The mission of Children Are Our Future is to provide children in critical need with high quality programs and services, which nurture and enhance positive growth and productive adulthood.

"Children

No shady dealer, no need to hand over a wad of bills, no needles, not even a match to light. No wonder inhalant abuse is among the most common forms of substance abuse among middle school boys and girls. It's also potentially deadly and hard to detect— and on the increase among young teens. Carole Moore reports on the dangers.

Why do some teens—and even younger kids—use steroids? Connect for Kids' former staff writer Rob Capriccioso interviews Dr. Harrison Pope, a Harvard researcher, to help understand the subculture of youth steroid use.

Our mission is to promote good citizenship through prevention and intervention initiatives.

The mission of the American Lung Association of West Virginia is to prevent lung disease and promote lung health.

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention has issued "Screening and Assessing Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders Among Youth in the Juvenile Justice System," an 84-page online guide offering comprehensive, user-friendly information at various stages of the juvenile justice process. It includes profiles of more than 50 instruments, guidelines for selecting instruments, and best practice recommendations for diverse settings and situations.

The latest data (2003) from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health is available online. In general, young people try inhalants for the first time at an earlier age than other drugs. Females start abusing inhalants earlier than their male counterparts. (Select Statistics and then Data.)

A Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center study finds links between environmental tobacco smoke -- even at extremely low levels -- and reading, math, logic and reasoning declines in children and teens. The study, which appears in the January 2005 issue of Environmental Health Perspectives, finds a nearly three-point decline in a standardized reading test and a nearly two-point decline in a standardized math test, given an average score of 100 and a modest increase in exposure to environmental tobacco smoke.

It's a common parental nightmare that turns into reality with unnerving frequency - the phone call that tells you your child is in trouble with the law. Joan Lisante got advice from parents, judges, police officers and others on how to cope.

Parental substance abuse is one of the most common reasons that children wind up in foster care. In Sacramento, a court-based program mingles support and sanctions to help parents regain control of their lives and custody of their children. This article originally appeared in the November-December 2003 issue of the Children's Advocate, published by Action Alliance for Children.