This brief studies an intervention that placed mental health clinicians in Minnesota schools. This analysis focuses on the implementation of the school-based mental health (SBMH) program in K-12 public schools in Hennepin County, Minnesota, which includes the city of Minneapolis and its suburbs. The analysis uses administrative data and survey…

LifeSkills Training is the only program to prevent substance use disorder among adolescents that has evidence of effects on substance use outcomes from multiple randomized controlled trials. Evaluations have shown that the version for middle school students reduces their use of substances in high school, but these studies were conducted in the…

The Minnesota's School-Based Diversion Model (SBDM) is a student-centered plan to keep youth from entering the criminal justice system due to arrests at school. Wilder Research is working with the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) to help collect and analyze information about how the SBDM is helping each pilot program increase…

The Minnesota's School-Based Diversion Model (SBDM) is a student-centered plan to keep youth from entering the criminal justice system due to arrests at school or during school hours. Wilder Research is working with the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) to help collect and analyze information about how the SBDM is helping each pilot…

The Minnesota's School-Based Diversion Model (SBDM) is a student-centered plan to keep youth from entering the criminal justice system due to arrests at school or during school hours. Wilder Research is working with the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) to help collect and analyze information about how the SBDM is helping each pilot…

This research clarifies the public support of comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) in terms of acceptance, content, timing, and effectiveness as it may inform practice in the United States. The historical context of public opinion, as well as a summary of the efficacy of abstinence only education (AOE) versus CSE in the scientific literature,…

To stem the tide of students dropping out, many schools and districts are turning to early warning systems (EWS) that signal whether a student is at risk of not graduating from high school. While some research exists about establishing these systems, there is little information about the actual implementation strategies that are being used across…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify significant external and internal challenges that state organization leaders face in promoting science-based teen pregnancy prevention programs within their states. The state organization administrators were chosen because their organizations were funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control…

Schools have long recognized the importance of creating climates that are peaceful, laying the groundwork for good student academic learning. This article explores the work of a large urban school district as it applies a community violence prevention model developed by the local county public health department to create peaceful communities.…

Interventions that aim to promote social competence, reduce problem behavior, and improve school climate are common at all levels of schooling. This whole-school focus, coupled with researchers' concerns about contamination or spillover effects in evaluations that randomly assign classrooms or students to conditions, as well as advances in…

This paper reviews the international scientific evidence on the effectiveness of secondary prevention interventions for young drug users. The review provides insight into the effectiveness of interventions that have been evaluated using moderately strong research designs. Most of the studies included are from the United States of America. Some…

Proposes an integrated theory of youth drinking behavior and reviews two large-scale, randomized trial programs in Minnesota utilizing this model to help reduce adolescent drinking: (1) the Communities Mobilizing for Change on Alcohol (CMCA) project; and (2) Project Northland. Effective long-term alcohol use prevention programs require strategies…

The primary goal of this Minnesota evaluation project was to identify 20 promising prevention strategies and to evaluate the extent to which school districts utilize these prevention strategies. It was intended that this portrait of how school districts employ effective strategies will inform state policymakers and guide resource development and…

The Minnesota Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) Plus project augmented the DARE curriculum with community, parent involvement, and extracurricular activity components. Of the 24 schools in the DARE Plus project, the 8 receiving the DARE Plus intervention are examined in this study. The association of participation in the extracurricular…

The objectives of this study were to examine outcomes of the Minnesota D.A.R.E. Plus Project on violence-related behaviors among middle school students and mediation analyses that test how the intervention was effective in reducing physical and verbal violence. Twenty-four schools were randomly assigned to the D.A.R.E. middle school curriculum,…