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Bucks County Drug & Alcohol Commission to seek countywide input for prevention needs assessment
Summary
The Bucks County Drug and Alcohol Commission said it will launch a prevention needs and resource assessment survey for youth and adults, mandated by the Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs; responses will be accepted through May 1 and a $10 gift card will be offered as an incentive.
Diane Rizzotti, director of the Bucks County Drug and Alcohol Commission, and Mallory Perotti, the commission's prevention supervisor, told the Board of Commissioners on Jan. 22 that the county will conduct a prevention needs and resource assessment this spring as required by the Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs.
Nut graf: The survey will solicit input from both youth and adults to help the commission target prevention services and address identified risk factors; organizers plan to use existing Pennsylvania Youth Survey results (from 2023) to shape follow-up questions and will incentivize responses with a $10 gift card.
Details: Rizzotti said the commission is the single county authority (SCA) that oversees prevention, treatment and recovery support programs in Bucks County and that the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs mandates periodic needs assessments. Perotti said the county will run a separate community survey in addition to using the PA Youth Survey data, which includes nearly 20,000 responses countywide; staff are in phase two of the assessment process, gathering input from youth and adults about issues such as the biggest problems facing young people and how to increase student engagement in school.
Logistics: The survey will be available on the Bucks County Drug and Alcohol Commission website and the county website; organizers said they will distribute the link through county email lists and other channels. Staff said respondents will have until May 1 to reply, and emphasized the sooner responses are gathered the sooner the commission can complete data analysis and planning.
What was not specified: The transcript does not give the exact survey instrument or the targeted sample size for adults; Perotti said the PA Youth Survey is taken through school districts and noted the county historically has had strong participation but did not list individual districts' commitments for 2025.
Ending: Commissioners offered to assist if staff encounter roadblocks when collecting responses from schools or residents.
