Blueprints for Healthy Youth Development

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Issue No. 28 – Blueprints for Healthy Youth Development Issue No. 28 Welcome to the Blueprints Bulletin March 2024 Announcement Since 1996, Blueprints has carefully reviewed the evidence for over 3,000 studies evaluating 1,600 interventions and thus serves as an excellent, internationally recognized resource on the youth programs that have been shown to....

Eager to learn more about a blueprint for systematically delivering effective preventive interventions that promote healthy outcomes in our youth? Check out this recording of a virtual briefing hosted last month by the National Prevention Science Coalition. As part of the briefing, Blueprints PI Dr. Pamela Buckley discussed how Blueprints fits into the delivery of evidence-based preventive interventions (EBPIs) and provided examples of partnerships formed to increase scale-up of EBPIs listed on the Blueprints website.

Building Sustainable Infrastructure to Implement Programs that Promote Healthy Development During this briefing NPSC convened experts on state-level systems to deliver youth-focused prevention programs. They presented specific actionable steps for building/sustaining an infrastructure for delivering effective preventive interventions. Funding needs and strategies to support the infrastruc...

April is National Alcohol Awareness Month and we are highlighting SPORT Prevention Plus Wellness, a health promotion program certified as Promising by Blueprints. The program highlights the positive image benefits of an active lifestyle to reduce the use of alcohol, to***co, and illicit drugs by high school students.

Blueprints Programs – Blueprints for Healthy Youth Development A health promotion program that highlights the positive image benefits of an active lifestyle to reduce the use of alcohol, to***co and drug use by high school students in addition to improving their overall physical health.

Blueprints PI Dr. Pamela Buckley has recently presented twice on Blueprints to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), a congressionally chartered organization that serves as the collective scientific national academy of the United States. Dr. Buckley presented at a January 25th NASEM meeting, convened by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to develop a blueprint for a national prevention infrastructure for behavioral health disorders. Last November, she also served as an invited panelist at the NASEM's Committee on Law and Justice public seminar focused on evidence translation efforts. View the meeting, including Dr. Buckley's talk, here:

Blueprint for a National Prevention Infrastructure for Behavioral Health Disorders Meeting 1 Part 2 | National Academies Learn more from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Check out this article recently published by Aspen Public Radio that discusses new drug prevention strategies being considered by the Roaring Fork School District in Colorado. Blueprints is mentioned as a resource for identifying scientifically-backed interventions that promote healthy habits.

Roaring Fork schools consider new drug prevention strategies, experts weigh in Roaring Fork School District hosted a series of community forums in January to discuss potential substance use prevention strategies with families. Some ideas drew skepticism from youth development and harm reduction experts.

EFFEKT is an alcohol prevention program that we are calling attention to in celebration of National Alcohol Awareness Month. Certified as Promising by Blueprints, the program uses parent training to reduce teenage alcohol use.

Blueprints Programs – Blueprints for Healthy Youth Development EFFEKT (formerly the Örebro Prevention Program) seeks to reduce teenage alcohol use by changing the attitudes of their parents. Parents are encouraged to communicate zero-tolerance policies about alcohol use to their children. Information is disseminated to the parents at school meetings at the beg...

Check out this article published earlier this year by the Lund Report that explains how states like Washington and Pennsylvania are working with scientists to help schools implement science-backed prevention programs. The article mentions Cooperative Learning, a Blueprints Promising school-based intervention designed to provide youth with positive peer relationships that can promote positive behaviors, prevent bullying and victimization, and reduce emotional problems and risky behaviors such as alcohol use.

Other states drive youth prevention in ways Oregon does not | The Lund Report States like Washington and Pennsylvania work with scientists to help schools put in place science-backed prevention programs

Meet our newest Promising program! Power Through Choices is a sexual health curriculum that aims to improve knowledge and psychosocial outcomes regarding HIV and STIs and thereby reduce rates of sexual activity, STIs, and pregnancy among youth residing in group homes.

Blueprints Programs – Blueprints for Healthy Youth Development A sexual health curriculum that aims to improve knowledge and psychosocial outcomes regarding HIV and STIs and thereby reduce rates of sexual activity, STIs, and pregnancy among youth residing in group homes.

Featured in honor of Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month, EAAA (Enhanced Assess, Acknowledge, Act) Sexual Assault Resistance Education is a Blueprints Promising four-unit program to help first-year college women resist acquaintance sexual assault by providing them with information and resistance training.

Blueprints Programs – Blueprints for Healthy Youth Development A four-unit program to help first-year college women (ages 17-24) resist acquaintance sexual assault by providing them with information and resistance training.

April is National Alcohol Awareness Month and we are highlighting Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students (BASICS), a Blueprints Model+ brief motivational intervention for high-risk college students that uses alcohol screening and feedback to reduce problem, excessive, and binge drinking by enhancing motivation to change, promoting healthier choices, reviewing myths and facts about alcohol, and teaching coping skills to moderate drinking.

Blueprints Programs – Blueprints for Healthy Youth Development A brief motivational intervention for high-risk college students that uses alcohol screening and feedback to reduce problem, excessive, and binge drinking by enhancing motivation to change, promoting healthier choices, reviewing myths and facts about alcohol, and teaching coping skills to moderate d...

This new investigative series from the Lund Report, University of Oregon's Catalyst Journalism Project, and Oregon Public Broadcasting revealed that drug prevention messaging in Oregon schools varies widely, and that many school districts don't use programs backed by evidence. Though not mentioned by name, Blueprints served as a source for this series, and the Lund Report cited clearinghouses as an important source for finding evidence-based drug prevention programs. Click here to listen to the discussion:

Drug prevention messaging at Oregon schools varies widely, investigative series reveals A new investigative series reveals that drug prevention messaging in Oregon schools varies widely, with many districts using programs that aren't backed by evidence they work in reducing or delaying substance use.

The Nuffield Early Language Intervention was offered to all state primary schools in England as part of a COVID recovery scheme to boost children's language development. Nuffield Early Language Intervention is a Blueprints Promising school-based program designed to improve children's vocabulary, narrative skills, active listening, and confidence in independent speaking. Read more here:

Covid recovery scheme boosts children’s language development ‘by four months’ The Nuffield Early Language Intervention was offered to all state primary schools in England

Check out this article recently published by the Lund Report that discusses how clearinghouses provide an important service by wading through science and identifying interventions that are most likely to achieve positive outcomes. Blueprints PI Dr. Pamela Buckley was interviewed as part of the article.

Not all prevention research is created equal, but experts can pinpoint the solid science | The Lund Report Prevention science can help guide decisions about which programs and curricula to choose, but understanding its limitations are key

Can't believe we missed this! A news article published in Inside Higher Ed last July details new, large-scale efforts to replicate and scale Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP). ASAP is a Blueprints Model+ post-secondary college-based prevention program that aims to address potential barriers to academic success and promote credit accumulation and associate degree completion through comprehensive advisement and career and tutoring services provided by dedicated advisors.

Efforts to replicate the ASAP program spread New efforts are underway to expand ASAP, the City University of New York's academic support program, amid evidence that it works but is costly.

Today is National No Smoking Day and we are featuring A Stop Smoking in Schools Trial (ASSIST), a Blueprints Promising peer support program designed to reduce the uptake of smoking among young adolescents.

Blueprints Programs – Blueprints for Healthy Youth Development Sally Good CEO (Acting) DECIPHer IMPACT Limited 2 Farleigh Court Old Weston Road Flax Bourton Bristol BS48 1UR Tel: +44 (0)1275 464779 Mob: +44 (0)7791 692815www.decipher-impact.com

In this news piece published by Scientific American, Esther Oladejo shares her inspiring story of how the Blues Program helped her to better manage her emotions and stress and effectively deal with setbacks. Certified as Model by Blueprints, Blues Program is a school-based group intervention that aims to reduce negative cognition and increase engagement in pleasant activities to prevent the onset and persistence of depression in high school students exhibiting depressive symptoms.

Intervention at an Early Age May Hold Off the Onset of Depression Preventing initial episodes might stop depression from becoming a disabling chronic condition

Blueprints PI Dr. Pamela Buckley was interviewed as part of an article published by Oregon Public Broadcasting about how most Oregon kids aren't getting evidence-backed substance use prevention. The piece also mentions several Blueprints Model programs for substance use prevention, such as LifeSkills Training and Positive Action. Click here to read more:

Investigation: Most Oregon drug use prevention programs for kids not science-backed A statewide analysis reveals that among the state’s 197 public school districts, substance use prevention programs often lack scientific support and can be little more than a chapter in a textbook.

Check out this ProPublica article about school-based efforts to fight absenteeism. The article mentions EveryDay Labs, an ecosystem of innovative attendance solutions. One example solution is EveryDay Intervention, a Blueprints Promising parental information program aimed at improving student attendance in elementary, middle, and high school by targeting parental misconceptions about the importance of regular attendance through mail-based communications.

Skipping School: America’s Hidden Education Crisis Absenteeism has nearly doubled since the pandemic. With state and federal governments largely abdicating any role in getting kids back into classrooms, some schools have turned to private companies for a reimagined version of the truant officer.

Can't believe we missed this news article published in the Hechinger Report last September! The piece discusses the value of ASSISTments and its "one-size-fits-all" math homework. ASSISTments is a Blueprints Promising school-based program that aims to improve student achievement in mathematics through online homework tools and specialized teacher training. Read more here:

PROOF POINTS: The value of one-size-fits-all math homework Students show long-term improvements in an ed tech study

Blueprints provides a registry of effective "upstream prevention" programs. Want to know what we mean by this? Check out this free Overview of Prevention Online Module released by the Colorado School of Public Health's Center for Public Health Practice. The short video defines "upstream prevention" and uses visual analogies to demonstrate how primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention work together.

Overview of Prevention Online Module - Center for Public Health Practice How do you support individuals in achieving their highest level of health? What role do you play in creating healthy, thriving, resilient communities, free from substance abuse, violence, or su***de? This short video defines "upstream prevention" and uses visual analogies to demonstrate how primary,...

Pace Center for Girls in Palm Beach was recently featured on CBS News. Certified as Promising by Blueprints, Pace Center for Girls is a set of gender-responsive prevention and early intervention programs and services for girls with multiple risk factors for juvenile justice system involvement. Watch the video here:

The Pace Center for Girls: How opportunities are provided for girls, young women | WPEC The Pace Center for Girls in Palm Beach provides girls and young women with an opportunity for a better future.

Featured in honor of Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month, Safe Dates is a ten-session dating abuse prevention program certified as Promising by Blueprints. The program is designed to raise students' awareness of what constitutes healthy and abusive dating relationships, as well as the causes and consequences of dating abuse.

Blueprints Programs – Blueprints for Healthy Youth Development A ten-session dating abuse prevention program to raise students' awareness of what constitutes healthy and abusive dating relationships, as well as the causes and consequences of dating abuse.

Congrats to the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing Nurse-Family Partnership of Central Alabama for receiving an $8.8 million Integrated Maternal Health Services grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration. The grant will fund the expansion of the Nurse-Family Partnership of Central Alabama to 27 additional counties in Alabama within the next five years. Nurse-Family Partnership is a nurse home visiting program for first-time pregnant mothers certified as Model by Blueprints.

UAB Nurse-Family Partnership awarded $8.8 million to increase maternity care access in Alabama The grant will enhance the UAB Nurse-Family Partnership of Central Alabama’s current services and increase access to maternity care in Alabama.

We love a good success story! Multisystemic Therapy® (MST®) is a Blueprints Model+ juvenile crime prevention program designed to improve the real-world functioning of youth by changing their natural settings (home, school, neighborhood) in ways that promote prosocial behavior while decreasing antisocial behavior. Read more about how MST® helped give this New York family a second chance:

Multisystemic Therapy Helps a New York Family | The Imprint After struggling to get a psychiatric diagnosis for their teen daughter, a New York family is making progress with multisystemic therapy

Check out this brief recently published by MDRC that discusses findings from survey research and interviews with staff members and caregivers who received services to better understand impacts of the pandemic on the Child First model. Child First is a Blueprints Promising home visitation program that works to heal and protect young children and their families from the devastating effects of chronic stress and trauma.

Changes in Home Visiting Since the Start of the Pandemic | MDRC During the COVID-19 pandemic, home visiting programs like Child First adapted their service delivery approach, offering services virtually and in person. This brief explores the pandemic’s impact on the Child First model and finds that, overall, implementation of the model remains the same as it w...