The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and its approximately 60,000 member pediatricians dedicate their efforts and resources to the health, safety and well-being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults. The AAP Adolescent Health Partnership Project (AAP AHPP) is a new initiative to increase awareness of adolescent health issues and strategies that address them, with a specific focus on the reduction of health disparities and the incorporation of a youth development framework.

Initial activities have concentrated on raising the awareness of both AAP membership and staff regarding this important project. The AAP has more than 30 committees that develop many of the AAP policy statements and technical reports. In addition, the AAP currently has 5 councils and 47 sections that present educational programs for both their members and the AAP general membership in order to highlight current research and practical knowledge in their respective subspecialties. The AAP AHPP is collaborating with these committees, councils and sections to improve the promotion and increase the focus on adolescent health issues relevant to their subspecialty topics. In partnership with the AAP Resident Section, AHPP staff is assessing the training needs of residents on adolescent health and practice management issues. Project staff also will be collaborating with the AAP Division of Chapter Relations to assist AAP chapters with adolescent health activities at the state and local level. New information related to adolescent health is being added to the AAP Website at www.aap.org/sections/adol, including a resource toolkit on adolescent HIV prevention, and the project is being promoted within various AAP publications.

Continuing Medical Education (CME) offerings that focus on adolescent health issues at the AAP National Conference and Exhibition (NCE) have been collated and promoted for the convenience of those interested practitioners. Additional educational activities are being developed through the project, including a seminar held on June 28th, 2007, in Orlando, FL on adolescent brain development and the concept of youth development. A Webinar on communicating with adolescents using a strength-based approach is being held on January 30, 2008.

For more information on the AAP Adolescent Health Partnership Project, please visit the website at www.aap.org/sections/adol or contact Charlotte O. Zia, MPH, CHES, Program Manager, at 847-434-7870 or via E-mail: czia@aap.org

http://www.abanet.org/child

The American Bar Association is the nation's largest legal membership association with over 400,000 members. The mission of its Center on Children and the Law is "to improve the lives of children through advances in law, justice, knowledge, practice and public policy." Over the 28 years of its existence, the Center has grown into a multifaceted program conducting innovative research and analysis in such areas as child abuse and neglect, child and adolescent health, juvenile court and child welfare systems improvement, missing and exploited children, and substance abuse. Its multidisciplinary staff has been in the forefront of advocating for legal reforms beneficial to children and youth.

As a PIPPAH grantee for over 10 years, the Center has helped the legal profession focus on adolescent health-related issues through targeted publications, training and professional collaboration. If attorneys, judges and other legal professionals are to effectively promote adolescent health, it is imperative that they have an understanding of the various disciplines that may have contact with youth or otherwise affect policy or practice regarding adolescents. To facilitate this knowledge, the Center has disseminated information through its monthly Child Law Practice newsletter and Health For Teens in Care: A Judge's Guide. The Center has also reached practitioners through numerous trainings, such as the upcoming 12th National Conference on Children and the Law (April 13-15, 2007 in Cambridge, MA). The Center has collaborated with other ABA entities such as the ABA AIDS Coordinating Committee and the ABA President's Commission on Youth at Risk. It has also partnered with other grantees to develop materials and trainings such as a joint legal-social work training curriculum on how these disciplines can better work together for the benefit of youth.

Contact: Eva J. Klain, Director, Child and Adolescent Health, ABA Center on Children and the Law, 740 15th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20005; (202) 662-1681; KlainE@staff.abanet.org.

http://www.acpm.org

The American College of Preventive Medicine (ACPM) serves as the leader for the specialty of preventive medicine. ACPM seeks to improve population health status through evidence-based disease prevention and health promotion research, policies, practices, and programs. Specialists in preventive medicine are uniquely trained in both clinical medicine and public health, possessing the skills needed to understand and reduce the risks of disease, disability, and deaths in individuals and in population settings, including adolescents. As such, ACPM plays an important role in addressing, promoting and advancing adolescent health.

Through the PIPPAH initiative, ACPM established an Adolescent Health Committee within the college, which has been instrumental in strengthening ACPM's organizational commitment to addressing adolescent health issues. ACPM hosts the National Coalition for Adolescent Health and is a working partner of the National Initiative to Improve Adolescent Health by the Year 2010 (NIIAH). Furthermore, ACPM works collaboratively with the State Adolescent Health Coordinators of the Title V Maternal and Child Health State Grant Program to facilitate information exchange, to provide leadership, and to improve adolescent health at all levels. ACPM supports health professionals engaged in adolescent health issues through a series of web-based conferences and educational sessions at the Annual Preventive Medicine Meeting, publications, and other resources which may be accessed via the Adolescent Health Website. Finally, ACPM has issued position statements and introduced federal legislation in support of adolescent health issues.

With the continued support of HRSA's Maternal and Child Health Bureau under the PIPPAH program, ACPM plans to increase the activities of the Adolescent Health Committee, actively collaborate with partners to implement and evaluate activities promoting the NIIAH, and expand educational resources on adolescent health topics and professional development opportunities, including the establishment of the ACPM Preventive Medicine Residency Rotation in Adolescent Health. Further information on the American College of Preventive Medicine and its efforts to improve adolescent health may be obtained at http://www.acpm.org/ah or by emailing Jennifer Rogers, MPH, ACPM’s Director of Programs, at jrogers@acpm.org.

http://www.healthyteennetwork.org

"Healthy Teen Network serves as the leading national membership organization dedicated to making a difference in the lives of teens and young families." Since 1979, through a national network of youth serving professionals, Healthy Teen Network has developed and disseminated resources and supports to address a broad array of adolescent reproductive and parenting issues, with an emphasis on teen pregnancy, teen parenting and teen pregnancy prevention. Healthy Teen Network believes all youth can make responsible decisions regarding their sexual, reproductive and parenting behaviors if provided complete and accurate information, services and support. To that end, Healthy Teen Network's mission is to support all members and constituents with the tools they need to empower youth in their communities to be healthy and successful adults.

Healthy Teen Network works in collaboration and utilizes a five-pronged approach to supporting the field including research and evaluation; information dissemination; training and technical support; policy and advocacy, and organizational capacity building. This approach works well to support the organization's initiatives to 1) Ensure Access to appropriate reproductive and health education and services for all teens, and 2) Support Teen Families in attaining success. We believe it is a natural fit for working with our PIPPAH Partners to promote adolescent health and positive youth development. For more information on Healthy Teen Network's latest resources and materials, or to become a member, please visit www.HealthyTeenNetwork.org.

http://www.naccho.org

NACCHO is the national organization representing local health departments (LHDs). NACCHO supports efforts that protect and improve the health of all people and all communities by promoting national policy, developing resources and programs, seeking health equity and supporting effective local public health practice and systems.

LHDs are charged with assuring the health of their communities and are uniquely positioned to initiate or support community-based adolescent health initiatives. The LHD's role in the community and its partnerships with the institutions that influence the health of adolescents facilitate this role (e.g., relationships with parents and families, schools, local policymakers, health care providers, community agencies that serve youth, faith-based organizations, media, postsecondary institutions, employers, and other government agencies).

NACCHO is enhancing its infrastructure and undertaking efforts to help LHDs build capacity to promote adolescent health in their communities. NACCHO will conduct needs assessments to identify activities that best serve our members and will implement activities such as identifying and disseminating model programs and practices, providing technical and other capacity-building assistance, and sharing relevant information through a new adolescent health E-mail distribution list.

NACCHO will continue to identify successful adolescent health and youth development strategies and promote related resources through NACCHO's adolescent health distribution list, Web site, and print publications.

NACCHO believes that there is untapped potential for LHDs to enhance adolescent health and welcomes the opportunity to serve our members and help move this agenda forward.

http://www.ncsl.org

The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) is a bipartisan organization that serves the legislators and staffs of the nation's 50 states, its commonwealths and territories. NCSL provides research, technical assistance and opportunities for policymakers to exchange ideas on the most pressing state issues. NCSL is an effective and respected advocate for the interests of state governments before Congress and federal agencies. NCSL's mission is to improve the quality and effectiveness of state legislatures, to promote policy innovation and communication among state legislatures, and to ensure state legislatures a strong, cohesive voice in the federal system. NCSL seeks to strengthen, enhance and coordinate its own work activities to educate key legislators about Healthy People 2010 related to adolescent health and to promote better coordination among key state legislators in the 50 states who are involved in developing policies that relate to the 21 critical health objectives for adolescent health. Through the use of publications, meetings, research projects, Web pages, listservs and consulting assistance, NCSL will help state legislators and legislative staff to address adolescent health issues and plan for adolescent health services in a comprehensive, cross-disciplinary way. NCSL also seeks to promote better internal coordination between programs that currently address issues related to adolescent health and well-being.

http://www.nihcm.org

The National Institute for Health Care Management (NIHCM) Foundation is a non-profit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to improving the effectiveness, efficiency, and quality of America's health care system. The Foundation conducts research, policy analysis and educational activities on a range of health care issues. It fosters dialogue between the private health care industry and the public sector to find workable solutions to health system problems.

Through the Partners for Program Planning for Adolescent Health (PIPPAH) project, NIHCM Foundation strengthens the leadership, capacity and infrastructure of its member health plans to promote and improve adolescent health. This project is important due to the critical decisions made by health plan executives about the content, organization and financing of health services for adolescents. Under the guidance of "The National Initiative to Improve Adolescent Health by 2010" and with the help of member health plans, NIHCM Foundation has identified adolescent health priority issues that it will promote and facilitate collaborative activities towards, including: prevention and treatment of chronic disease, mental health services, public-private strategies to improve adolescent health care, Medicaid/SCHIP, and encouraging adolescents' use of recommended health care services. NIHCM Foundation has convened an Adolescent Health Council comprised of health plan decision makers to meet annually on priority areas of concern, emerging issues, ideas, challenges and best practices. NIHCM Foundation conducts an annual webinar to educate a national audience on public and private sector strategies to address the year’s adolescent health priority area and commissions an overview paper from a subject expert on the year's priority topic.