Family Health

As part of an effort to increase the participation of South Sudanese in the peace process and now the civic life of their new nation, the Sudan Radio Service provides access to balanced and useful information through radio-based education, news, and entertainment programs presented by local presenters in nine languages. Independent research found that Sudan Radio Service has approximately one million listeners.

Sudan Radio Service also builds the capacity of Sudanese journalists through its Certificate in Broadcast Journalism program and through on-the-job training.

EDC is working with the National Law Enforcement Museum to develop the Domestic Violence Awareness Program (DVAP). This professional development program will help teachers, administrators, school resource officers, counselors, and other school professionals to identify, address, and develop community-wide support for students who are living in households where domestic violence occurs.

The Dental Therapist Project (DTP) will improve the oral health of underserved children and families by transforming the dental workforce and establishing dental therapist providers as standard members of the dental health team in the United States. Dental therapists receive two years of intensive training to provide preventive oral health care and commonly needed services such as fillings and uncomplicated extractions. They work under the general supervision of an offsite dentist who pre-approves the procedures they perform and reviews their work via phone, fax, and the Internet.

More than a Dream Teen Pregnancy Prevention for Latino Youth is a collaboration between Education Development Center, the University of Michigan School of Nursing, and the League of United Latin American Citizens’ National Educational Service Centers (LNESC), to find developmentally appropriate and culturally and linguistically relevant youth and parent interventions that address sexual health and pregnancy prevention among Latino youth.

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.

This project is designed to address high rates of juvenile delinquency in American Indian and Alaskan Native (AI/AN) communities by providing mentors for court-involved youth. The 7th Generation staff, some of whom live in Indian country, will assist six tribes as they train up to 180 AI/AN mentors and match them with up to 180 AI/AN court-involved youth.

Child maltreatment is a major but preventable public health issue. EDC conducted a comprehensive scan of child maltreatment prevention efforts in state public health agencies across the United States and case studies in five states. Based on the findings from the environmental scan and the case studies, eight key elements have been identified for state health departments to enhance the primary prevention of child maltreatment.

Padres Unidos por la Salud y el Éxito de Nuestros Hijos will assess an intervention aimed at reducing behaviors among youth that lead to elevated levels of HIV/AIDS in urban Latino communities. The intervention, Salud y Éxito, consists of parent education delivered through bilingual audio-CDs to promote positive parenting practices. Salud y Éxito Más will also be tested. This enhanced version of the parent-mediated approach integrates audio-CD parent education with a school-based parent involvement program, PALMS Tools for Latino Family Outreach.

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.

This rigorous three-arm randomized experiment tests whether an innovative multi-year parent-mediated HIV intervention, Preparing Our Sons and Daughters for Healthy Futures, reduces HIV risks among African American youth living in high-poverty urban neighborhoods. About 1500 families with 6th graders in New York City public schools are being enrolled and will be followed through 9th grade.