A bullying and violence prevention program currently available in seven Richmond schools. Trained counselors work weekly with children to teach and reinforce critical skills such as tolerance, effective communication and understanding personal boundaries.

The Mayor's Campaign to End Bullying in Alexandria purpose is to wipe out bullying in our nation's schools and communities. Bullying is defined as "any aggressive and unwanted behavior that is intended to harm, intimidate, or humiliate the victim; involves a real or perceived power imbalance between the aggressor or aggressors and victim; and is repeated over time or causes severe emotional trauma. "Bullying" includes cyber bullying. "Bullying" does not include ordinary teasing, horseplay, argument, or peer conflict. Alexandria joins more than 170 jurisdictions from around the country who have signed on to the campaign to raise awareness, foster a safe school climate, to end bullying in schools and communities, and to encourage everyone to be aware of, and to take a stand against, bullying.

Provides a variety of evidence based programs in school and community settings that are designed to address the prevention of violence and the use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs by youth. Partnerships with the school districts, YMCA centers and other youth serving organizations provide a variety of settings for the provision of services to a diverse range of children and youth. These services are designed to increase participants' skills and enhance their resiliencies to better cope with life's challenges and to help them succeed in school and other endeavors. Youth leadership skills are emphasized to encourage healthy youth development for all children and teenagers. Services are research based and evaluated. RAYSAC, the Roanoke Area Youth Substance Abuse Coalition, is staffed by Prevention and sponsors many events and activities promoting drug free messages. A SAMHSA Drug Free Communities grant will provide coalition resources through 2010. The coalition's signature annual events are the After Prom Grand Finale in June and Red Ribbon Week in October. For more about RAYSAC go to www.raysac.org Prevention Planning Teams in Botetourt County and the cities of Roanoke and Salem meet regularly under BRBH Prevention Services leadership to gather, assess and analyze youth risk behavior data in order to identify areas of high risk behavior and plan prevention and intervention services tailored to local needs. Prevention staff are members of the Roanoke County Prevention Council, also a SAMHSA Drug Free Communities grant recipient, which performs similar functions and partners with RAYSAC in a variety of community events. Disaster Preparedness and Response includes the BRBH Crisis Response Team first mobilized to respond to the shooting at Virginia Tech in April 2007. Since that time these employees have received additional training in preparation for future local disasters. The role of "mental health responder has evolved over the last decade as more school shootings, the 9/11/01 attack and other disasters effecting large numbers of people have gotten public visibility and concern. This BRBH component is developing as resources become available and partnerships with other local emergency response organizations are institutionalized. Training and Staff Development provides education and training to BRBH employees and other nonprofit organizations. Training in new evidence based models, to meet licensure requirements, to enhance professional skills and to address performance issues is all coordinated through this component.