EDC recognizes that mental health and well-being are the foundation for a productive, satisfying life. Our projects assist schools, health care professionals, and communities in addressing this issue, and stretch across the continuum from prevention to treatment. EDC also researches the relationship between mental health and other risk behaviors, such as substance abuse, violence, and suicide. Among our mental health programs is the Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC) which provides prevention support, training, and resources to assist organizations and individuals in developing suicide prevention programs, interventions, and policies to advance the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention.
Sponsored by SAMHSA/CSAP and administered regionally by Centers for the Application of Prevention Technologies (CAPTs), Service to Science is a national initiative that provides support to innovative local interventions seeking to demonstrate and document evidence of effectiveness in preventing substance abuse and its related consequences.
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 with leading emergency department doctors and nurses developed “Is Your Patient Suicidal?” a simple, quick checklist that is used in hundreds of hospitals across the country today.
The Connecticut Health Foundation’s (CHF) 10 year strategic plan included a goal to decrease the number of children and youth (ages 6-14) from entering the Juvenile Justice System and/or the most intensive level of mental health treatment. To accomplish this goal, CHF created a grant program to support and promote a comprehensive community-based system of early screening, assessment, identification, and brief intervention.
The National Center for Mental Health Promotion and Youth Violence Prevention (National Center) provides technical assistance (TA) and training to 106 federally-funded Safe Schools/Healthy Students (SS/HS) grantees and to six Project LAUNCH (Linking Actions for Unmet Needs in Children’s Health) (PL) grantees.
EDC continues to expand its Teenage Health Teaching Modules (THTM), a comprehensive school health curriculum for grades 6 through 12 used in all 50 states and several countries. EDC is updating scientific content and making the modules responsive to the ethnic and cultural diversity of today’s classrooms. New materials include Getting Active and Eating Well and Voices Against Violence. THTM has been identified as a “promising” model program by the U.S. Department of Education.
The Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC) enhances the nation’s mental health infrastructure by providing states, government agencies, private organizations, colleges and universities, and suicide survivor and mental health consumer groups with access to the science and experience that can support their efforts to develop programs, implement interventions, and promote policies to prevent suicide.
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.
The Universal Education Foundation (UEF) is an advocacy foundation that works in co-creative partnerships toward Education by All for the Well Being of Children. To this end, UEF conducted a Voice of Children survey of children and young people’s opinions, perceptions, and attitudes toward their learning environments. In addition, UEF is launching the Elham Inspiration Program to recognize and support significant contributions by individuals and teams that support the well- being of children in their learning environments.
