Communities That Care (CTC) is a cross-sector effort to improve the health and well-being of children and youth in our community. Their work is based on data from a Prevention Needs Assessment Survey that measures risk and protective factors of youth in Grades 7 to 12. Cariboo-Chilcotin School District is a partner to Communities That Care. Their programs and initiatives benefit our students and their families. We are pleased to participate in the survey that will be conducted in December across the district. The survey results will provide a comparator to results from 2009 and 2015 to assess the impact of interventions put in place and guide future action plans.
The survey will measure the risk factors that contribute to problems such as substance abuse, delinquency, teen pregnancy, school drop-out, violence, depression and anxiety as well as the protective factors that can make a difference in how children and youth weather the risk factors. With this data CTC supports the planning and coordination of prevention and intervention programs for our schools and communities. It will also help us to evaluate the effectiveness of current programs.
The survey will take place December 1 to 11, 2020 in classrooms under the direction of school staff. Students will be given the option to leave any questions blank that they prefer not to answer. The survey structure is completely anonymous. Students will not use names and no identifying information is collected. All results from the survey will be presented in group summary format, like information on an opinion poll.
The more students that participate, the more accurate and useful the results will be. Participation, however, is voluntary. Parents who do not wish their children to participate are asked to contact the school office prior to December 1 and those students will be provided an alternate activity while the survey is being administrated. The survey is being conducted under contract with Bach-Harrison LLC. a nationally known research firm.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your school principal.
Sincerely,
Chris van der Mark
Superintendent of Schools
School District #27 (Cariboo-Chilcotin)
