Susan L. Stearns: Action needed on Youth Risk Behavior Survey to protect kids

Too many New Hampshire kids are not all right. Within the past six months, the American Psychological Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the U.S. Surgeon General have all declared that our youth are facing a mental health emergency. We see this here in New Hampshire in increased numbers of youth boarding in emergency departments awaiting an inpatient bed while experiencing a mental health crisis. We see this in the increased numbers of youth seeking assistance from community-based mental health providers and finding themselves facing months-long waits for initial appointments. We see this with the numbers of youth reporting increased anxiety, depression and thoughts of self-harm. Suicide is the second leading cause of death for Granite State youth and young adults ages 10-34.

Despite the mental health crisis our youth are experiencing, on March 16, the N.H. House approved HB 1639, relative to the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, heedless to the concerns of educators, students, parents, mental health providers, prevention specialists and child advocates. The bill, now before the Senate Education Committee, would have a dramatic impact by changing the survey to an opt-in versus an opt-out format. If passed, the onus will then be upon parents to ensure their children participate in this critical survey — at a time when parental stressors and demands are skyrocketing. Making the Youth Risk Behavior Survey an opt-in survey may very well reduce the number of responses to the point where the data will become statistically insignificant. This would likely impact New Hampshire's ability to leverage much-needed federal dollars and obscure the needs of our children.