Category Archives: Guidelines Plus

A growing number of juvenile justice experts are suggesting that an effective approach to reducing recidivism is to evaluate a youth’s risk of reoffending, then match services to his or her specific risk factors. With support from the Models for Change initiative, most of the county-based juvenile probation offices in Pennsylvania have adopted the Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory (YLS) for this purpose. The near-statewide adoption was a significant accomplishment in a state without a centralized juvenile probation system.

Disaster Response in Asia and the Pacific: A Guide to International Tools and Services is designed to help disaster managers in national Governments gain basic knowledge of how to use international tools and services.The guide is not prescriptive. It aims to support the growing disaster response and disaster response preparedness capabilities that exist at national level across Asia and the Pacific. The guide concentrates on key tools and services that can be helpful to disaster managers during the response and …

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If your child is in the juvenile justice system in Pennsylvania, this guide is for you! This guide was developed by the Family Involvement Committee of the Pa Council of Chief Juvenile Probation Officers–a committee of family advocates and juvenile justice practitioners–to help families understand Pennsylvania’s juvenile justice system and be better prepared to work closely with juvenile justice staff to promote positive outcomes for justice involved youth. Reform areas: Aftercare, Community-based alternatives, Evidence-based practices, Juvenile indigent defense, Mental health, …

CIHS’ Standard Framework for Levels of Integrated Healthcare helps primary and behavioral healthcare provider organizations improve outcomes by helping them understand where they are on the integration continuum. This six-level framework can be used for planning; creating a common language to discuss integration, progress, and financing; supporting assessment and benchmarking efforts; explaining integration efforts to stakeholders; and clarifying differences in vision between two or more partnering organizations.

Summary Points The abstract of a systematic review should provide a structured summary that enables a quick assessment of the review’s validity and applicability, and easy identification in electronic searching. Despite published guidance on writing the abstract in the PRISMA Statement guiding the reporting of systematic reviews in general and elsewhere, evaluations show that reporting of systematic reviews in journal and conference abstracts is poor. We developed consensus-based reporting guidelines as an extension to the PRISMA Statement on good reporting …

The Guidelines are designed to support service providers who may be working with same-sex couples, same-sex attracted single parents and/or their children. They are in part educative, providing some information about terminologies, myths and facts about same-sex couples and parenting. But they are also designed to provide some ideas about the ways service providers and organisations can ensure their everyday processes are inclusive of same-sex couples and their children.

U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendations on screening for HIV.

This information packet describes practices used in cases of human trafficking, how they relate to sexual violence, and how to assist and advocate for victims of human trafficking. There are 6 resources in this information packet.

The TestEdge Program is designed to help elementary and high school students self-regulate their emotional and physiological responses to challenging and stressful situations, including school tests. The 12-week program, based on research on test anxiety, emotional anxiety, and social and emotional learning, is composed of 12-15 lessons, depending on the participants’ grade level, which last about 20 minutes each and are taught twice weekly by a classroom teacher (although different schedules can be followed). The lessons provide students with a …

Tim McAfee, MD, MPH, of CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health, discusses the 2013 Tips campaign, and his personal experience as a doctor treating people with diseases caused by smoking, or made worse by it. He also offers advice on how people can quit smoking. Created: 3/28/2013 by Office on Smoking and Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Date Released: 3/28/2013. Series Name: Smoking and Tobacco Use.

Relationship Smarts PLUS (RS+) is designed to help youth ages 14-18 gain knowledge and develop skills for making good decisions about forming and maintaining healthy relationships. Based on the cognitive and communications theories and concepts embodied in the Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program (PREP), reviewed separately by NREPP, RS+ aims to increase reasoning and positive conflict management skills, healthy relationship skills and knowledge, and beliefs regarding healthy relationships, while decreasing destructive verbal and physical aggression. RS+ is implemented by an …

The Clinical-Community Relationships Measures (CCRM) Atlas was developed to identify ways to further define, measure, and evaluate programs based on clinical-community relationships for the delivery of clinical preventive services. The CCRM Atlas provides a measurement framework and listing of existing measures of clinical-community relationships, and is intended to support research and evaluation in the field.

The Depression Prevention (Managing Your Mood) program is a computer-tailored intervention for adults who are experiencing at least mild symptoms of depression. The program is based on the Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change (TTM), which conceptualizes change as a process that occurs over time and in five stages: precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance. The goal of the program is to help individuals take proactive steps to recognize, manage, and reduce their depression symptoms and to prevent the onset of …

Relationship-Based Care (RBC) is a mental health treatment model for individuals who have pronounced difficulty with engagement and sustained interpersonal contact. RBC was specifically developed for use with homeless adults who have been arrested and diverted from jail because of severe mental illness. This population may face particular challenges to forming positive relationships in which they feel respect, connectedness, and empathy. Difficulty with engagement can, in turn, affect individuals’ ability to establish a support network, obtain stable housing, and avoid …

LEADS: For Youth (Linking Education and Awareness of Depression and Suicide) is a curriculum for high school students in grades 9-12 that is designed to increase knowledge of depression and suicide, modify perceptions of depression and suicide, increase knowledge of suicide prevention resources, and improve intentions to engage in help-seeking behaviors. The curriculum addresses such topics as depression and its symptoms, the link between depression and suicide, the risk and protective factors associated with suicide, the warning signs of suicide, …

Link:  Expert Commentary: A Perspective on the Guidelines International Network and the Institute of Medicine’s Proposed Standards for Guideline Development

Social Skills Group Intervention–High Functioning Autism (S.S.GRIN-HFA) is designed to improve social behaviors in children with high functioning autism spectrum disorders (HFASDs) by building basic behavioral and cognitive social skills, reinforcing prosocial attitudes and behaviors, and building adaptive coping strategies for social problems, such as teasing or isolation. The intervention is designed for children in grades 3-5 (ages 8-12) who have a diagnosis of HFA, Asperger’s disorder, or pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified and who are experiencing peer difficulties, such …

Despite a 34 percent decline in teen pregnancy over the past two decades, four out of 10 Latinas get pregnant at least once before age 20—more than one and a half times higher than the national average. Research makes clear that there is much parents can do to help their children avoid teen pregnancy. Families Talking Together is an evidence-based curriculum designed to help Latino parents talk with their children about unintended pregnancy. The National Campaign, in partnership with the …

The Capturing Kids’ Hearts Teen Leadership Program, a curriculum-based intervention for middle and high school youth, is designed to improve students’ emotional well-being and social functioning, including improving communication with parents, reducing feelings of loneliness and isolation, improving self-efficacy, and minimizing problem behaviors. The Capturing Kids’ Hearts Teen Leadership Program curriculum, which is based on social-cognitive learning theory, is made up of 50 lessons and includes role-play, group activities, presentations, and projects. Teachers present the lessons to students during 50- …

Borderline personality is the most common and serious of the personality disorders, affecting 1% of the general population. The Clinical Practice Guideline for the Management of Borderline Personality Disorder (2012) will assist health professionals to diagnose, treat and manage BPD in adolescents and adults. This guideline will also improve understanding and recognition of BPD in health services and the community. Developed by a multi-disciplinary Guideline Development Committee of clinical, consumer and carer representatives with BPD expertise, the guideline discusses a …

Effects of available treatments for amphetamines users Summary: According to the current evidence, there are no data supporting a single treatment approach that is able to tackle the multidimensional facets of amphetamine addiction patterns.

All three guidelines recommend a variation of the “Five A’s” of treating tobacco dependence (Ask, Advise, Assess, Assist, and Arrange follow-up). According to this framework, all patients should be asked about tobacco use and should have their tobacco use status documented in the medical record on a regular basis.

The resources section has information, tools, and other educational materials for HIV-related health care, housing, and supportive service providers. It also offers key documents to assist Ryan White (Part A) funded Care Coordination programs and other medical case management or care coordination providers for the purpose of care coordination for HIV-infected persons.

This quality standard defines best practice for the health and wellbeing of looked-after children and young people. NICE quality standards describe high-priority areas for quality improvement in a defined care or service area. This quality standard covers the health and wellbeing of looked-after children and young people from birth to 18 years and care leavers (including young people planning to leave care or under leaving care provisions). It applies to all settings and services working with and caring for looked-after …

Preventing Suicide: A Toolkit for High Schools assists in designing and implementing strategies to prevent suicide and promote behavioral health. It includes tools to implement a multifaceted suicide prevention program that responds to students’ needs and cultures.

A new, national, online tool to help prospective adopters was launched today. The First4Adoption service gathers in one place, for the first time, the evidence and information people need to navigate the adoption system. The launch comes as new research, published today, shows that over 4 million people in England would consider adopting, but are held back by myths as well as barriers in the system.

Squared Away was created by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College and funded by a grant from the U.S. Social Security Administration, to provide clear and engaging financial guidance, without any spin or slant, based on the best academic research.

This briefing provides information on: – difficulties in identifying victims of trafficking – why children may find it hard to disclose – indicators a child may have been trafficked – using these indicators – what to do if you believe a child has been trafficked October 2011

The LGA and the Association of Democratic Services Officers have now published ‘Health and wellbeing boards: a practical guide to governance and constitutional issues’ to support local government members and officers interpret and implement their statutory duties in relation to the creation of health and wellbeing boards.

The 2013 Resource Guide plays an important role in these efforts—offering support to service providers as they work with parents, caregivers, and their children to prevent child maltreatment and promote social and emotional wellbeing. To do so, the Resource Guide focuses on six protective factors that build family strengths and promote optimal child and youth development. Information about these protective factors is augmented with tools and strategies that help providers integrate the factors into community programs and systems. Agencies, policymakers, …

Facing a growing emphasis on accountability for achieving results in the area of children and family services, decisionmakers such as funders and service providers are increasingly making programmatic choices based on the best research evidence. But what is the best available research evidence? And how can decisionmakers without research training make sense of that evidence?

Arms disaster recovery workers with a toolkit on mental health awareness. Includes materials for responding effectively to the general public during and after a disaster and in dealing with workplace stress. Also includes materials for the general public.

Rock In Prevention, Rock PLUS, is a 12-week classroom curriculum designed for grades 3-6 that uses music and the arts as interactive teaching tools to influence behaviors and attitudes related to the use of four targeted substances: alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and inhalants. The intervention is also designed to increase awareness of the risks of substance use; develop personal and social skills; encourage parental involvement; and foster a number of positive traits, such as academic achievement, health and wellness, media literacy, …

Open Circle, a curriculum-based program for youth in kindergarten through grade 5, is designed to strengthen students’ social and emotional learning (SEL) skills related to self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, interpersonal relationships, and problem solving and to foster safe, caring, and highly engaging classroom and school communities. Open Circle aims to increase students’ prosocial behaviors (e.g., including one another, cooperating, speaking up, calming down, expressing anger appropriately), reduce students’ problem behaviors (e.g., disrupting class time, teasing, bullying, fighting), and facilitate students’ …

ParentCorps is a culturally informed, family-centered preventive intervention designed to foster healthy development and school success among young children (ages 3-6) in families living in low-income communities. ParentCorps helps parents promote their children’s social, emotional, and self-regulatory skill development and effectively partner with early childhood educators to advance their children’s behavioral and academic functioning, mental health, and physical development. ParentCorps is implemented through a weekly series of fourteen 2-hour group sessions, which occur concurrently for parents and children. Groups include …

COPE aims to define best practice in the ethics of scholarly publishing and to assist editors, editorial board members, owners of journals and publishers to achieve this. One of the ways in which it fulfils this mission is by the publication of its Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors. (English, [PDF, 298 kb], Chinese, [PDF, 724 kb]). Editors who are COPE members are expected to follow this Code of Conduct and COPE will consider complaints against …

During the 2nd World Conference on Research Integrity in Singapore in 2010, COPE helped develop two position statements setting out international standards for responsible research publication for editors and authors. They have been published as part of the conference proceedings under a Creative Commons licence* (details of the proceedings are available from the publisher, here). We encourage editors to publish the statements in their own journals and reference them or incorporate them into their editorial policies and instructions for authors. …

Guides communities in planning and delivering substance abuse prevention strategies. Covers needs assessments, identifying partners, creating effective strategies, marketing, special populations, and program evaluation. Includes a sample timeline of tasks.

The Community Advocacy Project (CAP) provides advocacy and individually tailored assistance to women who have been physically and/or emotionally abused by intimate partners as well as to their children, who may have been bystanders in abusive situations. CAP’s objectives of eliminating or reducing the risk of future abuse and improving participants’ quality of life are premised on the women gaining empowerment and coping skills, obtaining social support, and recognizing and using community resources. CAP is delivered by trained, supervised paraprofessionals …

This document replaces previous advice – Safe To Learn: embedding anti-bullying work in schools. It outlines, in one place, the Government’s approach to bullying, legal obligations and the powers schools have to tackle bullying, and the principles which underpin the most effective anti-bullying strategies in schools. It also lists further resources through which school staff can access specialist information on the specific issues that they face.

The Chestnut Health Systems-Bloomington Adolescent Outpatient (OP) and Intensive Outpatient (IOP) Treatment Model is designed for youth between the ages of 12 and 18 who meet the American Society of Addiction Medicine’s criteria for Level I or Level II treatment placement. The Bloomington model incorporates OP and IOP programs and is based on a blended therapeutic approach, drawing on four theoretical frameworks (Rogerian, behavioral, cognitive, and reality) for behavioral and emotional change. The program emphasizes an individualized treatment plan that …

Physicians and nurse practitioners at the Child and Adolescent Abuse Resource and Evaluation (CAARE) Center at the University of California at Davis Children’s Hospital provide 24-hour child abuse evaluation and consultation services via interactive videoconferencing with patients, physicians, and child abuse specialists in six rural hospital emergency departments in underserved regions of northern California.1 The program also provides monthly child abuse training to health care providers in these hospitals who might otherwise forgo such opportunities because of time and travel …

Behavior Management through Adventure (BMtA) is a form of outdoor therapy for youth with behavioral, psychological, and learning disabilities; students excluded from school for disciplinary reasons; and juvenile offenders. BMtA incorporates group-based adventure challenges (e.g., ropes courses) and developmental exercises with problem-solving components in an effort to help participants change feelings, thinking, and social behaviors; reduce dysfunctional behaviors; improve functional life behaviors; and avoid rearrest.

The Wellness Initiative for Senior Education (WISE) is a curriculum-based health promotion program that aims to help older adults increase their knowledge and awareness of issues related to health and the aging process. Based on the health belief model of behavioral change, WISE provides older adults with the information and resources they need to maintain a healthy lifestyle and become empowered in regard to both their health and the health care they receive. Program objectives include helping participants to (1) …

The Mayo Clinic provides remote cognitive rehabilitation sessions to patients who have had an acquired brain injury. Using an Internet-based, secure instant-messaging platform, an office-based therapist conducts the rehabilitation session with the patient, who remains in or near his or her home. Patients experience improved functioning, and both patients and therapists report high levels of satisfaction with the program, which has enhanced access to rehabilitation services for patients who otherwise would find it difficult to travel to clinic facilities.

Dating Matters™: Strategies to Promote Healthy Teen Relationships is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s new teen dating violence prevention initiative based on three important facts. To address the gaps, CDC has developed Dating Matters™, a comprehensive teen dating violence prevention initiative based on the current evidence about what works in prevention. Dating Matters™ focuses on 11– to 14–year–olds in high-risk, urban communities. It includes preventive strategies for individuals, peers, families, schools, and neighborhoods. Over the next five years, …

This manual is funded by the Daphne III programme of the European Union. The Daphne III programme aims to contribute to the protection of children, young people and women against all forms of violence and attain a high level of health protection, well-being and social cohesion. Its specific objective is to contribute to the prevention of, and the fight against all forms of violence occurring in the public or the private domain, including sexual exploitation and trafficking of human beings. …

Ontario has the greatest number of Francophones outside Quebec, and Francophones make up the second largest non‐Anglophone community in Ontario after South Asians(1). According to the 2006 Census, 4.8% of Ontario’s population is Francophone(2). Although Franco‐ Ontarians are united by a common language, the community is also characterized by other forms of diversity, including religion, country of origin, culture, socio‐economic status, and ethnicity(1). While language is an essential determinant of health, these other factors also need to be considered when …

Aboriginal youth populations have unique and complex patterns, associated with their mental wellbeing. Compared to the general population, Canada’s Aboriginal children and youth are disproportionately burdened by health and social issues(1‐3). For example, while Aboriginal populations make up only 4% of the population in Canada, of the 76 000 children in Canada’s child welfare system(2), approximately 40% are Aboriginal and rates of suicide are five to six times higher than among non‐ Aboriginal youth

The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) identified three studies of social skills training that both fall within the scope of the Early Childhood Education Interventions for Children with Disabilities topic area and meet WWC evidence standards. All three of these studies meet standards without reservations and together, they included 135 children with disabilities in early education settings in the United States. Although this report presents information about all three studies and their findings, the WWC’s summary ratings of the evidence of …

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The intent of this document is to specify and detail the competencies necessary to successfully manage human service organizations. It is intended to be a framework for describing the skills necessary for the successful management of both public and private nonprofit organizations. The competencies have many uses including setting forth the requirements for social work managers to receive the CSWM, a designation available to professionals with a high degree of management experience and competence. This certification is granted by the …

Engaging families is increasingly being seen as a best practice in providing quality service in child and youth mental health. Family engagement leads to improvements in retention of services, knowledge about mental health issues, self‐efficacy, and improved family interaction.

For the past 15 years, Railway Children have worked to support children around the world who live on the streets, or are at risk through running away from home or care. In the UK, they support local projects in England and Scotland and work to raise awareness and improve support among services in the community. They also play an important role in shaping policy and practice in the support of young runaways. The Reach model has been developed by Railway …

Clinical guidelines, CG155 – Issued: January 2013 This clinical guideline offers evidence-based advice on the recognition and management of psychosis and schizophrenia in children and young people under 18.

Cottages on Greene is a privately financed infill development composed of mixed income housing located in the historic downtown of East Greenwich, Rhode Island. Prior to construction, Cottages on Greene’s nearly one-acre site had sat derelict for several years. In early 2009, as the recession slowed development, a team led by 620 Main Street Associates responded by providing a project concept that leveraged the site’s walkable location and an emerging demand for scaled-down, urban-style living. As a 15-unit “cottage” development, …

This example shows how 15 children’s centres use a health-led model which ensures that all children in the reach area are known to the centre. Through the Healthy Child Programme and the new birth visits, centre staff reach all local families, leading to rapidly improving outcomes for some of the groups whose circumstances make them vulnerable.