Youth risk behavior survey and school health profiles administration in south carolina - the youth risk behavior survey (yrbs) and school health profiles (profiles) are important components of…

Youth risk behavior survey and school health profiles administration in south carolina - the youth risk behavior survey (yrbs) and school health profiles (profiles) are important components of national and state data collection efforts to support adolescent physical and mental health. Together, these surveys are used to monitor health trends, identify emerging issues, and plan and evaluate programs to improve adolescent health. A coalition of south carolina state agencies that regularly use and rely on data collected through the yrbs and profiles is seeking funding through this opportunity, component 3 of improving adolescent health and well-being through school-based surveillance and the what works in schools program (CDC-RFA-DP-24-0139), to continue implementation of the surveys in the state. The core partners of this coalition include children's trust of south carolina, the S.C. Department of health and environmental control (S.C. Dhec), the S.C. Department of alcohol and other drug abuse services (S.C. Daodas) and the S.C. Institute of medicine and public health (imph). Beginning with the 2025 administration of the yrbs and continuing throughout the grant period, these partners will use their shared knowledge, networks, and resources to successfully administer both surveys. Children's trust will serve as the lead applicant for the grant; however, the project will rely on the collective expertise of the coalition members. Historically, yrbs and profiles have been coordinated with S.C. Dhec's administration of the youth tobacco survey (YTS) in ODD years and S.C. Daodas' administration of the communities that care (CTC) survey in even years. The coalition plans to continue this coordination to streamline administration of all surveys and reduce the burden on schools. Examples of coordinated activities may include school and district outreach, sample selection and survey administration. Given that the coalition will be new to yrbs and profiles administration, the greatest challenge for this project will be engaging school and district participation; however, to address this challenge each organization has identified its existing relationships which include connections with state educational associations, S.C. Dhec's state school nurse and safe kids network, S.C. Daodas' county prevention coordinators and children's trust adverse childhood experiences (ACE) trainer network. Continued coordination with the YTS and CTC will also be essential to engaging and obtaining clearance from schools. Therefore, ensuring effective coordination of these surveys will be a paramount focus of the coalition. The coalition will use a variety of strategies to evaluate the success of the survey administration, analyze the survey results and conduct continuous quality improvement activities. The project evaluation will focus on two key components: school/student participation, demonstrating buy-in and perceived value by educators and students, and results dissemination, demonstrating broad use and perceived value by the broader network of youth-serving stakeholders, who seek to improve the health and well-being of south carolina adolescents. The coalition expects to broadly share the survey results with its networks that include a variety of youth-serving professionals including educators, nonprofit professionals, healthcare providers, legislators, state and local governments, and more. Increasing the reach and audience for the data will support the overall project goals of institutionalizing both the processes related to yrbs and profiles administration and increasing the use of the data to inform decision making. The coalition expects that the broad reach and varied nature of its members' respective networks will lead to yrbs and profiles data reaching new audiences, potentially leading to a significant expansion in the use and application of this data across the state.