How the 2024 Healthy Kids Survey will help Eagle County. And include more young residents.
Chris Dillmann/Vail Daily archive
Starting Wednesday, Jan. 10, administration of the bi-annual Healthy Kids Colorado Survey will begin for Eagle County students. This will be the 10th year that the survey has been administered locally to gain insight into middle school and high school student behaviors, attitudes and perceptions.
“This data is valuable for schools, elected officials, non-profit agencies, recreation districts and others to understand needs and strengths facing local youth. The information helps these parties determine priorities and secure much-needed resources to support youth and families,” said Michelle Stecher, executive director of Mountain Youth.
While the Healthy Kids Colorado Survey is a statewide initiative, Mountain Youth has helped administer the last seven surveys in Eagle County. The organization acts as a liaison between the schools and the state, the local nonprofit helps schedule the surveys, brings in volunteers to act as proctors for the survey and contracts an outside firm to locally assess the data gathered from students.
This survey asks students questions about school life, school safety, relationships, mental and physical health, extracurricular involvement, alcohol and other substance abuse, sexual activity and more. There are different questions for middle schools and high schools.
The 2024 survey will be administered in local schools starting Jan. 10 and through Jan. 23, with results expected in the summer.
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This year, Mountain Youth — with a statewide evaluation partner — is also creating a similar survey for 18 to 25-year-olds. The survey is expected to launch in February with an incentive for those who choose to participate. It will seek to gain an understanding of the needs and strengths of this age group, with broad health questions spanning mental health, physical health, nutrition and substance use.
“We suspect this is an often-overlooked population with limited supports and resources,” Stecher said. “Mountain Youth aims to utilize this data, along with part-time employee advisors in this age group, to develop and host opportunities for safe and healthy connection.”
Historically in Eagle County, every public and private middle and high school has participated in the survey.
However, during the last survey in 2021, amid some controversy over the content of some of the survey’s questions, three schools — St. Clare of Assisi Catholic School, Vail Christian Academy and Eagle County Charter Academy — opted out.
In 2024, Stecher said Eagle County Charter Academy re-engaged for its seventh and eighth graders, but Stone Creek Charter Academy — which did participate in 2021 — decided to opt out this year alongside Vail Christian Academy and St. Clare.
Still, “our student participation rates are still among the strongest in the state,” she added.
Even among schools that are participating, the survey has always been optional and parents are given the option to opt students out of taking the survey if they wish. Eagle County School District Superintendent Philip Qualman said that the opt-out information has been shared with district parents.
However, Stecher encourages parents to support their children in participating.
“Remind them that it is completely anonymous and therefore encourage them to be totally honest, so the results can help them and their peers,” she added.
Why the survey matters
The primary reason that honest participation is so important is the value it provides to local nonprofits, schools and governments.
For one, the data can be critical in proving need to get grants and funding to support Eagle County youth. Stecher said that “millions of dollars” are secured annually for local services.
“At our latest count, this figure is over $4.6 million in 2023,” she added. Since 2007 Eagle County entities have collectively received over $28 million toward programs that support youth and families.
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Dana Erpelding, senior director of operations for Vail Health Behavioral Health, said that Vail Health Behavioral Health has previously used data for federal and state grant applications.
These grants have allowed the organization “to increase access to behavioral health services and provide additional funding for local organizations providing life-saving care for the community,” Erpelding said.
This has included providing support for Your Hope Center school-based clinicians, SpeakUp ReachOut suicide prevention training, as well as continued programming in schools by local behavioral education providers, including Mountain Youth, SpeakUp ReachOut and Bright Future Foundation, she added.
However, the use of the data extends beyond just funding and resources. Emily Fine, the school and youth survey manager for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, said that the data can inform the creation of programming, provide direction for schools and communities to address health issues, inform parents on relevant topics to discuss with their children and secure programming.
“This data helps organizations like Vail Health Behavioral Health to understand how these issues are impacting our local youth so we can develop and modify programs targeted at preventing and mitigating these risky health behaviors,” Erpelding said.
“Not only is this information useful for our healthcare providers, but the survey results are also used to help us collaborate with local nonprofits to fund and implement community programs aimed at helping Eagle County youth engage in safe and healthy activities and ensure access to behavioral health treatment, intervention and support.”
Within the school district, Qualman said that data “allows us to provide the greatest level of support for our students by understanding where they are at with various topics.”
“Wellness is a priority of our strategic plan so the HKCS provides vital information to address that. ECSD uses the aggregate survey results, along with other sources of information, to make instructional, staffing and budgetary decisions to support our students and their educational and wellness needs,” he added.
In addition to grant dollars, Erin Ivie, the executive director of SpeakUp ReachOut, said that the organization uses the data for advocacy work and strategic planning.
“The HKCS is of extreme value to SpeakUp ReachOut because it collects data from our youth population very specifically about suicide ideation, feelings of depression and trusted adults in our community,” Ivie said. “This survey is a glimpse into the minds of our youth and what they are doing well and may be struggling with.”
What the survey contains
The survey asks questions about a variety of student behaviors and perceptions spanning a wide variety of topics. Families can contact their students’ specific schools for a current copy of the survey they plan to use in 2024.
During the last administration in the fall of 2021, the survey drew attention and controversy over the addition of questions to the middle school survey around sexual consent and activity. This includes questions about whether or not students have participated in sexual intercourse as well as whether consent was granted in such situations.
“It’s not been a contentious project until a couple of years ago, and I think most of the people that were concerned about it were concerned about whether or not it should be the school’s place to start these conversations and ask these questions,” Stecher said.
“We also believe and hope that conversations are happening at home and that parents feel equipped to talk to their kids about these really important topics. We don’t feel like it’s the schools or anybody else’s place to push views or values onto students.”
She added that the survey can provide “an opportunity to talk with your children at home about these topics.”
“There are plenty of resources on starting sensitive conversations. We encourage open and supportive home conversations on these topics as that can be a healthy and positive boost for youth development,” Stecher added.
Additionally, Qualman said, “we have worked closely with the survey authors to make adjustments to some of the survey questions based on feedback from parents. We will continue to be responsive to parent feedback and make sure the survey questions are age-appropriate.”
In large part, the content of the Healthy Kids Colorado Survey comes from the state, which derives most of its questions from the national Youth Risk Behavior Survey, whose questions are validated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A group that includes Colorado youth, parents, school administrators and nonprofit organizations further refines questions from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey.
“The department leads a collaborative survey instrument refinement process, where Colorado youth, parents, school administrators, and local and state organizations can weigh in on adding questions about emerging health topics,” Fine said.
“New questions are assessed for survey fit, including if they represent an emerging or important adolescent health topic, if there is shared interest among programs and partners and if the data will be actionable.”
In this year’s administration, there were several changes made to the statewide questions. This includes the removal of all questions regarding COVID-19; the addition of a write-in response for gender identity, sexual orientation and race/ethnicity; the addition of several questions about mental health; a new section on body image and eating disorders and more. It also included the change of “sexual intercourse” to “sex” in the section about consent and sexual violence as well as the removal of one question: “forced someone to have sex when they did not want to.”
In addition to the state’s provided questions, local districts can add their own questions. This year, seven questions were added:
- I feel adults listen to and respect my input.
- How many days does it take to feel recovered after a stressful situation?
- How often did you do your best work in school?
- I feel supported at school around college and career planning.
- If you had a serious problem and an adult to go to for help, how likely is it that you would talk with them about that problem?
- I feel that my voice and opinions are heard.
- How many places (hang-out locations) do you feel you have where you feel safe and can socialize?
Stecher said that these questions were added “to help our schools and community better understand youth,” and “are aligned with local priorities.”
While all the questions asked in the Healthy Kids survey are meant to explore areas where support is being provided as well as where it’s needed, these new questions “are a good representation of the school district and our community’s true interests,” Stecher added.
Visit MountainYouth.com/Survey to learn more about the local administration (and view previous years’ data). Visit CDPHE.Colorado.Gov/HKCS to learn more about the state’s process (including information on changes this year).
