Locating Services

Finding Health Insurance

Health Insurance Options - Go to http://www.healthcare.gov to learn about health insurance options for individuals, families and small businesses and click on "Get Coverage." Open enrollment begins on Nmber 1, 2016. Special enrollment options may be available to qualified individuals.

Health Coverage through Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) - Learn about health insurance programs in your state for children and teens at http://www.insurekidsnow.gov/state/index.html or call 1-877-Kids-Now (1-877-543-7669). You can sign up for Medicaid or CHIP at any time.

Finding Health Care

Free or Low-cost Medical and Dental Care - Use the Find-a-Health-Center Tool to locate a community health center by ZIP Code at http://findahealthcenter.hrsa.gov/Search_HCC.aspx.

Mental Health Services - Find comprehensive information on mental health services, including alcohol and drug abuse, and mental health treatment centers, and resources for professionals, consumers, and the public by ZIP Code and type of service at http://findtreatment.samhsa.gov/.

Suicide Lifeline - If someone you know is suicidal or in serious emotional distress, call the toll-free National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or visit http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/.  If medical help is needed immediately, call 911.

Substance Abuse Treatment Facilities - Search by state and ZIP Code to find licensed public or private facilities and treatment programs at https://findtreatment.samhsa.gov/TreatmentLocator/faces/quickSearch.jspx.

HIV and Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) Testing - Locate a clinic near you that offers low cost testing and prevention counseling for HIV and other STDs and vaccines at https://gettested.cdc.gov/ or call 1-800-CDC-INFO.

HIV Services and Testing Sites - Enter your location at http://locator.aids.gov to identify local HIV testing services, housing assistance, health centers, Ryan White HIV care, mental health services, substance abuse services, and family planning services.

Family Planning Services - Enter your ZIP Code in the "Find a Family Planning Clinic" box to locate family planning clinics near you. These clinics are funded by the HHS Office of Population Affairs. Visit http://www.hhs.gov/opa.

Quit Smoking Help - Talk with a tobacco cessation specialist, sign up for smoke-free texts, and find other resources by calling 1-800-QUIT NOW or visiting http://teen.smokefree.gov.

Seasonal Flu Vaccination Providers - Seasonal flu vaccinations are recommended for everyone six months of age and older. Enter your ZIP Code for locations near you at http://flushot.healthmap.org.

Poison Help - When accidents happen with chemicals, medicine, or household items, call the American Association of Poison Control Centers at 1-800-222-1222 to get help right away from a local poison expert. If someone is unconscious or has trouble breathing, call 911.

Indian Health Service Facility Locator - To locate an Indian Health Service, Tribal or Urban Indian Health Program facility (including hospitals, health centers, dental clinics, and behavioral health facilities), enter your location in the form at http://www.ihs.gov/forpatients/index.cfm/findhealthcare/ or zoom in on the map.

Finding Services for Youth

Report Child Abuse - Find state toll-free numbers for agencies that receive and investigate reports of suspected child abuse and neglect. Visit http://www.childwelfare.gov and click on "How to Report Child Abuse and Neglect."

Dating Violence - Get advice about dating violence and how to prevent it using the live chat feature at http://loveisrespect.org, a service funded by the Department of Justice.

Domestic Violence and Rape Assistance Locator - The U.S. Department of Justice's Office on Violence Against Women provides an interactive map that lists resources for rape and domestic violence prevention and assistance by state at http://www.justice.gov/ovw/local-resources/.

Runaway and Homeless Youth - The National Runaway Switchboard is the federally- designated communication system for runaway and homeless youth. Call 1-800-RUNAWAY 24 hours a day or visit http://www.1800runaway.org.

Homelessness Resource Center - Click on your state at http://homeless.samhsa.gov/Resource/LocalResources.aspx to view local homelessness resources available near you.

Head Start Locator - Use this locator to find a Head Start or Early Head Start center near you. The searchable directory provides locations, addresses, and driving directions for Head Start programs, centers, and grantees. Visit http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/HeadStartOffices.

Disability Information and Services - Enter your state at https://www.disability.gov/2-1-1-help-in-your-area/ to find organizations in your community that can help you apply for disability benefits, find a job, get health care, or pay for accessible housing.

Finding Reliable Health Information

Health Topics - Visit http://www.healthfinder.gov to locate information for consumers on 1,600 health topics.

Health Information Telephone Lines - National Institutes of Health (NIH) provides telephone information lines to help you find information on a number of diverse health topics such as cancer treatment options, rare diseases, or child health. Find the phone numbers at http://www.nih.gov/health-information/health-info-lines. 

Finding Assistance Programs

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) - To apply for TANF assistance, please contact your State TANF agency or click on the link to your state's social service programs http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ofa/help.

Summer Meals for Children - Find locations near you that serve meals to children during the summer months by calling the National Hunger Hotline at 1-866-3-HUNGER (for information in English) or 1-877-8-HAMBRE (for information in Spanish).

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) - Learn where and how to apply for SNAP at http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/snap-application-and-local-office-locators. Most of the telephone numbers listed are toll-free; some accept collect calls. Find local retail stores that welcome SNAP Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) customers at http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/retailerlocator.

Vital Registration

Vital registration is the system by which the government records the essential life events of its citizens and residents.

Births (Natality)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics, Division of Vital Statistics collects and reports information on all live births in the U.S. including births to adolescent mothers. State laws require birth certificates to be completed for all births, and federal law mandates national collection and publication of births and other vital statistics data. The compilation of birth data by the National Vital Statistics System is the result of the cooperation between the National Center for Health Statistics and the states to provide access to statistical information from birth certificates.

For more information on births among adolescents, please see:
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/births.htm
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr64/nvsr64_12.pdf
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db89.htm

Deaths (Mortality)

CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, Division of Vital Statistics collects mortality data. Mortality data from the National Vital Statistics System (NVSS) are a fundamental source of demographic, geographic, and cause-of-death information. For deaths among adolescents, the leading causes of death, racial disparities, and trends by age and gender are particularly informative. NVSS is one of the few sources of health-related data that are comparable for small geographic areas and are available for a long time period in the U.S. The data are also used to present the characteristics of those dying in the U.S., to determine life expectancy, and to compare mortality trends with other countries.

For more information, please see:
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/deaths.htm  
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr64/nvsr64_02.pdf
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr65/nvsr65_02.pdf

Fetal Deaths

CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, Division of Vital Statistics collects and reports information on fetal death (the spontaneous intrauterine death of a fetus at any time during pregnancy) in the U.S. Fetal deaths later in pregnancy (at 20 weeks of gestation or more) are sometimes referred to as stillbirths. In the U.S., state laws require the reporting of fetal deaths, and federal law mandates national collection and publication of fetal death data.

For more information on fetal deaths among adolescents, please see:
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fetal_death.htm
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr60/nvsr60_08.pdf

Surveillance

Surveillance refers to the ongoing, systematic collection, analysis, interpretation, and dissemination of data regarding a health-related event, disease, or condition.

Abortion Surveillance

CDC’s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion’s abortion surveillance program documents the number and characteristics of women obtaining legal induced abortions, and it compiles abortion data by state or area of occurrence. During 1973-1997, data were received or estimated for 52 reporting areas (50 states, the District of Columbia and New York City). From 1998 to 2008, the number of reporting areas has fluctuated between, 45 and 49.

For more information, please see:
http://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/Data_Stats/Abortion.htm  
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss6410a1.htm?s_cid=ss6410a1_e

HIV/AIDS Surveillance

HIV/AIDS surveillance is conducted by health departments in each state or territory and the District of Columbia. Using a standard confidential case report form, the health departments collect information that is then transmitted electronically without personal identifying information to CDC’s Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention (DHAP), National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention. DHAP has developed a comprehensive program of HIV surveillance to collect, analyze, and disseminate data on HIV infection and AIDS. Through HIV surveillance, DHAP monitors many facets of the trends in HIV in the U.S., including HIV case surveillance, HIV incidence surveillance, Variant, Atypical, and Resistant HIV.

For more information on HIV/AIDS among adolescents, please see:
http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/surveillance/index.htm   
http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/library/reports/surveillance/index.html

National Electronic Injury Surveillance System--All Injury Program (NEISS-AIP)

The NEISS-AIP is a collaborative effort by CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission that collects data on all
nonfatal injuries (including sexual assault) and poisonings treated in U.S. hospital
emergency departments. NEISS-AIP uses a subsample of injury data from the NEISS nationally representative sample of U.S. hospital emergency departments.

For more information, please see:
http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/wisqars/nonfatal/datasources.htm#5.3

Notifiable Disease Surveillance

Notifiable disease surveillance is conducted by public health practitioners at local, state, and national levels to support disease prevention and control activities. State epidemiologists report cases of notifiable diseases to CDC’s Public Health Surveillance and Informatics Program Office, Office of Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Services, which tabulates and publishes these data in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) and at year-end in the annual Summary of Notifiable Diseases, U.S. There is an extensive list of notifiable infectious diseases, which includes sexually transmitted infections (STIs) such as chancroid, chlamydia, gonorrhea, primary and secondary syphilis, as well as non-STI infectious conditions such as anthrax, botulism, measles, rabies, tetanus, toxic shock syndrome, and hepatitis.

For more information, please see:
http://www.cdc.gov/osels/ph_surveillance/nndss/nndsshis.htm  

Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance

CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention conducts sexually transmitted disease (STD) surveillance. STD surveillance information is based on the following sources of data: notifiable disease reporting from state and local STD programs; projects that monitor STD prevalence in various settings, including regional Infertility Prevention Projects, the National Job Training Program, the STD Surveillance Network, and the Gonococcal Isolate Surveillance Project; and other national surveys implemented by federal and private organizations. CDC’s STD surveillance report includes data on the three STDs that physicians are required to report to local or state public health authorities—gonorrhea, chlamydia, and syphilis—which represent only a fraction of the true burden of STDs. Some common STDs, like human papillomavirus (HPV) and genital herpes, are not required to be reported.

For more information, please see:
http://www.cdc.gov/std/
http://www.cdc.gov/std/stats/default.htm
http://www.cdc.gov/std/stats/by-age/15-24-all-stds/default.htm

Statistical Surveys

A statistical survey is a method for collecting quantitative information about health-related information in a population. These surveys sample individuals or healthcare providers from a population and then make statistical inferences about the population based on that sample of individuals.

Childhood Agriculture Injury Survey

Youth who live on, work on, or visit farms in the United States (U.S.) have been identified as a special population at high risk for non-fatal and fatal injuries. Since 1996, NIOSH has conducted the Childhood Agricultural Injury Prevention Initiative to promote the reduction of injuries and fatalities to youth on farms in the U.S. A major component of this initiative is the development of an ongoing surveillance program to track the magnitude of non-fatal injuries occurring to all youth exposed to hazards on farms. An initial step in the development of the surveillance program was the completion of a farm operator survey conducted in 1999, which collected injury and demographic data for the calendar year 1998. NIOSH collaborated with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service (USDA-NASS) to conduct this survey called the Childhood Agricultural Injury Survey (CAIS). The results of this survey were released in 2001, and contained both injury and demographic estimates for youth on farms in the U.S. Since the initial survey, NIOSH has collaborated with USDA-NASS to conduct four additional CAIS for the calendar years 2001, 2004, 2006, and 2009. As with the original CAIS, each survey collected injury and demographic information.

For more information, please see:
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/childag/CAIS/default.html

Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP)

The Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP, pronounced "H-Cup") is a family of health care databases and related software tools and products developed through a Federal-State-Industry partnership and sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. HCUP creates a national information resource of patient-level health care data by bringing together the data collection efforts of state data organizations, hospital associations, private data organizations, and the federal government. HCUP includes the largest collection of longitudinal hospital care data in the U.S., with all-payer, encounter-level information beginning in 1988. These databases enable research on a broad range of health policy issues among adolescents as well as other age groups, including cost and quality of health services, medical practice patterns, access to health care programs, and outcomes of treatments at the national, state, and local market levels.

For more information, please see:
http://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/overview.jsp

Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS)

The Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) is conducted by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. MEPS is a set of large-scale surveys of families and individuals, their medical providers, and employers across the U.S. MEPS is the most complete source of data on the cost and use of health care and health insurance coverage. MEPS collects data on the specific health services that Americans use, how frequently they use them, the cost of these services, and how they are paid for, as well as data on the cost, scope, and breadth of health insurance held by and available to U.S. workers.

For more information, please see:
http://meps.ahrq.gov/mepsweb/about_meps/survey_back.jsp

Monitoring the Future (MTF)

Since 1975, the MTF survey has measured drug, alcohol, and cigarette use and related attitudes among adolescent students nationwide. Survey participants report their drug use behaviors across three time periods: lifetime, past year, and past month. Overall, almost 47,000 students from 400 public and private schools in the 8th, 10th, and 12th grades participate in the survey each year. The survey is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and conducted by the University of Michigan.

For more information, please see:
http://www.drugabuse.gov/related-topics/trends-statistics/monitoring-future
https://www.drugabuse.gov/related-topics/trends-statistics/monitoring-future/monitoring-future-survey-overview-findings-2015

National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS)

The National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) is conducted by CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, Division of Health Care Statistics. NAMCS is a national survey designed to meet the need for objective, reliable information about the provision and use of ambulatory medical care services in the U.S. Findings are based on a sample of visits to non-federal employed office-based physicians who are primarily engaged in direct patient care.

For more information, please see:
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/ahcd.htm

National Health Interview Survey (NHIS)

The National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) is the principal source of information on the health of the civilian noninstitutionalized population of the U.S. Conducted by CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, Division of Health Interview Statistics, the NHIS is a continuing survey with special studies to secure accurate and current statistical information on the amount, distribution, and effects of illness and disability in the U.S. and the services rendered for or because of such conditions. The Core questionnaire contains four major components: Household, Family, Sample Adult, and Sample Child.

For more information, please see:
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhis/about_nhis.htm
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhis/new_nhis.htm

National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES)

The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey is conducted by CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, Division of Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys. NHANES is a program of studies designed to assess the health and nutritional status of adults and children in the U.S. The survey is unique in that it combines interviews and physical examinations. The NHANES interview includes demographic, socioeconomic, dietary, and health-related questions. The examination component consists of medical, dental, and physiological measurements, as well as laboratory tests administered by highly trained medical personnel. Data for adolescents include measures of overweight and obesity, and untreated dental caries.

For more information, please see:
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhanes.htm
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db87.htm
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db157.pdf
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db141.pdf

• The NHANES National Youth Fitness Survey (NNYFS) was conducted in 2012 to collect data on physical activity and fitness levels in order to provide an evaluation of the health and fitness of children in the U.S. ages 3 to 15. For more information, visit http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nnyfs.htm.

National Hospital Care Survey (NHCS)

The National Hospital Care Survey is a new survey conducted by CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, Division of Health Care Statistics, which integrates inpatient data formerly collected by the National Hospital Discharge Survey with the emergency department (ED), outpatient department (OPD), and ambulatory surgery center (ASC) data collected by the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS). The integration of these two surveys along with the collection of personal identifiers (protected health information) will allow the linking of care provided to the same patient in the ED, OPD, ASC, and inpatient departments. It will also be possible to link the survey data to the National Death Index and Medicaid and Medicare data to obtain a more complete picture of patient care.

For more information, please see:
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhcs.htm

National Immunization Survey—Teen (NIS-Teen)

The NIS-Teen is conducted by CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics. NIS-Teen collects data by telephone interview of households in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The survey asks questions about immunizations for adolescents, ages 13-17, and requests parental permission for contacting adolescents' vaccination providers (pediatricians, family physicians, and other health care providers) to assure the accuracy and precision of the vaccination coverage estimates and immunization data for surveyed adolescents.

For more information, please see:
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/imz-managers/nis/about.html
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/imz-managers/coverage/nis/teen/index.html
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6429a3.htm
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6229a4.htm

National Survey of Children's Health

This survey is sponsored by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau of the Health Resources and Services Administration and is conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics’ State and Local Area Integrated Telephone Survey (SLAITS). The National Survey of Children’s Health examines the physical and emotional health of children, ages 0-17. Special emphasis is placed on factors that may relate to the well-being of children and adolescents, including medical homes, family interactions, parental health, school and after-school experiences, and safe neighborhoods. In 2011, questions were also asked about uninsured children from some households, to assess their parents' awareness of, experience with, and interest in enrolling in Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

For more information, please see:
http://www.childhealthdata.org/learn/NSCH
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/slaits/nsch.htm

National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs (NSCSHCN)

The National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs is conducted by CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics’ State and Local Area Integrated Telephone Survey (SLAITS). The primary goals of this survey are to assess the prevalence and impact of special health care needs among children in the U.S., and to evaluate change since its inception in 2001. This survey explores the extent to which children with special health care needs (CSHCN) have medical homes, adequate health insurance, access to needed services, adequate care coordination, and that parents are satisfied with their child’s care. Other topics include functional difficulties, transition services, and questions pertaining to specific sub-populations. Interviews are conducted with parents or guardians who know about the child's health. More than 190,000 households with children throughout the U.S. are screened to identify approximately 750 CSHCN in each state and the District of Columbia.

For more information, please see:
http://cshcndata.org/learn/NS-CSHCN
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/slaits/cshcn.htm
http://mchb.hrsa.gov/cshcn0910/

National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG)

CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, Division of Vital Statistics collects data on
factors affecting family formation, growth, and dissolution—including marriage, divorce, and cohabitation; contraception, sterilization, and infertility; pregnancy outcomes; and births through in-person interviews of the household population of males and females aged 15-44 in the U.S.

For more information, please see:
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nsfg/about_nsfg.htm  
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nsfg/nsfg_products.htm

National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH)

National Survey on Drug Use and Health is an annual survey sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The survey is the
primary source of information on the use of illicit drugs, alcohol, and tobacco use and mental health in the civilian, noninstitutionalized U.S. population aged 12 and older. Participants are interviewed in the privacy of their own homes.

For more information, please see:
https://nsduhweb.rti.org/RespWeb/project_description.html
http://www.samhsa.gov/data/population-data-nsduh
 

State and Local Area Integrated Telephone Survey (SLAITS)

The State and Local Area Integrated Telephone Survey (SLAITS) collects important health care data at state and local levels. This data collection mechanism was developed by CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics. It supplements current national data collection strategies by providing in-depth state and local area data to meet various program and policy needs in an ever-changing health care system.

For more information, please see:
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/slaits.htm

Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS)

The YRBSS is a national school-based survey of students in middle school (grades 6 through 8) and high school (grades 9 through 12) conducted by CDC’s Division of Adolescent and School Health among adolescents at the national, state, territorial, tribal, and local levels. The YRBSS monitors six categories of priority health-risk behaviors (behaviors that contribute to unintentional injuries and violence, tobacco use, alcohol and other drug use, sexual risk behaviors, unhealthy dietary behaviors, physical inactivity) plus obesity and asthma.

For more information, please see:
http://www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/yrbs/index.htm  
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/pdf/ss/ss6304.pdf