ABSTRACT
Indicators of troubled youth are all too familiar: school dropouts, gang involvement, alcohol and other drug abuse, unintended pregnancy, crime, violence, homicide, and suicide. Reams of research have punctuated these demographics and have circulated through government agencies, organizational think tanks, national school boards, and community agencies. An estimated 9.2 million to 15.8 million children are considered “at risk” in this country. Typically, youth considered at risk are more vulnerable to becoming pregnant, using alcohol and other drugs, dropping out of school, being unemployed, engaging in violence or other high-risk behaviors, and facing an increased propensity to develop a host of mental health problems
Executive summaries that attempt to capture the nature of the problem have been drafted by the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Bureau of the Census, the Office the U.S. Surgeon General, and the National Institute of Mental Health. Professional organizations such as the National Association of Elementary, Middle and Secondary School Principals; the American School Counselors Association; the American School Psychologists Association; and the American School Board Association, among others, have extrapolated the demographics and promoted initiatives for youth risk prevention.
