SAP COUNTY COORDINATION UPDATE
June, 2012
Pennsylvania Network for Student Assistance Services Interagency Update
New SAP K-12 Certification Being Developed
In March 2012, SAP Interagency Committee adopted new Student Assistance Program K-12 (Kindergarten through 12th grade) Training Standards and Competencies. Commonwealth Approved Training Providers are currently developing new designs for review and approval. Beginning fall 2012, all SAP training conducted will adhere to the new K-12 Standards and the new SAP certificate will be a K-12 certificate. This will allow anyone trained beginning in the fall of 2012 to serve on an elementary or secondary team. A process is also being developed for those who currently hold a secondary SAP certificate or those who have successfully completed an ESAP training and wish to obtain a K-12 SAP certificate. For more information please contact your regional coordinator.
Attention SAP Teams and SAP Liaison Providers:
The PA Network for Student Assistance Services (PNSAS) is still updating their contact lists for the Student Assistance Program statewide. We would appreciate your assistance in obtaining information from your building/agency. If you have not responded to the email that was sent out in January, we need you, or a representative, to download the appropriate survey which can be found at http://www.sap.state.pa.us under the SAP Information Surveys heading and return it to your PA Network for Student Assistance Services Regional Coordinator as soon as possible. Please also send a copy of your team’s SAP consent form. You can download the map of the SAP Regions and a list of the Regional Coordinators from the link under the SAP Information Surveys heading, also.
Bureau of Drug and Alcohol Programs
Beginning July 1, 2012 the Bureau of Drug and Alcohol Programs will become the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs. The Department Secretary will be Gary Tennis. There will be three bureaus within the department: prevention and intervention; treatment and administration. Secretary Tennis will be a member of Governor Corbett’s cabinet.
RESOURCES
New SAMHSA Publication
A new publication, “Identifying Mental Health and Substance Use Problems of Children and Adolescents: A Guide for Child-Serving Organizations” can be used as resource for educators working with children and youth who experience mental health challenges. The guide addresses the approaches, methods, and strategies used to
identify mental health and substance use problems of youth in academic and other settings. These resources can be found at http://www.samhsa.gov/children/508compliant_Identifying_MH_and_SU_Problems_1-30-2012.pdf.
Teen Driving Safety Resource
We can all help keep teens safe on the road and http://www.teendriversource.org from the Center for Injury Research and Prevention at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia can help. This site will support your efforts with free information and downloadable resource sections for teens, parents, educators, policy makers and researchers. Here you'll find information on cutting-edge research and evaluated strategies, as well as practical resources to download including a free curriculum for schools entitled “Enhancing Education to Keep Teens Safe on the Road”. These free, downloadable instructional materials not only meet National Health Education Standards and the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Healthy People 2020 objectives related to teen driving, but also enable you to conduct evidence-based learning events for teens in classroom or community settings. The site includes resources for observing National Teen Driver Safety Week (NTDSW) planned for October 14-20, 2012.
Essential Communication Skills for Parents and Caregivers on SAMHSA YouTube Channel
This playlist contains seven videos that aid parents, caregivers, and educators in best practices for talking with children about the dangers of alcohol and underage drinking, tobacco, and illegal drugs. It also includes videos on how to become a better listener, how to overcome communication barriers, and how to communicate to your child family rules and expectations. Go to http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2ECB71F2A32F7F00&feature=plcp.
Parent’s Guide to Truancy
The Hamilton Fish Institute on School and Community Violence, at The George Washington University, announces its new publication for parents, “Parents’ Guide to Truancy”. This 36-page, 4” x 5” booklet, based on best practices, provides parents and guardians with pro-active strategies for preventing and reducing incidences of truancy. Go to http://www.hamfish.org/ to download this resource.
STAR Center Conference Power Points Available
The 2012 STAR-Center Conference season has come to a close. For those of you who were not able to attend one of the conferences, but who would like to benefit from the information shared, we will be posting the PowerPoint presentations from the keynote addresses and many of the breakout sessions to the STAR-Center web site in the next few weeks. Please check the website www.starcenter.pitt.edu in the coming weeks to view these presentations. In the interim, the 2011 Conference Power Point presentations are available at the same site.
Online Tool Estimates Youth Exposure to Alcohol Ads on Radio
A new online tool from the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health determines the extent of exposure to radio alcohol advertisements among young people ages 12 to 20 in 75 different media markets. The resource http://www.camy.org/radio2009/radio/3/2009/2009 is the first to provide parents, health departments and other key audiences with access to customizable information on youth exposure to radio alcohol advertising.
The tool provides three important measures for each market: the percent of alcohol ads that are out of compliance with the 30 percent standard; the percent which exceed the 15 percent proportional standard; and “youth overexposure,” that is, how many ads in each market were more likely to be heard by youth per capita than by adults. An earlier CAMY analysis of all 75 markets found close to one-third of advertising placements occurred when proportionately more youth were listening than adults age 21 and above. The analysis also found that 9 percent of the ads in 75 markets failed to meet the industry
standards, which accounted for almost 50 percent of all radio listeners age 12 and older. Three brands alone – Miller Lite, Bud Light and Coors Light – placed more than half of these violating ads.
U.S. ED OESE/OSHS’ Safe and Supportive Schools TA Center Announces New Website Feature, Voices from the Field
TheSafe and Supportive Schools Technical Assistance Center (SSSTA), supported by the Office of Safe and Healthy Students in the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, announces its new webinar related feature on the Safe and Supportive Schools website called Voices from the Field: http://safesupportiveschools.ed.gov/landing_new.php?id=1390 .
Voices from the Field provides administrators, teachers, school support staff, community, and family members a place to voice what they think and are doing to make your school(s) safe and supportive. Specifically, on Voices from the Field you can share what you think by responding to a polling question, see what others think by viewing the poll’s results, see what experts think by reading a short post that includes references and related resources, and share your experiences by posting comments on safe and supportive schools topics.
Voices from the Field is updated with a new topic each month and all topics are archived for future reference. The topic for this month is focused on implementing school climate improvements which will also be addressed in this month’s Webinar. We look forward to hearing from the field on how school climate improvements are being implemented!
NOTE: If the organization you work for has a Website, you can post the Voices from the Field widget on it so your constituents can share what they think, see what experts think and share their experiences in making schools safe and supportive. A widget is a dynamic web application that includes a graphic that can link from your Website to the Voices from the Field page and updates automatically each month. To post the Voices from the Field widget on your Website, simply click on “share this widget” from the Voices from the Field box on the Safe and Supportive Schools home page at http://safesupportiveschools.ed.gov/index.php?id=01, choose which graphical image you prefer, copy the respective html code and work with your web administrator to enter the code into your Website.
For more information on the Webinar or assistance in posting the Voices from the Field widget on your Website, email .
Free Risk and Vulnerability Assessments for Schools
In an effort to keep our schools safe, crime-free environments and to protect them from a terrorist attack, the Center for Safe Schools would like to make all school administrators aware of risk and vulnerability assessments, an initiative of the Pennsylvania State Police, offered free of charge.
Risk and vulnerability assessments are comprehensive examinations of physical facilities and operational procedures. The assessments identify critical assets, threat potential and vulnerabilities; and provide recommendations to improve security. Assessments focus on a multitude of areas, including parking, access control, closed circuit TV systems, lighting, mail handling, HVAC systems, emergency preparedness, employee screening and others.
Public and private facilities can qualify for an assessment. The requesting school or agency will be asked to provide copies of emergency procedures, floor plans and security policies. Assessors may also interact with employees and ask questions regarding security matters. A comprehensive assessment typically lasts between one and three days.
To schedule an assessment, contact the Pennsylvania State Police Risk and Vulnerability Assessment Team (RVAT) at 717-346-4085, 717-346-2634 or email: . For more information go to http://www.SafeSchools.info or download the brochure at http://www.safeschools.info/images/stories/RVAT_brochure.pdf.
Youth Gambling Resources
Go to the website of International Centre for Youth Gambling Problems and High- Risk Behaviors at http://www.youthgambling.com for fact sheets and a variety of resources for parents and adolescents.
The Council on Compulsive Gambling of Pennsylvania is a nonprofit organization affiliated with the National Council on Problem Gambling. Their purpose is to educate and disseminate information on compulsive gambling and to facilitate referrals. For more information call 800-848-1880 in PA or www.pacouncil.com.
Under Age Drinking Prevention
StopAlcoholAbuse.Gov is your gateway to comprehensive research and resources on the prevention of underage drinking. Materials available through this portal are provided by the 15 Federal agencies of the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of Underage Drinking (ICCPUD). For more information about ICCPUD, see https://www.stopalcoholabuse.gov/aboutus/default.aspx. On the site are separate resources for parents, youth, educators and faith based organizations found on the “partners” tab. Go to https://www.stopalcoholabuse.gov/Default.aspx.
Funding Opportunities
Parent-Child Education Program Grants
Funded by AVANCE
Deadline: October 15, 2012
The purpose of this funding opportunity is to promote positive parenting skills and behaviors, school readiness, parental school involvement, adult education, community economic development, and civic engagement for a simultaneous impact on both parents and children in order to break the cycle of poverty.
Awards of up to $50,000 will be available. Eligible entities include nonprofit organizations serving low-income, high-need Hispanic families. For more information and to apply for this funding go to http://www.avance.org/2012/05/50000-grants-available/.
Race to the Top
School districts will be able to submit proposals for innovative educational programs this year to compete for federal grants of up to $25 million under a new national contest, part of the three-year-old Race to the Top program.
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The U.S. Department of Education is very interested in input from the field regarding the competition design and has posted a draft executive summary. All interested parties are invited to submit opinions, suggestions, ideas and comments pertaining to the Race to the Top district competition. This document will be posted for public input until 5:00 PM EDT on Friday, June 8, 2012, at which time the input section will be closed and input received will be considered as the final requirements, priorities, selection criteria, and definitions are developed. Though the Department of Education will not respond to comments, they will read and consider all comments in finalizing the Race to the Top competition design. Later this summer, a notice of final requirements, priorities, selection criteria, and definitions will be published in the Federal Register along with a notice inviting applications. To read the Executive Summary and submit your comments go to http://www.ed.gov/race-top/district-competition.
TRAINIng Opportunities
Pennsylvania Department of Education, Bureau of Special Education
Title: 2012 National Autism Conference
When: July 30th -August 2nd, 2012
Location: The Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel -State College, Pennsylvania
Description: This conference provides comprehensive, evidence-based information to assist educators, providers and families in developing effective educational and therapeutic programming for all students with autism spectrum disorders.
For complete session descriptions and general information visit:
http://www.outreach.psu.edu/programs/autism/index.htm
You can register on the program web site at: http://www.outreach.psu.edu/programs/autism/registration.htm
Webcast Information:
Watch any or all of the session offerings free of charge if not seeking to obtain CEUs. No registration is required. Information will be available on the PSU website.
Preparing School Medical Teams for Disaster
August 8, 2012
8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Center for Safe Schools
Camp Hill, PA
This course will enable school medical teams to plan and prepare responses to school and community mass casualty incidents and disasters. Who should attend?
School nurses, emergency response team members, athletic trainers, school administrators and other school staff members and approved volunteers who may respond to school medical needs are encouraged to attend. A working knowledge of basic first aid and school emergency response procedures is required. Go to http://www.safeschools.info/professional-development/253 for more information and to https://www.center-school.org/ssreg/ss-006/register to register.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Presents “Blue Campaign” Human Trafficking Awareness Online Training
Human trafficking is a modern-day form of slavery, and involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act. It happens in virtually every country in the world, including right here in the United States. In our country, youths constitute the most vulnerable group for becoming domestic victims of sex trafficking. Many women involved in prostitution actually entered as minors. As members of the youth education community, you are in a unique position to recognize children who may be on the path to becoming victimized, and report your suspicions to the appropriate authorities.