In the United States truancy prevention is lacking two key elements to success; research that explains the causes of truancy and empirical evidence for best practices of truancy prevention. Truancy has been a problem in academics since the early 1900's, when truancy became illegal. Since then, truancy rates have continued to see a steady increase,…

Youth violence is a national public health concern in USA, especially in resource-constrained urban communities. Between 2018 and 2021, the Healthy Communities for Youth (HCFY) program addressed youth violence prevention in select economically marginalized urban communities, with the HCFY program reducing the likelihood of youth-involved violent…

Background: As constant figures in children's lives, parents are key in protecting children from sexual abuse. One barrier to reaching parents is that the topic can be difficult to broach and is sensitive in nature. Such barriers can interfere with implementation and fidelity of evidence-based prevention strategies that are focused on reducing…

The impact of community-wide teen pregnancy prevention initiatives (CWIs) on local U.S. birth rates among adolescents aged 15 to 19 years was examined using synthetic control methodology within a quasi-experimental design. CWIs were implemented in 10 U.S. communities from 2010 to 2015. Each initiative implemented evidence-based teen pregnancy…

Objective: In this paper, we describe an approach to engage young children in evaluating the impact of "La Vida Buena," a community health worker-led childhood obesity intervention for Latino children aged 5-8 years. Design: This paper describes the collaborative process used to pilot, refine, implement and evaluate evaluation…

The contemporary #MeToo moment has led to renewed concern about issues of masculinity and gender justice. This moment provides a strong warrant for critically analyzing different programmes for boys and men in relation to their capacity for gender transformation. This paper presents three such programmes located in Victoria (Australia) as case…

The Global Resilience Oral Workshops (GROW) Free and Strong programs take a strengths-based, positive youth development (PYD) approach to promoting thriving. Through both prevention (GROW Strong) and intervention (GROW Free) exercises, these programs aim to build character and emotional resilience while also lowering unhealthy alcohol use. To…

A systematic review explored the creation and maintenance of community coalitions as effective for alcohol and other drug (AOD) prevention in adolescence. Community coalitions influence the implementation of effective and sustainable community-based prevention via infrastructure supporting development, delivery, and assessment of human service…

Mental health challenges for youth continue to be a growing concern. Youth-serving organizations have the potential to play a significant role in recognizing the signs and symptoms of mental health challenges in youth. The Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) training course is widely used to equip adults working with youth with skills to support…

Although US teenage birth rates substantially decreased over the past two decades, it still remains the highest in the developed world. More innovative, community-wide initiatives are needed to combat the issue. In Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, the Central Oklahoma Teen Pregnancy Prevention Collaboration is utilizing the collective impact model to…

Assets for a Healthy Adolescence - Experiential Outdoor Service Learning (AHA-EOSL) Program, provided by Rocky Mountain Youth Corps-CO (RMYC), engaged 165 youth during summer 2021 in Youth Crews (ages 14-18) who worked together in 8-10 member for two or five weeks while performing meaningful conservation and service projects. RMYC focused on…

Assets for a Healthy Adolescence - Experiential Outdoor Service Learning (AHA-EOSL) Program, provided by Rocky Mountain Youth Corps-CO (RMYC), engaged 165 youth during summer 2021 in Youth Crews (ages 14-18) who worked together in 8-10 member crews for two or five weeks and performed meaningful conservation and service projects. RMYC focused on…

Extension professionals must demonstrate organizational value to garner public awareness and support. Measuring and communicating outcomes that have public value can be challenging. In this study, Ripple Effects Mapping incorporating the Community Capitals Framework was used to evaluate a childhood obesity prevention study, iCook 4-H, of…

Background: Whole-of-community interventions have been recommended and show promise for preventing obesity; however, research to understand the mechanisms underlying their success or failure is lacking. Complex systems approaches may be useful to address this gap. Purpose: To describe the evolution and utilization of qualitative and quantitative…

Improbable Players (IP) has been creating applied theatre for substance use disorder prevention since 1984, training more than 200 sober actor/teaching artists to perform plays and facilitate workshops addressing addiction, alcoholism, and the opioid crisis. The company operates, for its actors, as a long-term arts- integrated peer recovery…