Schools present Youth Risk and Resiliency Survey results; prevention programs highlighted

Christine Coblitz and Sylvia Deal, the high‑school prevention specialists, presented county results from the New Mexico Youth Risk and Resiliency Survey (NMYRRS) at the Los Alamos County Health Council meeting and outlined school prevention programs designed to increase protective factors for students.

The presenters said the survey — conducted every two years and designed to over‑sample rural and Native American populations for representativeness — showed encouraging decreases in several substance‑use measures but also continued prevalence of risk behaviors and mental‑health symptoms. To make the data concrete, presenters converted percentages into classroom equivalents: for example, they reported the equivalent of roughly four high‑school students in a 30‑student classroom currently using e‑cigarettes, and two middle‑school students similarly using e‑cigarettes.

Presenters said several measures had declined, including past‑30‑day alcohol and tobacco use; they also described an apparent reduction in some mental‑health measures “for the first time in 10 years,” while cautioning that the survey provides point‑in‑time associations and not causal explanations.

The presenters emphasized a protective‑factor finding repeatedly referenced during the meeting: students who report stronger, supportive relationships with adults at school are less likely to report substance use or other risk behaviors. “The more supported or more connected they are, the less likely they are to have that drug usage,” the presenters summarized when showing comparative charts that grouped students by perceived connectedness.

School prevention programs described by Coblitz and Deal include: - Sources of Strength, a peer‑led resilience and help‑seeking program that replaced and modernized the older Natural Helpers model and allows new students to join year‑round. - A high‑school “calm room,” funded by a grant, where students can practice re‑regulation skills with seating, art materials and staff check‑in; the program is tracked for use and referrals to counseling. - Adoption of a new K–12 social‑emotional‑learning (SEL) curriculum and a stepped restorative‑practices discipline model intended to emphasize community building before harm responses. - An updated puberty curriculum in all elementary schools delivered with parent consent and family homework to foster parent‑child conversations.

The schools also provide training and community partnerships: QPR and Youth Mental Health First Aid, overdose recognition and Narcan training (presenters said Narcan is now available on school buses and drivers have been trained), collaborations with JJob (a community partner that handles warm‑handoff for students needing higher levels of care) and outreach events that include parents, librarians and public‑safety representatives.

The presenters said they will share the full county report and speaker materials as PDFs with the council and posted QR codes in the meeting. Brandy, a graduate researcher who has analyzed ten years of youth‑risk data, offered to share her thesis for deeper analysis of correlations and trends.

Ending

Presenters and council members agreed prevention work requires whole‑community collaboration and long‑term commitment. School staff said they track event and program feedback and coordinate with social services, JJob and other partners to connect students who need higher levels of care.