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Board approves Youth Voices Count survey for grades 7–12; presenters say data supports prevention grants
Summary
The board approved administering the Youth Voices Count survey for the 2025–26 school year for grades 7–12. Presenters from town prevention services said the grant‑funded survey supports local prevention planning and grant applications including Drug Free Communities funding.
The Wethersfield Board of Education voted to administer the Youth Voices Count survey to students in grades 7–12 during the 2025–26 school year.
Carissa Peckrell, the town’s prevention coordinator, told the board the survey is grant funded and “provides really great data for us. It is a grant funded, survey that we give, but it also provides prevention efforts through the Drug Free Communities grant.” Bonnie Smith, who works with the survey program, said the Youth Voices Count is offered statewide and is used to help communities plan services: “Our survey, Youth Voices Count, is offered throughout the state of Connecticut and now West Virginia.”
Board members said they find the district‑level and longitudinal data helpful for understanding youth needs and for supporting grant applications. Trustees noted earlier survey cycles showed patterns (for example, a post‑2020 peak in anxiety and depression that has since moderated in aggregate data) and said the local results are useful for designing prevention and peer‑messaging programs.
The motion to approve administration of the Youth Voices Count survey passed by voice vote. School and town staff said they will share aggregate results with the board and community partners and will use the data to inform prevention programming and future grant proposals.
