Western Pennsylvania has experienced an epidemic of heroin and opioid abuse in the past 8-10 years. According to 2020 CDC data, Pennsylvania had the eighth-highest drug overdose mortality rate in the U.S. A consortium of the Armstrong-Indiana-Clarion Drug and Alcohol Commission (AICDAC) and nine partners created the Nurse Navigator and Recovery Specialist Outreach Program to […]
Peer support
Innovative Intervention Addresses Youth Suicide Risk in the Juvenile Justice System
Youth involved with the juvenile justice system die by suicide at a rate two to three times higher than youth in the general population. The risk for suicide is greatest overall for young people on probation, which is the segment of the justice system that allows youth to remain in their community (versus being in […]
White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders Mental Health Summit
On July 20, the Biden-Harris Administration hosted its inaugural Mental Health Summit focused on improving equity and access to behavioral health care for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) communities. The White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (WHIAANHPI) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) […]
Centering Indigenous Knowledges and Worldviews: Applying the Indigenist Ecological Systems Model to Youth Mental Health and Wellness Research and Programs
Globally, Indigenous communities, leaders, mental health providers, and scholars have called for strengths-based approaches to mental health that align with Indigenous and holistic concepts of health and wellness. We applied the Indigenist Ecological Systems Model to strengths-based case examples of Indigenous youth mental health and wellness work occurring in CANZUS (Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and […]
Building Healthy Habits in 2022 Toolkit
Since the pandemic started, experts have warned of a mental health crisis facing American children. That is now playing out at schools in the form of increased childhood depression, anxiety, panic attacks, eating disorders, fights, and thoughts of suicide at alarming levels, according to interviews with teachers, administrators, education officials, and mental health experts. Mentally […]
The Ambassador Toolkit: Take Action Against Teen Dating Violence
FUTURES’ award-winning, national public education initiative, That’s Not Cool, has released a new resource: the Ambassador Toolkit. That’s Not Cool is an award-winning national public education campaign managed by FUTURES to engage young people online around healthy relationships and the prevention of digital abuse. The program’s interactive website, tools, and resources support young people as […]