Family Health

The MetroWest Youth Risk Behavior Survey is a ten-year initiative of the Massachusetts-based MetroWest Community Health Care Foundation to better understand and address the health needs of adolescents in the region. Surveys are being conducted biannually with middle and high school students. The first round of surveys was conducted in 2006, with over 16,000 high school students and 8,000 middle school students participating. Districts receive timely reports of their data along with technical assistance. Findings are used to identify problems, track trends, and inform local programming.

EDC is facilitating a policy development project to promote mental health assessments and improve access to mental health services for youth suspended or expelled from California schools. After an analysis of current school district policies on suspension and expulsion from data and focus groups, EDC will determine policy and program recommendations that enable students to receive necessary mental health services in an effort to reduce dropout rates and disparities in access to services.

EDC is examining developmental pathways of violence perpetration among African-American and Latino young adults who grew up in severely distressed neighborhoods of the inner city and are now parents. About 1000 participants in the decade-long Reach for Health Longitudinal Study have been successfully tracked from middle school into their early twenties, a time when many have become parents. The information they have provided is being analyzed to address the questions: How do past experiences with violence shape parenting attitudes and practices as well as ongoing involvement in violence?

Serving communities in the Three Areas, HEAR Sudan builds capacity of local stakeholders to plan, implement and monitor health and education services, helps translate this increased capacity into action, and builds community support for school governance and outreach. HEAR strengthens linkages between educators and health workers with the aim of increasing healthy girls’ and boys’ access to quality education.

dot-EDU was an information and communication technology (ICT) intervention mechanism for USAID Missions seeking to improve education systems in their respective countries. dot-EDU sought to assist developing countries in strengthening learning systems that improve quality, expand access, and enhance equity through carefully planned applications of digital and broadcast technologies. The dot-EDU mission had two foci. First, dot-EDU provided training and technical assistance to support USAID Missions in developing and implementing technology-assisted applications.

EDC is conducting an effectiveness study of a parent education program to reduce early sexual initiation and alcohol use among young adolescent girls, funded by the National Institute for Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the Office for Research on Women at NIH. With extensive community input, the researchers developed a set of audio-CDs, Especially for Daughters, which is targeted to African American and Latino families.

As part of an effort to increase the participation of southern Sudanese in the peace process, the Sudan Radio Service provides access to balanced and useful information through radio-based education, news, and entertainment programs presented by local presenters in ten local languages.

EDC will conduct a comprehensive scan of child maltreatment prevention efforts in state public health agencies across the United States. Based on the findings from this environmental scan, best practices in the prevention of child maltreatment will be outlined for state public health agencies. This information will be used to inform guidelines and develop tools for state public health leadership in the prevention of child maltreatment and the promotion of Safe, Supporting, Nurturing Relationships (SSNR).

CC&F is supporting the goals of Healthy Child Care America by strengthening states’ networks of Child Care Health Consultants (CCHCs). CCHCs provide consultation to local child care programs on health and safety in child care settings and the importance of access to health insurance and medical homes for children. The project hosts a national CCHC registry, including profiles of the status of each state’s current training, funding, and use of CCHCs.

The goal of this project is to prepare a protocol for documenting parent involvement strategies being used by urban districts and schools that serve large proportions of economically disadvantaged and minority students in the Northeast and Islands region.