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Listening to the National Conversation about Children’s Mental Health and Youth Violence Prevention

We work every day to make the lives of our children, youth, and families better. We find ourselves busy, heads down, doing the good work we do by providing services, bringing together partners, and educating stakeholders. Often, we don’t get a chance to catch up on what’s happening in the field and across the country. However, the National Resource Center can capture that information for you.

Each week, the National Resource Center monitors hundreds of media outlets to learn what is being said about early childhood mental health and youth violence prevention. Take a moment to review a sampling of the news stories about our work and find out what others across the country are doing to promote the overall well-being of children, youth, and their families.

This May Be The Most Effective Anti-Poverty Program In America

Huffington Post ▪ April 20, 2015

"NEW BRITAIN, Connecticut – Luisa Cintron, 25, is sitting up as straight as she can, perched on the edge of the neatly made bed that doubles as a couch inside her dimly lit apartment. She is wearing a sweater and slacks, talking about the government program that she says changed her life, and trying—without much success—not to get distracted by the 4-year-old talking loudly about Batman in the next room.”

Kids’ age when starting kindergarten might predict dropout, crime rates; why school age matters

Medical Daily ▪ March 22, 2015

“This research provides the first compelling evidence of a causal link between dropout and crime. It supports the view that crime outcomes should be considered in evaluating school reforms. Dropouts are greatly over-represented in prison, so we know there is a strong association between dropping out and crime. But to establish causation requires an experiment. My analysis takes advantage of nature’s experiment associated with birth date.” – Philip J. Cook, professor in Duke’s Sanford School of Public Policy 

E-cigs tied to drinking, other risky teen behaviors

Health Day ▪ March 31, 2015

"Our research suggests that we should be very concerned about teenagers accessing e-cigarettes. While debate on e-cigarettes has focused largely on whether or not they act as a gateway to tobacco cigarette use, e-cigarettes themselves contain a highly addictive drug that may have more serious and longer lasting impacts on children because their brains are still developing." – Mark Bellis, Director of Policy, Research and Development for Public Health Wales 

Powdered alcohol ban sent to full house

The Texas Tribune ▪ March 31, 2015

"Some have gone so far as to suggest the public health ramifications of powdered alcohol could make the darkest days of the Four Loko era look tame,” – Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth, referring to the alcoholic energy drink that changed its formula in 2010 after widespread criticism that it posed a health risk for young drinkers.