# Johns Hopkins Center for Adolescent Health

> **NIH ALLCDC U48** · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $750,000

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
The Johns Hopkins Center for Adolescent Health (CAH) has a 25-year history of working collaboratively
within Baltimore to improve the health and wellbeing of young people ages 10-24. CAH has a strong record of
accomplishments in training, applied research, and academic-community partnerships. CAH faculty work with
a diverse set of partners, municipal agencies, and organizations in Baltimore, including the school district and
health department. CAH is guided by Community and Youth Advisory Boards, in partnership with citywide
practice networks that serve youth. Our long-term goal is to improve youth population health, eliminate
youth health disparities, and achieve health equity for young people. We will achieve this goal through
our youth-focused research and translation agenda and our investment in Center infrastructure, translation
partnerships, dissemination and translation of Center knowledge and products, commitment to training, multi-
channel communication about Center activities and products, and participation in the PRC network.
 Our Core Research Project will examine the role of several health factors in shaping young people’s
participation in a citywide employment initiative (Grads2Careers) and their longer-term employment and health.
The project involves partnerships with the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development and Baltimore City
Public Schools, as well as with ‘Baltimore’s Promise’, a citywide collaborative dedicated to improving outcomes
for youth. This public health practice-based evidence research will yield new and practicable information
about factors related to engagement in job training. The Grads2Careers model targets improvement in
economic stability among vulnerable youth, which is one of the social determinants of health highlighted in
Healthy People 2020. Grads2Careers participants are recent high school graduates without plans to attend
college, a population at high risk for long-term disconnection from higher education and the workforce. The
program links participants with occupational training programs that provide wraparound supports to help them
achieve sustainable employment at a living wage (e.g., mental health services).
 We will build on a process evaluation we are conducting for Baltimore’s Promise by surveying the
health of youth at recruitment and five additional points over a two-year period. Our sample will be youth who
meet with a program recruiter, regardless of whether they enroll in or complete training. Specific aims are: 1)
examine how youth mental health is related to program participation; 2) assess associations of health and
program exposure to youth employment and health outcomes over the two-year follow up; 3) conduct a cost
analysis to inform future program use and dissemination; and 4) disseminate research findings and products
widely and initiate translation activities to support large-scale program adoption across other. cities. Our
mission and Core Research Projec...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10230964
- **Project number:** 5U48DP006384-03
- **Recipient organization:** JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Tamar Mendelson
- **Activity code:** U48 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** ALLCDC
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $750,000
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-09-30 → 2024-09-29

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10230964

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10230964, Johns Hopkins Center for Adolescent Health (5U48DP006384-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10230964. Licensed CC0.

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