Dating Matters

Dating Matters offers communities free online tools and resources to build capacity for implementing a comprehensive teen dating violence prevention model, learn about tracking and informing local policies, and to educate teachers and people working with youth about teen dating violence (TDV).

More than 1 in 10 high school students have experienced physical or sexual violence by a dating partner in the past year. Dating Matters is a comprehensive prevention model, focused on 11–14 year olds, that promotes respectful, nonviolent dating relationships among youth. The model uses a combination of evidence-based and evidence-informed strategies to target a wide range of factors that can increase risk for teen dating violence. Dating Matters includes seven components that address the needs of youth, parents, educators, schools, youth- and parent-serving community organizations, and public health departments to reinforce healthy relationship behaviors in adolescence and beyond.

Coming in Early 2018: The Dating Matters Toolkit!

Three components of the Dating Matters comprehensive teen dating violence prevention model are currently available on CDC’s VetoViolence website. These include:

• The Dating Matters Capacity Assessment and Planning Tool,
• The Dating Matters Interactive Guide to Informing Policy, and
• The Dating Matters: Understanding Teen Dating Violence Prevention Training for Educators.

Communities will have access to the remaining components of the Dating Matters model and comprehensive implementation guidance with the release of the Dating Matters Toolkit in early 2018. They include:

• Dating Matters How-To, which contains:
  • Guide to Implementation to help communities build a strong foundation for implementing Dating Matters
  • At-A-Glance briefs that highlight the goals and resources needed to implement each component of Dating Matters to help engage partners and decision-makers
  • Online Facilitator Trainings that provide free, online access to interactive training for youth and parent programs facilitators
  • Coaching Playbook guides Dating Matters Coaches in the supervision and support of parent and youth program facilitators
• Dating Matters Youth Programs developed by CDC to teach healthy relationship skills to 6th and 7th graders*
• Dating Matters Parent Programs developed by CDC to help parents of 6th and 7th graders talk to their kids about healthy, respectful relationships *
• i2i: What R U Looking For Youth Communications Program developed by CDC to reach youth with healthy relationships messaging on social media and at events hosted by older peers
• Community of Practice provides opportunities for peer support among communities implementing Dating Matters
• Guide to Using Health Indicator Data to help local health departments identify and track community-level indicators of teen dating violence

Visit CDC’s Division of Violence Prevention’s VetoViolence page for more information and updates or subscribe to our listserv.

*Evidence-based programs for 8th grade youth and parents, Safe Dates and Families for Safe Dates are available directly from Hazelden Publishing.