This Centers for Disease Control Prevention sourcebook on best practices, based on the experience of community-based efforts, covers four key strategies—parent and family-based strategies, home visiting, social and conflict resolution skills, and mentoring—and documents the science behind these approaches. (Available in Spanish.)

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has released guidelines on child and adolescent mental health and substance abuse services, calling for more comprehensive public and private insurance aimed at increasing access to treatment to address the needs of children with psychosocial problems.

By transforming a neighborhood blight into a nurturing pre-school for Latino children, a group of parents and teachers in Denver, Colorado have shown that community effort can improve the lives of children—and brighten a whole neighborhood. Connect for Kids' director Cecilia Garcia explains how the Family Star Community Center was born.

A FBI School Violence Study offers schools guidance in how to assess a given threat of violence, what to look for in the personality and circumstances of a child who makes a threat and how to develop a plan for assessing and responding to threats. (You will need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader.)

It's the ultimate parental nightmare: a child vanished, abducted. But few parents and other adults who care about children have a clear idea of which children are most at risk, and what dangers they really face. Dr. Daniel D. Broughton, chairman of the board of directors of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, explores some of our most common misconceptions.

Pam Gersh of Kentucky used to worry about the threat guns posed to her young son—but didn't know what do to about it. That all changed the day she read about plans for last May's Million Mom March in Connect For Kids Weekly. Now, Gersh looks back on how a paragraph encountered by chance helped her turn her worries into action, knowledge and an organization that marches on.

Psychologist Elliot Aronson believes that schools' social code often identifies winners and losers, excluding and ridiculing those who are perceived as different. In Nobody Left to Hate: Compassion After Columbine, Aronson offers a cooperative learning technique—the "jigsaw" classroom— that encourages students to like and respect one another, and discourages taunting and bullying.

This 1999 Future of Children journal explores how domestic violence laws affect children and how new prevention strategies help families.

Teenager Caleb Shortridge overdosed on a little-known drug called GHB. Though their grief, his parents began an online campaign to help other parents and teens get educated about the dangers of GHB and other so-called "club drugs."

"Keeping Youth Safe: Guidebook For After-School Care," has tips for grassroots efforts to build after-school programs, examples of successful community coalitions and descriptions of 14 community strategies to prevent violence against youth and reduce handgun violence. The Resources for Youth guidebook was geared for California, but can be adapted for any state or local community.