHfull.pdf.

Findings from the 2005 Youth Risk Behavior Survey Released
The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) monitors six categories of priority health-risk behaviors among youth and young adults, including behaviors that contribute to unintentional injuries and violence; tobacco use; alcohol and other drug use; sexual behaviors that contribute to unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs); unhealthy dietary behaviors; and physical inactivity. In addition, the YRBSS monitors general health status and the prevalence of overweight and asthma. YRBSS includes a national school-based survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state and local school-based surveys conducted by state and local education and health agencies. This report summarizes results from the national survey, 40 state surveys, and 21 local surveys conducted among students in grades 9–12. The following are selected key findings from these surveys:

• 71% of all deaths among persons aged 10–24 years result from four causes: motor-vehicle crashes, other unintentional injuries, homicide, and suicide.
• In the 30 days preceding the survey, 9.9% of high school students had driven a car or other vehicle when they had been drinking alcohol; 18.5% had carried a weapon; 43.3% had drunk alcohol; and 20.2% had used marijuana.
• During the 12 months preceding the survey, 35.9% of high school students had been in a physical fight and 8.4% had attempted suicide.
• During 2005, a total of 23% of high school students had smoked cigarettes during the 30 days preceding the survey.

To read the full report, go to http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/
ss5505a1.htm?s_cid=ss5505a1_e.

Resource on Culturally Competent School Leadership
This report, titled “Preparing and Supporting Diverse, Culturally Competent Leaders: Practice and Policy Considerations,” provides field-based insights collected from people working in, and familiar with, leadership development programs for school leaders in urban, suburban, and rural districts across the country. The report provides information on the following themes:

• Educational leaders who are not culturally competent cannot be fully effective.
• Culturally competent leaders work to understand their own biases as well as patterns of discrimination. They have the skills to mitigate the attendant negative effects on student achievement and the personal courage and commitment to persist.
• Much of what culturally competent leaders must know and be able to do is learned in relationships with families and communities.
• Culturally competent leadership develops over time and needs to be supported from preparation through practice. Creating collaborative frameworks and structures can be useful.
• State and local policies need to build a sense of urgency about preparing culturally competent leaders.

To read the report, produced by the Institute for Educational Leadership, go to http://www.iel.org/pubs/diverseleaders.pdf.

“What Can Student Bystanders Do to Prevent School Violence? Perceptions of Students and School Staff”
This article, published in a recent issue of the Journal of School Violence, describes findings from focus groups conducted with 54 middle school students and 97 staff in an urban, predominantly African American school district with relatively high levels of community violence. Discussions addressed bystander norms, attitudes, and behaviors, and identified barriers that prevent youth as well as adult bystanders from taking positive action. The following are findings from the focus group discussions:

• Students and school staff agreed that an adult should, but may not, intervene in bullying incidents.
• Students who intervene or report a bullying incident are likely to be stigmatized and rejected by other students.
• Neither students nor school staff expressed much sympathy for the victim. School staff felt the victim should stand up for him- or herself and tell someone, rather than expect assistance from bystanders.
• In all focus groups, participants emphasized that the relationship between the bystander and the aggressor as well as the bystander and the victim would not only determine whether a bystander opts to intervene in a bullying situation but also what type of intervention would be attempted. Being friends with or related to the victim increased the likelihood that a bystander would report the incident to an adult in the school, ask the aggressor to stop, or become physically involved. However, the same types of relationships with the bully would prevent the bystander from reporting his or her behavior to adults.
• When asked to describe the ways student bystanders typically react to impending school violence, students and school staff agreed that the most common response was doing nothing, followed by running to watch the conflict, instigating the discord, and cheering on a fight once it is in progress.
• Both students and school staff admitted that young people receive mixed messages from adults about appropriate bystander behavior.

These findings are consistent with previous research suggesting that bystanders typically influence violence by either passively accepting it or actively promoting it. For a copy of this article, e-mail news@promoteprevent.org.

New Toolkit for Promoting the Health of Refugees in Your Community
This new resource, prepared by the Office of Refugee Resettlement in collaboration with SAMHSA and the Office of Global Health Affairs, is intended to help community organizations engage in activities to promote health and prevent disease among refugee populations. It offers practical information and guidance to help organizations working toward improving the quality of life and reducing health disparities for refugees. The toolkit contains the following:

• A manual to help plan and conduct culturally appropriate health promotion and disease prevention activities
• A training guide and PowerPoint slides
• An article on health promotion and disease prevention
• A video that provides an introduction to promoting health among refugees

All materials in the toolkit are available online at no charge. To access the toolkit, go to http://www.refugeewellbeing.samhsa.gov/products.asp.

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: Caring Across Communities Grant Program
Funder: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF)
Description: This initiative addresses the mental health needs of underserved children and youth by supporting school-connected mental health services for students who require them. Special emphasis will be given to projects that help children of immigrant and refugee families overcome the cultural and language barriers to mental health services.
Award: Up to $100,000 per year for up to 3 years.
Eligibility: Prospective grantees must represent partnerships among school districts and other appropriate community agencies. The grantee institution must be either a public or a not-for-profit institution. Funded projects will involve elementary, middle, or high schools; school districts must be one partner in each project, but are not required to be the lead organization. Applicant sites must include established immigrant or refugee communities among their resident populations, or be new growth destinations for these groups.
Deadline: Brief proposals must be submitted by July 28, 2006; full proposals must be submitted by September 14 (applicants will be notified if they are invited to submit full proposals on August 22).
For more information: http://www.healthinschools.org/cac.asp

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

Date: July 26–28, 2006
Location: La Quinta, California
Title: G.R.E.A.T. & Beyond: Preventing Gangs & Youth Violence in America’s Communities
Sponsor: The Office of Justice Programs’ Bureau of Justice Assistance
Description: This conference will offer a broad range of workshops designed to address the needs of communities implementing the Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.) program and those interested in doing so.
Web site: http://conference.great-online.org/

Please visit the Events page at http://www.promoteprevent.org/events/ for a complete listing.