Youth Development and Empowerment Resources
This page includes links to web-based resources and clearinghouses focused on youth development and empowerment, resource manuals and toolkits for for educators and community-based providers and organizers, and the most up-to-date scholarly articles on positive youth empowerment.
Youth Prevention Resources
This page contains links to youth prevention resources with regard to Grief and Loss, AOD prevention for foster youth, and building community partnerships.
Youth AOD Treatment Resources
This page contains links to websites and documents with resources for treating youth recovering from alcohol and other drug abuse. Resources include facility locators, and support for families.
Youth Mental and Behavioral Health Resources
This page includes links to web-based resources and clearinghouses with an emphasis on youth mental and behavioral health, including web resources and links to fact sheets for policymakers, educators, and community-based providers and organizers. You will also find full text PDFs of peer-reviewed scholarly articles about mental and behavioral issues specific to LGBT, African American, Native American, and disabled communities.
Children’s Mental Health
Making Children’s Mental Health Services Successful: Organizational Cultural Competence: A Review of Assessment Protocols
Research and Training Center for Children’s Mental Health, Department of Child and Family Services. A review of assessment tools designed for use at the organizational level. Designed to identify and describe the organizational factors that lead to cultural competence in organizations.
Adolescent Sexual Health
Adolescent Sexual Health and the Dynamics of Oppression: A Call for Cultural Competency
Established in 1980 as the Center for Population Options, Advocates for Youth champions efforts to help young people make informed and responsible decisions about their reproductive and sexual health. Advocates believes it can best serve the field by boldly advocating for a more positive and realistic approach to adolescent sexual health.
Sex Education for Physically, Emotionally, and Mentally Challenged Youth
Developed by Advocates for Youth.
Resources by Population
Circles of Care: Creating Models of Care for American Indian and Alaska Native Youth
Report from Circles of Care, a SAMHSA program providing grants to providers using culturally competent strategies to better serve American Indian and Alaska Native Youth.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
Social Estrangement: Factors Associated With Alcohol Or Drug Dependency Among Homeless, Street-Involved Young Adults
Substance use is highly prevalent among homeless, street-involved young people. Societal estrangement is often associated with substance use, particularly among this population. Polysubstance use was highly prevalent and most reported marijuana as their drug of choice. Findings indicate that identification with homeless culture was the most highly predictive domain of social estrangement for both alcohol and drug dependency. Implications for services to this population are discussed.
Increased Substance Use and Risky Sexual Behavior Among Migratory Homeless Youth: Exploring the Role of Social Network Composition
Travelers are a migratory subgroup of homeless youth who may be especially prone to engaging in risky behavior. Mediation analyses suggest that travelers’ deviant peer associations and disconnection to conventional individuals and institutions may drive their elevated substance use. Differences in sexual risk behaviors are likely attributable to demographic differences between the two groups. Overall, these differences between travelers and non-travelers suggest different service needs and the need for different service approaches.
