PTA seeks return to CDC youth survey

100 have appealed for state to reinstate health questionnaire

The Florida PTA has joined a plea for the state Department of Education to restart a CDC survey of public school students that measures a wide range of physical and mental health factors — from diet and exercise to bullying to sexual orientation and gender identity.

“Florida PTA uses the detailed data collected to … help us advocate for our most underserved and vulnerable children,” Jennifer Martinez, Florida PTA’s president, said in a written statement. “Taking the time to create and pilot a new survey would contribute to children not receiving the valuable services they need.”

Cassie Palelis, press secretary for the Florida Department of Education, insisted the state will still collect the data through its own new survey.

“We simply withdrew from a federal grant we did not view as necessary to collect this information,” Palelis said, referring to the $100,000 the CDC paid the state to administer the survey. “Rather than continue with a generic nationwide survey, our intent is to improve our data collection efforts to make the survey specifically tailored to Florida’s unique needs.”

But she did not say which topics the CDC survey failed to cover, and child-welfare advocates have pointed out that the federal questionnaire already allows for the addition of local questions.

“It really does not make sense financially or timewise” to develop a new survey, said Norín Dollard, a senior policy analyst at the Florida Policy Institute, which first sounded the alarm on the state’s move in April.

Many social services experts worry that the disruption also will make it impossible to compare old and new data at a time when children and teens are facing what many have called a national mental health crisis.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s questionnaire, known as the

Youth Risk Behavior Survey, had been conducted statewide in public high schools every other year.

Its nearly 100 questions cover such topics as diet, exercise, smoking, self-image, bullying, drug-use, access to guns, use of birth control, sexual and physical abuse and eating disorders.

Florida has participated in the survey since 1991. According to the CDC, 47 states still do so.

On May 24, the Florida Policy Institute sent a letter signed by 38 groups and 40 individuals to Jacob Oliva, the Florida Department of Education’s interim commissioner, saying the survey plays a “critical role” in helping kids struggling with mental illness, bullying, peer pressure and unhealthy lifestyles.

The groups included the Alliance for Public Schools, Disability Rights Florida, the Florida Psychological Association, the Florida Association of School Psychologists, the state’s chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Florida Education Association and the Florida Mental Health Advocacy Coalition, among others.

Individuals included medical doctors, mental health professionals, nurse practitioners and advocates for students’ well-being.

Since then, another 22 groups have joined the plea to the state.

In addition to the Florida PTA, No Kid Hungry Florida, the Florida Philanthropic Network and the Central Florida Foundation have added their names to an updated letter to the state.