YOUTH TASK FORCE
Julia Burgess
Rhonda Cohen
Judy Crawford
Cindy Doyle
Jane Dreeben
Bill Jones
Mike Joyce
Anna Markwica
Shawn Schofield
Paddy Moore
ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Eric Adams
Brian Mackey
CONVENOR: CINDY DOYLE
Telephone 508.693.4515
Mission
To promote community-wide health and wellness for youth (ages 12-20) and their families through a cooperative, integrated network of youth leaders, health practitioners, health care and social service organizations, public officials, educators, law enforcement officers, and community members.
Goal
To conduct a community-wide needs assessment to identify the unmet health needs of the Island's youth.
Objectives
1. Conduct Youth Risk Behavior Survey of all students in grades 6-12. Cost $8825. Money raised and survey administered April 12, 2005.
2. Present the results of the survey to the Island community, September 2005.
3. Raise funds and engage Brandeis University Heller School Center for Youth and Communities to:
- Conduct a community-wide needs assessment to determine the unmet health (defined broadly) needs of the Island's youth;
- Develop a 10-year strategic plan to meet those needs. September 2005. Cost: approximately $30,000; and
- Present the 10-year plan to the community.
Youth Risk Behavior Survey
In April of 2005, the Dukes County Health Council, in collaboration with the Martha’s Vineyard Public Schools, administered the 2004-2005 Martha’s Vineyard Youth Risk Behavior Survey to students in grades 6 through 12. Largely based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey, the questionnaire was designed to gather information on some of the important issues facing youth in Martha’s Vineyard, such as substance use, violence and safety, and mental and physical health.
This report is designed to provide an overview of key survey data, focusing on four main themes:
(1) What do the data from this survey tell us about the challenges facing youth in the Vineyard community?
(2) Are there any important sub-population differences among respondents (such as by gender or grade)?
(3) How have the data changed since previous administrations of similar surveys?
(4) How do results in Martha’s Vineyard compare to those in Massachusetts as a whole?
The summary presents an overview of findings grouped according to the following themes: Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug Use; Issues Related to Alcohol and Marijuana Use; Violence and Safety; Mental Health; and Physical Health. The main results in each section are illustrated using charts that are complemented by supplementary data or information. Appendices containing selected data follow the main results. Click on the following links for the full text of selected documents.
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