Behavioral Health Problems in
Childhood and Adolescence:
The Power of Prevention
Jeff Jenson, PhD
Philip D. & Eleanor G. Winn Professor for
Children and Youth at Risk
Associate Dean for Research
Graduate School of Social Work
University of Denver
Michael M. Davis Lecture, The Center for Health Administration Studies. University of Chicago.
October 27, 2015.
Behavioral Health Problems in
Childhood and Adolescence:
The Evolution of Prevention
Part 1
• Prevention Practice and Policy in the US, 1960-2015
–
–
–
–
–
Evolution of prevention programs and approaches
Models and frameworks
Risk, protection, and public health models
Public health to prevention science
Efficacy of preventive interventions
• Youth Matters Denver Public Schools Trial
• Denver Bridge Project
– Current challenges
Behavioral Health Problems in
Childhood and Adolescence:
The Power of Prevention
Part 2
• Unleashing the Power of Prevention, a Grand
Challenge for Social Work
– Present key findings and goals from a national plan to
advance prevention policy and practices called Unleashing
the Power of Prevention
– Identify policy, education, and advocacy efforts resulting
from Unleashing the Power of Prevention
The Quest for Healthy
Youth Development!!
What can get in the way?
Anxiety
Depression
Risky
driving
Aggressive
behavior and
conduct
problems
Selfinflicted
injury
Autism
Alcohol,
tobacco,
other drug
use
Delinquent
behavior
Violence
Risky sexual
behavior
School
dropout
5
The Evolution of Prevention
The Origins of Epidemiology and
Prevention: Cholera, John Snow, and
the Broad Street Pump Handle, 1854
Prevention Approaches, 1960-1980
•
Information dissemination approaches were common in the 1960s and 1970s
– Media was often used to provide information to children and youth
• The Man with the Goodies: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yS_IJl_BkE
• Yogi Bear: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viJqk-NIPag&feature=related
• Sony Bono antidrug film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkgHBWgJI3c
– More graphic and recent examples are seen in commercials aimed at preventing
methamphetamine use
• Meth, Just Once: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zM0c7phwzL8
•
Fear arousal programs exposed children and youth to the consequences of crime
and drug use during the 1970s
– Scared Straight
– Recent examples are seen in Beyond Scared Straight
•
Alternative school programs and early forms of affective education surfaced in the
1970s
•
Collectively, information dissemination, fear arousal, and alternative school
strategies had little or no effect on school, drug use, or delinquent outcomes
Prevention Approaches, 1980–1990
• Poor outcomes from early studies led to new prevention
strategies in the 1980s
– Social learning and cognitive-behavioral theories were used to develop
interactive and skills-based programs in schools
• Life Skills Training (Botvin, 1984)
• Seattle Social Development Project (Hawkins & Catalano, 1986)
• Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (Greenberg & Kusche, 1993)
• Early controlled trials of these approaches revealed significant
effects in preventing or delaying the onset of problem behaviors
– Implementation of tested strategies was largely limited to funded and
short-term investigations
• A unifying conceptual model of prevention was still lacking
Prevention Approaches, 1990–2015
• A unifying prevention framework came with the adoption
of a public health approach in the 1990s
The Public Health
Approach to Prevention
Define the problem:
Surveillance
Evaluate
interventions
Implement
interventions
Identify causes:
Risk & protective
factor research
Develop and test
interventions
Note. Adapted from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, http://www.cdc.gov/
Risk Factors for Child and Adolescent
Problem Behavior by Level of Influence
Risk Factors
Substance
Delinquency Violence
School
Abuse
Dropout
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Individual Factors
Early behavior problems
Rebellious attitudes
Favorable attitudes toward problem behaviors
Sensation-seeking orientation
Impulsivity
Attention deficits
Biological and genetic factors
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
Family Factors:
Favorable parental attitudes toward problem behavior
Family history of involvement in problem behavior
Inconsistent supervision, monitoring, and discipline
Family and parent-child conflict
Poor attachment with parents
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
School Factors:
Poor academic performance in early grades
Low commitment to school
Low school engagement
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
Interpersonal Factors
Risk Factors for Child and Adolescent
Problem Behavior by Level of Influence
Risk Factors
Substance
Delinquency Aggression
School
Abuse
Dropout
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Peer Factors:
Associating with deviant peers
Rejection by conforming peers
Environmental/Community Factors
Laws and norms favorable to antisocial behavior
Availability and access to drugs and firearms
Poverty and limited economic opportunity
Community disorganization
Media portrayals of antisocial behavior
Transitions and mobility
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
This table is adapted from the Social Development Research Group (Catalano, Haggerty, Hawkins, & Elgin, 2011; Hawkins,
2006; Hawkins, Catalano, & Miller, 1992) and from Jenson & Bender (2014); Jenson, Alter, Nicotera, Anthony, & ForrestBank (2013); Jenson & Fraser (2011); and O’Connell, Boat, & Warner (2009).
Protective Factors for Child and Adolescent
Problem Behaviors by Level of Influence
Individual Factors
Emotional self-regulation
High self-esteem
Communication and language skills
Positive attitude
Temperament
Low childhood stress
Interpersonal Factors
Family Factors:
Reliable support and discipline from parents or caregivers
Family provides structure, limits, and predictability
Caring relationships with siblings
Attachment to parents or caregivers
Support from extended family members
Protective Factors for Child and Adolescent
Problem Behaviors by Level of Influence
School Factors:
Support for early learning
Access to supplemental educational services
Positive teacher expectations
Effective classroom management
School practices and policies to reduce bullying
High levels of school engagement
Peer Factors:
Ability to make friends and get along with others
Relationships with positive and prosocial peers
Environmental/Community Factors
Opportunities for education, employment, recreation
Presence and availability of mentors
Positive social norms about behavior
Physical and psychological safety
This table is adapted from Jenson, Alter, Nicotera, Anthony, & Forrest-Bank (2013); Jenson & Fraser (2011); and
O’Connell, Boat, & Warner (2009).
Levels of Prevention in the
Context of a Public Health Approach
• Interventions based on a public health approach apply risk and
protective factors at three levels of implementation
Prevention
From Public Health to Prevention Science
•
The adoption of a public health framework based on risk and
protective factors contributed to what has become recognized
as a science of prevention (Coie, et al., 1993)
What is Prevention Science?
• Prevention science includes these common characteristics
– Risk and protective factors associated with a problem behavior must
be changed to prevent that behavior
– Malleable risk and protective factors identified in empirical studies
are recognized as the targets of prevention
– Preventive interventions should be rigorously tested in efficacy trials
– Efficacious programs should be replicated, implemented with fidelity,
and tested in large-scale effectiveness trials
– Effective interventions should be the focus of translation efforts
• There has been steady interest in prevention science since
the late 1990s
– The Society for Prevention Research was established in 1991
http://www.preventionresearch.org
– Prevention Science journal created in 2004
Preventing Mental, Emotional and Behavioral
Disorders Among Young People:
Progress and Possibilities
O'Connell, M.E., Boat, T., &
Warner, K.E. (Eds.) (2009).
Committee on the Prevention of
Mental Disorders and Substance
Abuse Among Children, Youth and
Young Adults. Institute of
Medicine, National Research
Council.
What have we learned from 30
years of research on the
effects of preventive
interventions on behavioral
health outcomes?
Prevention is Effective
• Experimental trials have
identified over 50 effective
interventions for promoting
children’s well-being and
preventing substance misuse,
depression, anxiety, violence,
delinquency, and other behavioral
health problems…
• Scale-up and widespread
implementation of prevention
programs are likely to produce
positive changes in young people
at the population level
Jenson, J.M., & Bender, K.A. (2014).
Preventing child and adolescent
behavior: Evidence-based strategies
in schools, families, and
communities. New York: Oxford
University Press.
Effective Prevention
Programs Save Money
• Findings from cost-benefit analyses of prevention
programs reveal significant financial savings
associated with the implementation of preventive
interventions
• Aos and colleagues at the Washington State
Public Policy Institute have conducted several
cost-benefit analyses of prevention programs
(http://www.wsipp.wa.gov/BenefitCost)
– Many evidence-based preventive interventions
show a positive benefit to cost ratio
21
School-Based Prevention Programs
• Social and emotional learning programs
– Life Skills Training (Botvin & Griffin, 2004)
– PATHS (Greenberg, 2004)
– Second Step (Brown et al., 2012)
• School-wide strategies
– Olweus Bully Prevention Program (Olweus, 1993)
• Comprehensive and integrated programs
– Incredible Years (Webster-Stratton & Reid, 2010)
– Seattle Social Development Project (Hawkins et al.,
2008)
School-Based Prevention:
The Youth Matters
Denver Public Schools Trial
The Denver Public Schools Study:
A Group-Randomized Trial
All public elementary schools
in urban Denver, Colorado
•
•
Schools were stratified by
risk criteria and geography
•
•
Randomly assigned
28 schools to Youth Matters or
to a no-treatment condition
Measures
Bullying and victimization (Olweus
Revised Bullying Questionnaire)
Self-reports of antisocial attitudes, peers,
antisocial conduct, depressive
symptoms, school commitment
Analyses
Multilevel linear growth modeling to
examine intervention effects across 5
waves
LCA & LTA to assess patterns of bullying
27 classrooms in
14 control schools
36 classrooms in
14 experimental schools
Youth Matters: A
Simplified Intervention Model
Emotion Regulation
Threat of
Bullying or
Victimization
Social skills
Behavioral skills
Cognitive skills
(problem-solving;
anger control;
empathy)
Child Outcomes
Bullying
Victimization
Antisocial conduct
Social competence
Attachment and
commitment to school
School-Wide
Outcomes
Positive
Classroom Norms
Rules about bullying
Respect for others
Communication with
teachers and staff
Bullying incidents
Suspensions
Expulsions
Classroom disruption
Selected YM Intervention Effects
• Findings from multilevel growth models:
 Students in experimental schools reported significantly less
overall and relational bully victimization than youth in control
schools at times 4 and 5
 Bullying behavior decreased in both groups over time; decline in
bullying was greater in YM schools at the end of the study (time 4)
and one-year follow-up (time 5)
 Participants in YM moved from states of bullying, victimization,
and bully-victimization to being uninvolved in aggressive incidents
at significantly higher rates than controls
_________________
• Williford, A., Boulton, A.J., & Jenson, J.M. (2014). Transitions between subclasses of bullying and victimization when
entering middle school. Aggressive Behavior, 40, 24-41.
• Jenson, J.M., Brisson, D., Bender, K.A., & Williford, A., (2013). Effects of the Youth Matters prevention program on
patterns of bullying and victimization in elementary and middle school. Social Work Research, 37, 361-374.
• Williford, A.P., Brisson, D., Bender, K.A., Jenson, J.M., & Forrest-Bank, S.S. (2011). Patterns of aggressive behavior and
peer victimization from childhood to early adolescence: A latent class analysis. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 40,
644-655.
• Jenson, J. M., Dieterich, W. A., Brisson, D., Bender, K. A., & Powell, A. (2010). Preventing childhood bullying: Findings
and lessons from the Denver Public Schools Trial. Research on Social Work Practice, 20, 509-517.
• Jenson, J.M., & Dieterich, W.A. (2007). Effects of a skills-based prevention program on bullying and bully victimization
among elementary school children. Prevention Science, 8, 285-296.
1.0
3.43
Predicted Bully Victimization Curves for Intervention
and Control Schools at One-Year Follow-up (Time 5)
1.08
-0.132, t-value = -1.953
0
1
2
3
4
Semester
5
6
7
Bully Victim Scale
1.71
1.32
0.0
-0.5
YM
-1.0
log(Bully Victim Scale - .7)
0.5
2.36
Control
Intervention
Family-Based Prevention Programs
• Prenatal and perinatal interventions
– Home visiting programs for new mothers at risk
– Nurse-Family Partnership Program (Olds et al., 2007)
• Behavioral parent training strategies
– Teaching social-emotional skills to parents and their children in
groups
– Coercive Family Process (Patterson, Chamberlain, & Reid, 1982)
– Strengthening Families for Parents and Youth 10-14 (Spoth,
2001)
• In-home and outpatient family intervention
– Families in crises to prevent out of home placement
– Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (Chamberlain, Leve, &
DeGarmo, 2007)
– Multisystemic Therapy (Henggeler et al., 1992)
Characteristics of Effective School
and Family Prevention Programs
Intervention Characteristics
• Effective programs…
– Target risk and protective factors for problem behavior
– Use empirically-supported theoretical frameworks to inform
program design
– Involve parents and children in intervention activities
– Use behavioral and cognitive intervention strategies to teach
social, emotional, and cognitive skills to parents, children,
and other family members
– Teach parenting skills that increase competencies in
communicating, monitoring, and supervising children
– Include interactive sessions that allow for practice of newly
acquired skills
– Include program activities aimed at improving parent-child
relationships
Characteristics of Effective School
and Family Prevention Programs
Implementation Characteristics
• Effective programs…
– Specify target populations and levels of intervention
– Offer interventions frequently and for long periods of
time
– Receive organizational and infrastructure support from a
sponsoring community-based agency or school
– Carefully consider, choose, and monitor who leads
prevention activities
– Attend to issues of program adaptation that are
necessary to address cultural, gender, and other factors
Community-Based Prevention Programs
• Community-based prevention strategies can be traced as far
back as the child saving movement in Chicago during the late
1800s
– Early social work advocates and reformers like Jane Addams and Mary
Richmond laid the foundation for community-based prevention
• Other early influences:
– The Chicago Area studies of the 1930s and 1940s by Shaw and McKay
stressed the need to understand relationships among poverty, social
disorganization, immigration, and deviance
– Mobilization for Youth projects in the New York during the 1950s
focused on improving community and economic opportunities for
youth
• Early programs produced little in the way of positive
outcomes; they did, however pave the way for later advances
Community-Based Prevention Programs
• Today’s community prevention programs are often part of a
comprehensive approach that includes school and family
interventions
– The Harlem Children’s Zone and the Promise Neighborhood initiatives
exemplify multimodal forms of prevention
• Common program elements include:
–
–
–
–
–
–
Child care and preschool programs
School improvement strategies
Community-based health clinics
Community policing
Afterschool interventions
Policy and environmental strategies aimed at enforcing minimum
drinking ages, limiting access to drugs and weapons, and regulating
the taxation and costs of alcohol and tobacco
The Denver Bridge Project:
A Community-Based Prevention Program
Growing Minds. Creating Possibilities.
The Bridge Project Integrated Prevention
and Early Intervention Model
Theoretical Models
Risk and
Protection
Positive
Youth
Development
Community
Collaboration
Goals & Interventions
Outcomes
Goals
Interventions
Intermediate
Outcomes
Enhance
healthy
development
Child & Youth Strategies
• Academic support
interventions
• Social and emotional
learning classes
• Mentoring
• Technology training
• Reduce risk and
increase protection
• Increase 5 C’s of
positive youth
development
Increase
positive
behavior
Increase
academic
potential
Foster
resilience
Community Strategies
• Partnerships that foster
information exchange
• Reciprocity networks
• Collaborative partners
and networks
Long-Term
Outcomes
• Positive behaviors
• Academic success
• Healthy emotional
and social
development
Selected Findings
• Quasi-experimental design comparing Bridge Project
participants to youth living in other public housing communities
• Significant and positive differences in academic performance
between Bridge participants and youth in other public housing
communities
– Higher reading scores
– Better grades
– Fewer absences
– Higher standardized test scores
• Improvements in PYD constructs
• Increase in technology skills
• Improvements in social and emotional skills
See Jenson, J.M., Alter, C.F., Nicotera, N., Anthony, E.K., & Forrest-Bank, S.S. Risk, resilience, and
positive youth development: Developing effective community programs for high-risk youth.
Lessons from the Denver Bridge Project. (2013). New York: Oxford University Press.
Community-Based Prevention Systems
• Community prevention systems have been developed in the
past two decades as a way to increase the dissemination and
translation of prevention research to local communities
• Prevention systems guide community leaders and coalitions
through a series of structured steps that include:
– The establishment of a community board composed of local leaders,
parents, and youth
– A systematic assessment of risk and protective factors for child and
adolescent problem behaviors
– A review of prevalence data pertaining to problem behaviors
– A process of prioritizing problem areas and setting program and
community goals
– The selection, implementation, and evaluation of evidence-based
preventive interventions
Community-Based Prevention Systems
• Two community prevention systems have received recognition in
recent years
– Communities that Care (CTC) developed by David Hawkins, Richard
Catalano, and colleagues at SDRG
– PROSPER: Promoting School-Community-University Partnerships to
Enhance Resilience developed by Richard Spoth and colleagues at Iowa
State University
• CTC and PROSPER adhere to principles of prevention science,
though differences exist in implementation
– CTC offers extensive key leader and community board training, assessment
and survey instruments, and ongoing support to communities
– PROSPER relies on existing county extension and family or consumer
agents in local settings to implement many system components
• CTC is now available through SAMHSA
http://store.samhsa.gov/product/Communities-That-CareCurriculum/PEP12-CTCPPT
How Effective are CommunityBased Prevention Systems?
• CTC and PROSPER have been evaluated in group-randomized
trials, CTC at the community level of assignment and PROSPER
at the school district level
– Both “systems” have yielded significant effects in preventing or
reducing drug use
– CTC has also shown positive effects on delinquency and antisocial
conduct
• Characteristics of effective prevention systems
– Adopting principles of prevention science that include the systematic
assessment of risk, protection, and problem behaviors
– Building committed and sustained community boards and coalitions
– Selecting and implementing evidence-based preventive interventions
with fidelity
Locating and Selecting
Effective Prevention Programs
• Information about effective prevention programs is
available at:
– Blueprints for Healthy Youth Development;
http://www.blueprintsprograms.com
– Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Model Program
Guide; http://www.ojjdp.gov/MPG
– National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices,
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration;
http://www.nrepp.samhsa.gov
– Campbell Collaboration Library and Database;
http://www.campbellcollaboration.org
Summary
• Prevention has evolved from a pattern of loosely-organized
ideas, beliefs, and programs to a science based on principles
of risk, protection, public health, and carefully specified
interventions
• Evidence from longitudinal studies dating to the 1980s
indicates that some well-implemented school, family, and
community preventive interventions are effective in
preventing behavioral health problems
• Significant cost savings are associated with the careful
implementation of tested and effective preventive
interventions
Yet…
• Tested and effective interventions for
preventing behavioral health problems
are not widely used
In fact...
• Prevention approaches that do not
work or have not been evaluated are
more widely used than those shown to
be effective
41
How do we use knowledge
gained from 30 years of
prevention research to advance
practice and policy?
42
Unleashing the Power of Prevention!
Ensure Healthy Development of all Youth:
A Grand Challenge for Social Work
What is Unleashing the
Power of Prevention?
• Selected as a grand challenge initiative for
ensuring the healthy development of all
youth by the Academy of Social Work and
Social Welfare in January, 2015
• A summary of evidence pertaining to
behavioral health problems and an action
plan aimed at increasing the widespread
use of preventive interventions
• Authored by members of the Coalition for
the Promotion of Behavioral Health
44
Who is the Coalition for the
Promotion of Behavioral Health?
• An interdisciplinary group of prevention
researchers, educators, policymakers, and
practitioners who are interested in improving
healthy child and youth development by….
Unleashing the Power of Prevention!!
45
Coalition for the Promotion of Behavioral Health:
Steering Committee Members
Jeff Jenson, PhD, Chair
Philip D. & Eleanor G. Winn Professor for Children
and Youth at Risk
Graduate School of Social Work
University of Denver
J. David Hawkins, PhD
Endowed Professor of Prevention
Social Development Research Group
School of Social Work
University of Washington
Richard Catalano, PhD
Bartley Dobb Professor for the Study and
Prevention of Violence
Social Development Research Group
School of Social Work
University of Washington
Mark Fraser, PhD
John A. Tate Distinguished Professor
School of Social Work
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
Gilbert J. Botvin, PhD
Professor Emeritus
Division of Prevention and Health Behavior
Department of Public Health
Weill Cornell Medical College
Cornell University
Valerie Shapiro, PhD
Assistant Professor
Co-Director, Center for Prevention Research in Social
Welfare
School of Social Welfare
University of California-Berkeley
Kimberly Bender, PhD
Associate Professor
Graduate School of Social Work
University of Denver
46
Principal Coalition Authors
J. David Hawkins, PhD
Jeffrey M. Jenson, PhD
Richard Catalano, PhD
Mark Fraser, PhD
Gilbert J. Botvin, PhD
Valerie Shapiro, PhD
C. Hendricks Brown, PhD
William Beardslee, MD
David Brent, MD
Laurel K. Leslie, MD, MPH
Mary Jane Rotheram-Borus, PhD
Pat Shea, MSW
Andy Shih, PhD
Elizabeth Anthony, PhD
Kevin P. Haggerty, PhD
Kimberly Bender, PhD
Deborah Gorman-Smith, PhD
Erin Casey, PhD
Susan Stone, PhD
*And the Coalition for the Promotion
of Behavioral Health
47
• Unleashing the Power of Prevention is published as a
Discussion Paper by the National Academy of
Sciences. It is available at: http://nam.edu/perspectives2015-unleashing-the-power-of-prevention/
– Motivated by work from the Institute of Medicine
Forum on the Promotion of Children’s Cognitive,
Affective, and Behavioral Health
• Unleashing the Power of Prevention is available at
the Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare
website: http://aaswsw.org/grand-challenges-initiative/
Coalition Partners
• Unleashing the Power of Prevention has been
recognized by:
–
–
–
–
The American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare
The National Prevention Science Coalition
The Society for Child and Family Policy and Practice
National Association of State Mental Health Program
Directors
– Center for Children, Families, and Communities
– Mental Health America
49
Unleashing the
Power of Prevention!
Evidence, Goals, and Opportunities
50
Unleashing the Power of Prevention:
10 Year Goals!
• Reduce the incidence and prevalence of
behavioral health problems in the population
of young people from birth through age 24 by
20%
• Reduce racial and socioeconomic disparities in
behavioral health problems by 20%
51
Action Steps and Goals
1. Increase public awareness of the advances and cost
savings of effective preventive interventions that
promote healthy behaviors for all
– Goal: In a decade, a majority of the U.S. adult population will report
that it is possible and cost-effective to prevent behavioral health
problems among children and adolescents
2. Increase the percentage of all public funds that are
spent on effective prevention programs
– Goal: In a decade, at least 10% of all state and federal expenditures on
the education, health, protection, and welfare of children will be
allocated to effective interventions for preventing behavioral health
problems
52
Action Steps and Goals
3. Implement capacity-building tools that guide
communities to assess and prioritize risk and protective
factors, and select evidence-based prevention programs
– Goal 1: In a decade, at least 1,000 communities in the United States will
actively monitor population levels of risk and protection and behavioral
health problems among young people
– Goal 2: In a decade, at least 1,000 U.S. communities will implement
effective health promotion approaches and evidence-based preventive
interventions
53
Action Steps and Goals
4. Establish criteria for preventive interventions that are
effective, sustainable, equity-enhancing, and costbeneficial
– Goal: In a decade, all 50 states will use data from controlled studies
and cost-benefit analyses to inform policy decisions regarding
investments in prevention, treatment, and control of behavioral health
problems
5. Increase infrastructure to support the high-quality
implementation of preventive interventions
– Goal: In a decade, 25 states will have cross-agency “backbone”
organizations that provide technical assistance and monitoring
services to local community organizations that provide behavioral
health services for youth and their families
54
Action Steps and Goals
6. Monitor and increase access of children, youth, and
young adults to effective preventive interventions
– Goal: In a decade, child welfare, education, health, justice, and
other agencies in 20 states will use integrated data structures that
enable cross-agency monitoring of behavioral health and
preventive interventions
7. Create workforce development strategies to prepare
practitioners in health and human service professions
for new roles in promotion and preventive
interventions
– Goal: In a decade, 20 universities will include cross-disciplinary,
prevention-focused training programs in behavioral health that will
include primary care medicine, nursing, psychiatry, social work, and
psychology
55
The Challenge
• Joining forces across disciplines and
professions and working collaboratively
with policymakers and practitioners will
be essential to achieving these goals
56
Unleashing the Power of Prevention:
Initiatives
1. Implement healthy parenting programs in primary
care settings
– Collaborating with members of the Institute of Medicine
Forum on Promoting Children’s Cognitive, Affective, and
Behavioral Health to scale-up tested parenting programs in
primary care
– Conducting a Congressional Briefing in February, 2016 on
healthy parenting in primary care with members of the
National Prevention Science Coalition
57
Unleashing the Power of Prevention:
Initiatives
2. Collaborate with states and communities to
improve the infrastructure necessary to deliver
preventive interventions
– Holding a Prevention Summit with key decision makers,
elected officials, and prevention specialists in Utah in
December, 2015
– Working with the Colorado Results First initiative and
others to create a statewide prevention coalition guided by
the goals and strategies of Unleashing the Power of
Prevention
58
Unleashing the Power of Prevention:
Initiatives
3. Work with university departments and communities
to develop a prevention workforce in social work
education
– Communities in Action collaboration between the School
of Social Work, University of Washington and selected
Seattle communities
– The Bridge Project collaboration between the Graduate
School of Social Work, University of Denver, Denver
Housing Authority, and Denver Public Schools
– Curricula for preparing prevention specialists at the
University of Washington, University of Denver, University
of California at Berkeley, and University of Chicago
59
Opportunities
• Help the Coalition for the Promotion of Behavioral Health
to unleash the power of prevention!
• Work Groups:
 Expanding the Membership Base and Reach of the Coalition
• J. David Hawkins, PhD, Chair
 Workforce Development: Preparing Practitioners in Social Work and
Related Disciplines for Prevention
• Kimberly Bender, PhD Chair
 Conveying the Message and Goals of Unleashing the Power of
Prevention
• Jeff Jenson, PhD, Chair
 Securing Funding to Support the Infrastructure and Advance the Goals
of Unleashing the Power of Prevention
• Richard Catalano, PhD, Chair
60
The Prevention Pay-Off!
• Effective universal, selective, and indicated preventive
interventions are available at individual, school, family,
and community levels of implementation
• Scale-up and widespread implementation of
prevention programs are likely to produce positive
changes in young people at the population level
• Many effective programs are cost-effective
We can prevent behavioral health
problems in young people before they begin!!
61
Contact Information
• Jeff Jenson Ph.D., University of Denver
Chair, Coalition for the Promotion of Behavioral Health
University of Denver
Jeffrey.Jenson@du.edu
62