Week of January 27, 2014

The Roundup contains information about all of the latest news, commentary, reports, surveys, issue briefs, charts, and fact sheets related to boys' issues collected by our staff during the preceding week.

WE'VE LAUNCHED THE PARTNERSHIP FOR MALE YOUTH AND RELEASED THE CLINICAL TOOLKIT FOR ADOLESCENT AND YOUNG ADULT MALES.

We're pleased to announce that last Wednesday, January 22, The Boys Initiative launched the Partnership for Male Youth and the Partnership's Health Provider Toolkit for Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Males.The Partnership will initially be comprised of organizations that worked with The Boys Initiative over the course of the past 18 months to develop the Toolkit.Now that we are moving to the dissemination phase of the Toolkit project we expect that other organizations that have an interest in AYA males will also join the effort.

The Toolkit is an online resource for health care providers who interact with males ages 10-26 and covers nine major health domains. In the next few months the Toolkit material will be adapted to become a resource for parents and AYA males as well.

The Toolkit can be accessed HERE.

Other related materials include the video of the January 22 launch webinar and a brief overview of the project by Dr. Richard S. Pelman, one of the project's steering committee members. The link to the Partnership's YouTube channel, where the materials can be accessed, is HERE.

We are deeply indebted to the many organizations that contributed to this effort and to the 25 members of the project's Advisory Council, in particular Drs. Arik Marcell, David Bell, Art Elster, Richard Pelman, Victor Schwartz, Jason Rafferty and Ms. Judi Siegel for their commitment to the project and hours of work to bring the Toolkit to fruition.

News Clips

  • NIDA Releases Substance Abuse Treatment Resources for Teens
    The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has released resources to help parents, health care providers, and substance abuse treatment specialists treat teens struggling with drug abuse, as well as identify and interact with those who might be at risk.
    Campus Safety
    January 25, 2014

  • $2.25M grant to help NH substance abuse screening
    The New Hampshire Charitable Foundation plans to use a $2.25 million grant to help with a new substance abuse screening program for young adults. 
     The Hilton Foundation grant will enable the Charitable Foundation, in partnership with selected nonprofit hospitals, primary care and community health practices, to expand use of the screening program to people between the ages 12 and 22 with the goal of stopping substance use before it starts.
    AP
    January 25, 2014

  • School Segregates Students Because 'Girls Hear Better' And 'Boys Are Messy'
    Somerset Middle School in Somerset, Wis. has been accused of segregating boys and girls based on gender stereotypes, which may violate gender equality laws.
    Opposing Views
    January 22, 2014

  • New Option for Teens Struggling With Addiction
    Despite the focus on preventive measures in schools, the number of teens who say they've used drugs is alarming. For many of these teens, there is nowhere to turn once they've become addicted. Until this month, no centers in the greater Baltimore area accepted adolescents.
    ABC News
    January 22, 2014

  • Giving hope, help to young gay men
    Offering an oasis from attitudes such as those, the Camden Area Health Education Center operates a "drop-in" program for young gay men at 514 Cooper St. The bright, comfortable basement space is open three evenings a week to males between 17 and 24, and provides HIV testing, counseling, support groups, and social programs.
    Philly.com
    January 22,2014

  • Initiative increases focus on the health of boys
    A new Web-based resource aims to help health care providers better engage adolescent and young-adult male patients and address their unique health issues.
    USA Today
    January 22, 2014

  • Unemployment: Crisis Meets Opportunity
    You don't need me to tell you that unemployment is still a huge problem. The unemployment rate, including long-term unemployment, is still way too high, and Congress keeps deadlocking over small but urgently needed measures like extending unemployment benefits for those struggling to find work. For young Latino and African American men, it's even worse. Nationally, Latino men age 20 to 24 have an 11.5 percent unemployment rate, while for young African American men, the rate is more than 20 percent. Even as we hear of gradual recovery from the recession, that last figure is very close to Great Depression levels of unemployment.
    Huffington Post
    January 21, 2014

International News

CANADA

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(202) 567-3531 | info@theboysinitiative.org | www.theboysinitiative.org

The Boys Initiative is a groundbreaking national nonprofit campaign to shed light on documented trends in recent years pertaining to boys' underachievement and young men's failure to launch. For more information about The Boys Initiative, visit www.theboysinitiative.org.