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This Web site is a component of the SAMHSA Health Information Network.

In FY 1999, the U.S. Congress appropriated $40 million to fund a program for the prevention of violence in schools. CMHS was one of three Federal agencies authorized to design and implement the program, known as the Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative.

The U.S. Surgeon General's Report on Youth Violence Prevention, released in January 2001, clearly demonstrates a continued need for the program. It shows that the epidemic of youth violence is not over, even though arrest rates for violent crimes by youth have dropped substantially. The carrying and use of weapons in violent crimes have declined. At the same time, however, arrest rates for aggravated assault remain nearly 70 percent higher than in 1983, and data based on self-reports indicate that the proportion of youth involved in violent behavior has not declined since the peak years in the mid-1990s.

The greatest challenge is in directing and redirecting resources toward effective, research-based prevention strategies and programs. The Center's Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative addresses this challenge by promoting comprehensive, integrated, community-wide strategies, with the ultimate goal of fostering school safety and healthy youth development.

The Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative is a grant program designed to develop real-world knowledge about what works best to reduce school violence. During the first two years of the program, grants of $1 million to $3 million were awarded to 77 local school districts that have formal partnerships with local mental health and law enforcement agencies. Grant awards totaled $145 million. School districts are using the funds to help communities design and implement comprehensive educational, mental health, social service, law enforcement, and juvenile justice services for youth. These services are designed to promote healthy childhood development, foster resilience, and prevent youth violence.

The underlying principles of the program are to:

• Marry security with healthy childhood development.
• Approach school violence as a public health issue.
• Offer comprehensive, coordinated services along the path of childhood development.
• Encourage partnerships among school districts, law enforcement agencies, and local mental health agencies.
• Replicate services known to work.

To support the Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative, CMHS has undertaken a number of other projects, including the development of:

• A National Public Education Campaign to generate a broad range of communications products and activities to enhance awareness, understanding, and application of strategies for preventing school violence and developing healthy children.
• A National Coordinating Center to provide training and technical assistance for Safe Schools/Healthy Students grantees and for applicants of the program who did not receive awards.
• Interactive Computer Learning Software to assist students, parents, and teachers in developing positive attitudes, adequate knowledge, and effective skills for preventing school violence.
• A Grant Program targeted at community-based organizations to build community consensus and collaboration and to pilot an evidence-based program that promotes healthy child development and prevents violence.
• A Grant Program targeted at State and local government organizations to promote mental health and prevent violence and substance abuse among youth. The program supports the development of self-sustaining coalitions between State and local governments that have community service delivery systems, in order to promote a community-wide understanding of youth problem behaviors and approaches to violence prevention.