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Adolescence is a time of significant growth and development for young people. It is also a period of dramatic change. As young people navigate the challenges adolescence presents, they face new pressures from peers, make decisions about sexual activity, engage in new and dangerous activities like driving, and develop new needs for mental health care services and substance abuse prevention and treatment. Policymakers, parents and others are often reminded that, while teenagers might look like small adults, they need safe environments and caring adults to guide them through experiences they are facing for the first time.
The national Healthy People 2010 initiative lists 21 "critical health objectives" for adolescents and young adults. These objectives provide a national picture of the health status of adolescents and give policymakers, health care providers, parents and other stakeholders' broad goals. For example, Healthy People 2010 aims to reduce deaths caused by motor vehicle crashes, reduce homicides, reduce the suicide rate, reduce pregnancies, and reduce tobacco use among adolescents.
State policymakers are often forced to view young people in silos, addressing their needs for health care and other services through specific bills or budget lines. Rarely do they have the opportunity to look at young people holistically and address their developmental needs comprehensively. Cross-cutting approaches to adolescent issues allow legislators to focus on young people's needs from a variety of angles. For example, states can address the leading cause of death for teens and young adults--motor vehicle crashes--through education, licensing requirements, and transportation safety requirements; states can address juvenile offenders' needs for mental health services through better coordination between the mental health and juvenile justice systems. Some states have created children's cabinets or special committees to address the need for a more comprehensive and coordinated approach to the health and safety needs of adolescents.
Recent News/Updates
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Teenage Trouble
NCSL State Legislatures Magazine article is on teen sexually transmitted disease rates, May 2008
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Adults or Kids?
NCSL State Legislatures Magazine article on the state debate on the best response to teenagers who commit crimes, April 2008
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Teen Pregnancy Update (February 2007)
NCSL Legisbrief on declining pregnancy rates and the economic benefit
- Improving the Health of Adolescents & Young Adults: A Guide for States and Communities
This guide was developed by the Division of Adolescent and School Health, the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Office of Adolescent Health, Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Health Resources and Services Administration, 2004.
-Reposted 4/15/09
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