National Partners

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH). The Center for Disease Control and Prevention established the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP), within which it created the Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH). Information available from DASH includes data and statistics, funding resources, publications, project partner description and contact information, and links to other web resources.

• Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs (AMCHP). AMCHP is a national nonprofit organization that represents state public health agency leaders responsible for administering state and territorial MCH/family health programs, including the Title V MCH Block Grant. AMCHP works with adolescent health coordinators and other maternal and child health professionals in each state to increase awareness of adolescent health within Title V programs, address adolescent health from a resiliency/asset approach, and to strengthen the capacity of Title V programs in state health agencies to partner with schools and youth-serving organizations to prevent behaviors that place school-aged youth at risk for HIV, STDs, unintended pregnancy and other significant health problems.

• State Adolescent Health Coordinators Network (SAHCN). SAHCN is a national network comprised of public health professionals working in or with state MCH/family health programs as the designated state adolescent health coordinator. While an adolescent health coordinator's job description varies across agencies, his/her role is based on the 10 essential services for adolescent health. SAHCN has a formally elected leadership and regional representative structure.
  • Together AMCHP and SAHCN have formed the Partnership for Adolescent Health (The Partnership). The partnership has written a key consensus document the Conceptual Framework for Adolescent Health. (pdf)

• Maternal and Child Health Bureau. The division of Child, Adolescent and Family Health (DCAFH) is one of five divisions within the Health Resources and Services Administration's (HRSA) Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB). It is the national focal point for improving health care for America's children and adolescents. Its preventive and primary care programs raise national awareness of such issues as the need for safe and healthy out-of-home childcare and the special emergency medical needs of children.

• National Adolescent Health Information Center (NAHIC) (NAHIC) was established in 1993 with funding from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is based within the University of California, San Francisco's Division of Adolescent Medicine, Department of Pediatrics and Institute for Health Policy Studies. The overall goal of NAHIC is to improve the health of adolescents by serving as a national resource for adolescent health information and research and to assure the integration, synthesis, coordination and dissemination of adolescent health-related information.

• Healthy People 2010 - 21 Critical Objectives
  This National Initiative was developed by the CDCs Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH) and HRSA/MCHBs Office of Adolescent Health, in partnership with several organizations including the State Adolescent Health Coordinators Network, the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs, and the National Adolescent Health Information Center. The goal of this National Initiative to Improve Adolescent Health by the Year 2010 (National Initiative) is to attain 21 Critical Objectives (of the 97 Healthy People 2010 objectives for adolescents and young adults) for 10-24 year-olds and measure these objectives at the national and state levels.

• Konopka Institute
  Inspired by the pioneering work of Dr. Gisela Konopka, the Konopka Institute's goal is to get reliable information into the hands of everyone who is in a position to help adolescents. The University of Minnesota's Adolescent Health Program is one of three WHO Collaborating Centres in Adolescent Health-the others are in France and Kenya. The mission of the Centre is to provide technical assistance in adolescent health research and training for those throughout the Americas and around the world who work with youth.

• National Assembly on School-Based Health Care (NASBHC) The National Assembly is a not-for-profit membership association whose mission is to nurture interdisciplinary school-based health care. They are made up of six staff members, a board of directors and state and regional chapters.

• An important national data source is the biennial School-Based Health Center (SBHC) census survey conducted by the NASBHC. The survey provides the field with accurate, up-to-date data about SBHC demographics, staffing, services, policies, utilization, financing, prevention activities, clinical policies, quality assurance activities, involvement in training, and technical assistance needs.

• American Medical Association - Adolescent Health
  The AMA has developed materials on adolescent health issues for physicians to use in their practice and other professional activities.

• Two highlighted documents available from the AMA are:
  • 1. Educational Forum on Adolescent Health: Youth Bullying. This document addresses the long-term effects that being bullied or bullying can have on an adolescent and outlines what physicians, health-educators and other health professionals can do.
    2. Guidelines for Adolescent Preventive Services (GAPS) (pdf). Guidelines for Adolescent Preventive Services (GAPS) is a comprehensive set of recommendations that provides a framework for the organization and content of preventive health services. Recommendations are around health care service delivery, using health guidelines, screenings, and immunizations. There are three questionnaires (pdf) to assist in implementation, these are available for download from the GAPS initiative, available in both English and Spanish.