Free Grant Workshop for Rural Health Providers, 7/30/2008

Source:  email from CRHC

Would you like to access federal dollars for your community? The Colorado Rural Health Center is working with the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy to provide technical assistance to rural health organizations in applying for federal grants.

This free workshop on July 30th will cover:
• Rural Health Network Development Planning Grants
• Rural Access to Emergency Devices (RAED) Grants
• Rural Health Care Services Outreach Grants
• Other Federal Grants

More details about these specific grant programs can be found at: http://ruralhealth.hrsa.gov/funding/GrantPrograms.htm. 

At the conclusion of this workshop, participants will understand:
 Funding opportunities available to rural communities at the federal level; 
 Eligibility requirements for these funding opportunities; 
 Practical and effective grant-writing techniques; and 
 Ways in which to work more effectively with your SORH when seeking grant funds in the future. 

To register or for more details, please visit the workshop link on our website at http://www.coruralhealth.org/crhc/events/Documents/hrsa_ta_7.30.08.pdf

For more information contact:

Shelly Collings
Development Coordinator
Colorado Rural Health Center
3033 S. Parker Rd., Ste. 606
Aurora, CO 80014
sc@coruralhealth.org
303-832-7493
720-233-5590
From rural Colorado 1-800-851-6782

OJJDP Report Examines Best Practices To Address Gang Problems

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) has published “Best Practices To Address Community Gang Problems: OJJDP’s Comprehensive Gang Model.”

The report provides communities responding to a present or potential youth gang problem with guidance in implementing OJJDP’s Comprehensive Gang Model. It describes the research informing the model, notes findings from evaluations of several programs demonstrating the model, and outlines best practices derived from practitioners with experience in planning and implementing the model in their communities.

Resources:

“Best Practices To Address Community Gang Problems: OJJDP’s Comprehensive Gang Model” (NCJ 222799) is available at http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/222799.pdf.

Print copies may be ordered at http://www.ncjrs.gov/app/publications/alphaList.aspx. For quick access, search by document number.

For additional information about OJJDP’s efforts to prevent and address gang problems, visit http://ojjdp.ncjrs.gov/programs/antigang/.

New Report Pinpoints Substance Use and Mental Health Problems in Individual Localities

Source: SAMHSA News Release, 6/19/08

Survey reveals wide variations and unexpected patterns of substance use and mental illness across more than 340 localities across the United States

Mental health and substance abuse problems affect every local community throughout America – but in unique, and sometimes surprising ways, according to a report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The report offers highly detailed analyses of the substance abuse and mental health problems occurring within these smaller geographical areas.

For example, one of the smaller geographical (or substate) areas in the survey –Utah’s Salt Lake and Weber-Morgan Counties – have among the nation’s highest levels of persons aged 12 or older using painkillers for non-medical reasons. In these two counties, levels were as high as 7.92 percent. In contrast, areas of the District of Columbia had some of the nation’s lowest levels of this type of substance abuse, as low as 2.48 percent in parts of the city. Y
et the exact same communities in Utah had the among the nation’s lowest levels of underage binge alcohol use in the past month (as low as 8.72 percent of those age 12 to 20). The District of Columbia had equally low levels in some parts of the city, but other parts had some of the nation’s highest levels (as high as 39.01 percent among this age group).

“The findings reveal that the nation’s substance abuse and the mental health problems are fundamentally local in character and might be addressed directly most effectively at that level,” said SAMHSA Administrator Terry Cline, Ph.D. “This report provides local public health authorities sharper insight into the nature and scope of the substance abuse and mental health problems affecting their communities.”

The report, Substate Estimates from the 2004-2006 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health, measures and analyzes 23 substance abuse and mental health-related behavior levels in 345 substate regions representing all 50 states and the District of Columbia. In most states, the substate regions are defined in terms of counties or groups of counties. In a few states, these areas are defined in terms of census tracts. The results were based on the combined data from the 2004 to 2006 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) and involved responses from 203,870 people age 12 or older throughout the United States. The full report is available on the Web at http://oas.samhsa.gov/substate2k8/toc.cfm, as is Nonmedical Use of Pain Relievers in Substate Regions: 2004 to 2006, a short report from SAMHSA that focuses on this particular problem.

New CASA Report finds : Marijuana potency up, medical diagnosis, treatment admissions, ER findings for teen Marijuana use up sharply

Source : CASAColumbia.org: News Room: Press Releases: Non-Medical Marijuana III: Rite of Passage or Russian Roulette?, 6/18/2008

Despite reported declines in teen marijuana use, in 2007 almost 11 million teens report having used marijuana. For those using the drug, four alarming trends are of grave concern for parents and teens, according to “Non-Medical Marijuana III: Rite of Passage or Russian Roulette?“, a new report by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University.

From 1992 – 2006:

• There was a 175 percent jump in the potency of marijuana (3.2 to 8.8 percent THC[i] concentration in seized samples).
• There was a 492 percent increase in the proportion of teen treatment admissions with a medical diagnosis for marijuana abuse or dependence, compared with a 54 percent decline for all other substances of abuse.
• There was a 188 percent increase in the proportion of teen treatment admissions for marijuana as the primary drug of abuse, compared with a 54 percent decline for all other substances of abuse.

From 1995 – 2002:[ii]

• There was a 136 percent increase in the proportion of emergency department findings of marijuana as a major substance of abuse among teens, more than five times the increase in such findings for all other substances of abuse.

Click here to read more.
Click here to download or purchase Non-Medical Marijuana III: Rite of Passage or Russian Roulette?, June 2008.

NIDA NewsScan : Addiction Research News

The latest NewsScan from the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) includes briefs on the following research findings:

• Intensive Foster Care Program Reduces Delinquency and Improves School Engagement for Girls
• Intervention Prevents Disruption of Stress Hormone Levels in Preschoolers in Foster Care
• Health Plans More Likely to Focus on Identifying Enrollees with Mental Illness than Substance Use Disorders
• Brain Regions Associated with Cue-Induced Cigarette Cravings Independent of Withdrawal
• Prerelease Treatment with Buprenorphine-Naloxone Reduces Drug Use in Inmates Re-Entering the Community
• Pharmacology Modules Help Students Learn Basic Science Concepts
• Methamphetamine Use Increases Risk of Unsafe Heterosexual Behaviors

View the NIDA NewsScan for June 9, 2008

2007 YRBS Results and Data Available

• See MMWR Surveillance Summary June 6, 2008 / 57(SS04);1-131 : Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance — United States, 2007 (or click here for PDF)
• See CDC 2007 YRBS Press Release, 6/4/2006: Nation’s High School Students Showing Overall Improvements in Health-Related Behaviors : However, Hispanic Students Not Showing Progress in Some Key Areas
• See CDC’s YRBSS: Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System home page at http://www.cdc.gov/yrbs/

OJJDP Bulletin Examines Violence by Teenage Girls

Source: News from OJJDP email, 6/2/2008
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) has published “Violence by Teenage Girls: Trends and Context.” The first in a series of publications from OJJDP’s Girls Study Group, the bulletin assesses trends of juvenile arrest rates for violent crimes, focusing on simple and aggravated assault. It also examines the context in which girls and boys offend, including the type of victims targeted and environments where offenses commonly occur.

Resources:
“Violence by Teenage Girls: Trends and Context” is available online only at http://www.ojjdp.ncjrs.gov/publications/PubAbstract.asp?pubi=240649.
For further information about OJJDP’s Girls Study Group, visit http://girlsstudygroup.rti.org/.