Heart Educators | VetoViolence

Notice: Dating Matters was recently renamed to the Healthy Relationships Toolkit (HeaRT)

Note: Javascript is disabled or is not supported by your browser. For this reason, some items on this page will be unavailable. Please download this handbook to read a detailed summary of the training. Heart Educators Handbook.

Note for Users: The Healthy Relationships Toolkit (HeaRT) was previously named Dating Matters. This training still references Dating Matters but the program structure, content, and materials have not changed.

Resources

Hotlines

National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline

Call: 1-866-331-9474, Text: “loveis” to 22522, TTY: 1-866-331-8453, www.loveisrespect.org: This Helpline, Sponsored by Fifth and Pacific Companies, (formerly Liz Claiborne Inc.), answers calls 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It can be accessed by phone or the Internet and is specifically designed for teens and young adults. These resources are managed by the National Domestic Violence Hotline (NDVH) and offer real-time one-on-one support from trained Peer Advocates.
National Domestic Violence Hotline (NVDH)

Call: 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), TTY: 1-800-787-3224, Chat Online: http://www.thehotline.org/: NDVH is a nonprofit organization that provides crisis intervention, information and referral to victims of domestic violence, perpetrators, friends and families. The Hotline answers calls 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It is a resource for domestic violence advocates, government officials, law enforcement agencies and the general public.
National Sexual Assault Telephone and Online Hotlines

1-800-656-HOPE (4673), http://apps.rainn.org/ohl-bridge/: A hotline sponsored by the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), the nation's largest anti-sexual assault organization.

Resources from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

VetoViolence

http://vv-old.ddev.site/: VetoViolence has been developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to provide access to training and tools that focus on the primary prevention of violence. The portal includes free training, program planning resources, and an on-line application for the creation of success stories, including:
- Principles of Prevention (POP)
  
  vv-old.ddev.site/apps/pop/prevention-intro.html: A free on-line course that’s available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The course—which offers continuing education credits—teaches key concepts of primary prevention, the public health approach, and the social-ecological model.
National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Division of Violence Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

http://www.cdc.gov/ViolencePrevention/index.html: The Division of Violence Prevention's mission is to prevent injuries and deaths caused by violence. Their website provides access to the latest research and offers free resources on a variety of violence-prevention topics, including teen dating violence http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/intimatepartnerviolence/teen_dating_violence.html. Examples of information and prevention activities include:
- Understanding Teen Dating Violence, CDC Fact Sheet
  
  http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/teen-dating-violence-2014-a.pdf: This fact sheet, intended for the general public, provides a basic overview of teen dating violence.
- Heart Educators®: Understanding Teen Dating Violence Prevention
  
  http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/heart-educators-training/ Heart Educators® is a comprehensive teen dating violence prevention initiative based on the current evidence about what works in prevention. Heart Educators® focuses on 11– to 14–year–olds in high-risk, urban communities. It includes preventive strategies for individuals, peers, families, schools, and neighborhoods.
- The Rape Prevention and Education (RPE) Grant Program
  
  http://www.cdc.gov/violencePrevention/RPE/index.html: Strengthens sexual violence prevention efforts by supporting increased awareness, education and training, and the operation of hotlines. A RPE coordinator is in every state. They can provide referrals or assist with training and other needs related to responding or preventing dating violence in schools and communities.
- The Domestic Violence Prevention Enhancements and Leadership Through Alliances, Focusing on Outcomes for Communities United with States (DELTA FOCUS) Program
  
  http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/deltafocus/index.html: Provides funding to 10 state domestic violence coalition grantees to engage in primary prevention of intimate partner violence (IPV). DELTA FOCUS grantees support IPV prevention at the national, state and local level through strategies that address the structural determinants of health at the outer layers (societal and community) of the social-ecological model. This means, in addition to addressing individual and relationship factors associated with IPV outcomes, grantees support work to change the environments and conditions in which people live, work and play.
National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/: The Division of Adolescent and School Health promotes the health and well-being of children and adolescents to enable them to become healthy and productive adults. Their website offers a variety of resources on adolescent and school health. Including:
- Health Education Curriculum Analysis Tool
  
  http://www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/HECAT/index.htm: The Health Education Curriculum Analysis Tool (HECAT) contains guidance, appraisal tools, and resources to help schools conduct an analysis of health education curricula based on the National Health Education Standards and CDC’s Characteristics of an Effective Health Education Curriculum. The results can help schools select or develop curricula to address a number of topics, including violence prevention.
- The School Health Index
  
  http://www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/SHI/: The School Health Index can help schools implement school health guidelines and related strategies. This self-assessment and planning tool can be used by schools to improve health and safety policies and programs. The tool covers five topics: unintentional injuries and violence prevention, physical education and activity, healthy eating, tobacco use prevention, and asthma.
- Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System
  
  http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/yrbs/index.htm: The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) monitors six types of health-risk behaviors that contribute to the leading causes of death and disability among youth and adults, including dating violence experiences.

Other Federal Government Agencies Working in Dating Violence and Adolescent Health

Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Office of Adolescent Health

http://www.hhs.gov/ash/oah/: The Office of Adolescent Health (OAH) is dedicated to improving the health and well being of adolescents to enable them to become healthy, productive adults. OAH supports and evaluates evidence-based teen pregnancy prevention programs and implements the Pregnancy Assistance Fund; coordinates HHS efforts related to adolescent health promotion and disease prevention; and communicates adolescent health information to health professionals and groups, those who serve youth, parents, grantees, and the general public.
Department of Justice, Office on Violence against Women

www.ovw.usdoj.gov/statedomestic.htm: This office provides a listing of state and U.S. territory domestic violence coalitions. These coalitions can provide expertise in training and other needs related to responding or preventing dating violence in schools and communities.
Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crimes

http://www.ovw.usdoj.gov/datingviolence.html: This office offers information on rights and services provided to victims of dating violence.
Administration for Children and Families, Family and Youth Services Bureau

http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/fysb/programs/family-violence-prevention-services: The Family Violence Prevention and Services Program administers the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA), the primary federal funding stream dedicated to the support of emergency shelter and related assistance for victims of domestic violence and their children.
Department of Education, Office of Safe and Healthy Students (OSHS)

http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oese/oshs/index.html: This office aims to provide information that will enhance the knowledge of safe and supportive schools; health, mental health, environmental health, and physical education; drug and violence prevention; character and civic education; and homeland security, emergency management, school programs administered by OSHS, and of issues that are important to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act as reauthorized by the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. Dating violence resources by this office can be found here: http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oese/oshs/teendatingviolence-factsheet.html
Find Youth Info

http://findyouthinfo.gov: FindYouthInfo.gov, a U.S. government website, provides information, strategies, tools, and other resources for youth, families, schools, and community organizations related to many issues that affect youth. These resources include information about teen dating violence, which can be found here: http://findyouthinfo.gov/youth-topics/teen-dating-violence.

Teen Dating Violence Policy Resources

National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL)

http://www.ncsl.org/research/health/teen-dating-violence.aspx: This group maintains a list of proposed legislative bills and state laws that have been enacted to prevent teen dating violence.
The Texas Council on Family Violence

http://www.tcfv.org/resources/teen-dating-violence-policy: The group offers examples of school-level and state-level policies.
Break the Cycle’s State Law Scorecards

http://www.breakthecycle.org/state-law-report-cards: This group assesses each state’s protection provided to teens experiencing dating violence.
The National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE)

www.nasbe.org/healthy_schools/hs/bytopics.php?topicid=1170&catExpand=acdnbtm_catA: This organization maintains a state school health policy database that is searchable by state and topic area, including injury and violence prevention education.
Title IX information from Office of Civil Rights

http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/publications.html#TitleIX: This resource provides information of the ‘Discrimination Based on Sex Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972’ with revised pamphlets on academic success of pregnant and parenting students, sexual harassment in academia, sex discrimination, and equal opportunity in intercollegiate athletics.

Evidence-Based Curricula to Prevent Teen Dating Violence

School-Based

Safe Dates

www.hazelden.org/web/public/safedates.page: Safe Dates helps teens recognize the difference between caring, supportive relationships and controlling, manipulative, or abusive dating relationships. Safe Dates is designated as a Model Program by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and was selected for the National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP) in 2006. Safe Dates can be used as a dating violence prevention tool for both male and female middle-and high-school students. Evaluation of the Safe Dates curriculum indicated that it had prevention effects with boys and girls for both physical and sexual dating violence. This program is available for purchase from the publisher.
The Fourth R

http://youthrelationships.org/about_fourth_r.html: The Fourth R is a comprehensive school-based program designed to include students age 14-15, teachers, parents, and the community in reducing violence and risk behaviors, including dating violence. Often dating violence prevention efforts are conducted in isolation from other prevention efforts – the experience in implementing the Fourth R suggests the value of integrating sexual violence and dating violence with other issues. Fourth R was shown to prevent dating violence among males. This program is available for purchase from the publisher.
Shifting Boundaries

http://www.nij.gov/topics/crime/intimate-partner-violence/teen-dating-violence/Documents/shifting-boundaries-all-schools.pdf: Shifting Boundaries is a prevention program for middle school students that focuses on sexual harassment and precursors to dating violence. The program is unique in that it embraces an environmental approach that identifies multiple strategies to support young people. Evaluation results found that the school-level intervention prevented sexual violence victimization experienced from dating partners.
Relationship Smarts PLUS (RS+)

http://www.dibbleinstitute.org/love-u2-relationship-smarts-plus-new/: Relationship Smarts PLUS 3.0 was created to help teens learn, often for the first time, how to make wise choices about relationships, dating, partners, sex, and more. The program takes an innovative approach to these topics by integrating relationship skills with powerful learning strategies. In its evaluation, RS+ prevented verbal but not physical aggression perpetration among high school students.
Coaching Boys into Men

http://coachescorner.org/index.asp?page=22: This program consists of a series of coach-to-athlete “teach-easy tactics and trainings” that illustrate ways to model respect and promote healthy relationships and choices among youth. The CBIM Card Series instructs coaches on how to incorporate themes associated with teamwork, integrity, fair play, and respect into their daily practice and routine. In its evaluation, CBIM prevented dating violence perpetration among participating male athletes at 1 year follow-up.

Community-Based

Youth Relationships Project

http://www.eurowrc.org/05.education/education_en/yrp_youth_manual/01.yrp.htm: This program is designed to provide youth at-risk of developing violent or abusive relationships with skills that will encourage healthy relationships. Youth Relationships Project reduced incidents of physical and emotional abuse and symptoms of emotional distress over time.
Building Lasting Love

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21842333: Prevented psychological violence perpetration and severe physical violence victimization among high-risk adolescent girls.

Family-Based

Families for Safe Dates

http://www.hazelden.org/web/public/safedatesabout.page#: This parent program is available with Safe Dates (above). Families for Safe Dates includes 6 booklets mailed to families that are completed by the parent/caregiver and youth. The family-based program prevented physical dating violence victimization among youth whose parents participated in program.

Other Tools and Resources for Preventing and Responding to Dating Violence

Start Strong: Building Healthy Teen Relationships

http://startstrong.futureswithoutviolence.org/ and http://www.startstrongparents.org/resources/parents: Start Strong was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation through Futures Without Violence to prevent teen dating violence and abuse by teaching 11- to- 14-year-olds about healthy relationships. This innovative approach to prevention brings together entire communities to promote healthy relationships and prevent teen dating violence in middle schools.
Love Is Not Abuse

http://www.loveisnotabuse.com/: The website includes a variety of tools and resources for dating violence prevention and response. Including a warning signs fact sheet, http://www.loveisnotabuse.com/teen_10warningsigns.htm, and iPhone app, http://www.breakthecycle.org/lina-app. The app is designed to teach parents about the dangers of teen dating abuse and provides a dramatic demonstration of how technology can be used to commit abuse. The app is available free of charge in the iTunes App Store under "Love Is Not Abuse."
Trust Betrayed

http://www.wvdhhr.org/bph/trust/: This booklet provides young adults with an the understanding of the dynamics of healthy relationships, signs of controlling relationships, strategies for dealing with dating violence, and resources available to end the cycle of violence.

Additional Materials

* Dahlberg LL, Krug EG. Violence-a global public health problem. In: Krug E, Dahlberg LL, Mercy JA, Zwi AB, Lozano R, eds. World Report on Violence and Health. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization; 2002:1–56.