2025 Data Release! Our Local Data Suggest Youth Mental Health Crisis May Have Passed It’s Peak

October 14, 2025

The Communities That Care Coalition released the results of its 23nd annual Regional Student Health Survey on Wednesday, October 15th.

This year, nearly 1,400 students participated, representing over two-thirds of all 8th, 10th, and 12th graders across the region’s nine public school districts. Since 2003, the survey has been a cornerstone for understanding local youth experiences around substance use, mental health, and the pressures young people face.

Highlights from the 2025 Survey

Substance Use at Historic Lows
Drug and alcohol use among local youth has dropped dramatically over the past two decades and continues to decline—reaching the lowest levels since the survey began.

Growing Concerns About Bias-Based Bullying
More students report seeing or experiencing teasing and harassment based on race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation. While troubling, this trend may also reflect increased awareness and willingness to name discriminatory behavior.

The Impact of Screen Time
Youth are spending more time on screens than ever. High screen use is strongly linked to poorer mental health, less physical activity and sleep, and reduced connection with caring adults.
Alarming numbers of students also report exposure to harmful online content, including extremism, hate speech, and pornography. Over one-in-four local youth say they’ve been shown pornography at school against their will, often as early as elementary school.

A Glimmer of Hope in Youth Mental Health
Mental health continues to be one of the community’s top concerns. Rates of depression and anxiety remain high, but for the first time since 2012, one of our most-reliable indicators – the Prevention Needs Assessment Depressive Symptoms Risk Factor – showed a slight downturn in symptoms. This may signal that efforts by schools, the state, and local organizations are beginning to make a difference.

Supporting Youth Well-Being

CTC offers a variety of tools and resources for families, schools, and community partners on topics including mental health, sex education, and navigating life online.
Explore these at:
👉 www.communitiesthatcarecoalition.com/resources

The full 2025 Student Health Survey report and summary presentation will be available starting October 15th at:
👉 www.communitiesthatcarecoalition.com/surveys

For more information or requests for additional analysis, contact:
Nick Hathaway, Evaluation Coordinator
Communities That Care Coalition / Franklin Regional Council of Governments
nhathaway@frcog.org | ☎️ 413-774-1194 x207

Coalition Featured in book on Investing in Children’s Mental Health

June 12, 2025

The Communities That Care Coalition of Franklin County and the North Quabbin is featured in a new book from Oxford University Press on Investing in Children’s Mental Health as one of the best available investments in children’s mental health. The authors, Daniel Eisenberg (professor of health economics at UCLA) and Ramesh Raghavan (mental health researcher and professor at NYU), present five case studies to forward society’s thinking on three questions: (1) What are some of the best available investments to improve the mental health of children and adolescents in the United States? (2) To what extent are these investments being made? and (3) What can practitioners, child-serving organizations, policymakers, and other stakeholders do to promote such investments? 

The authors attended several CTC coalition and workgroup meetings and the book contains a glowing chapter on our coalition. The authors make note of the community’s longstanding collaborative culture, of the coalition’s “informal approach” balanced with “clear professionalism and dedication,” explaining that “The inclusive and collaborative culture appears to welcome, rather than deflect or resist, difficult questions and potentially competing groups and ideas,” and “By nearly every measure, the results of the coalition’s work have been impressive.”

Training for Early Childhood Providers

January 17, 2025

The Communities That Care Coalition is one of the sponsors of an upcoming training series, The How of Child and Family Engagement. The focus is primarily on helping providers connect with and support family relationships as parents navigate the challenges of the early childhood years. It’s designed to strengthen parent-provider relationships as well as relationships within families. 

Flyer with training detalls and website bit.ly/TouchpointsTraining2025

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2025

January 17, 2025

Photo credit: LBJ Library photo by Yoichi Okamoto
www.lbjlibrary.net/collections/photo-archive.html, serial no. W418-5. A large (40MB) TIFF version of this image is available at this link.

Monday, January 20, 2025, is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day.  Dr. King is best known for his work in the United States Civil rights movement, but his legacy stretches far beyond that, including his activism against the use of nuclear weapons.

Dr. King believed that the immense destructive power of nuclear weapons was incompatible with his principles of nonviolence. He also noted that the nuclear arms race diverted resources away from work on poverty and social issues, while also stoking fear and creating real danger of global disaster. He saw disarmament as essential for global peace and urged U.S. leaders to work towards creating a world free from the threat of nuclear devastation.

Here are some articles that address Dr. King’s anti-nuclear war activism, as well as other ways he had an impact worldwide.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wanted a nuclear weapons ban

Nuclear Weapons and the Legacy of Dr. King

Examining The Global Impact Of Martin Luther King

Martin Luther King on Non-Violence and Disarmament

The cause MLK fought for that we tend to forget

Phone Free Schools Legislation for MA

January 17, 2025

Legislation has just been filed in the Massachusetts Senate and House requiring all schools in Massachusetts (K-12) to implement bell-to-bell (all day) phone and social media free policies.  The Massachusetts Teachers Association, Education Secretary, and Attorney General have all come out in support. For more information about this legislation, see this Briefing Doc with FAQs, for relevant statistics see this Infographic from Phone-Free Schools Movement, and to sign your name or agency in support of this bill click for this Community Support Letter.

Infographic with Statistics about the impact of phones in schools.
From Phone-Free Schools Movement, 2024

2024 Student Health Survey Data Released

October 25, 2024

The Communities That Care released the 2024 Student Health Survey data on Friday, October 19th, at meetings at the North Quabbin Community Coalition and Baystate Franklin Medical Center. The data presentation can be found HERE and the Greenfield Recorder published a series of four articles based on the data. Find a PDF of the Recorder’s four articles HERE or go to these links on the Recorder’s Website:

Survey shows drop in youth drug, alcohol use in Franklin County, North Quabbin

Communities That Care Coalition survey shows decrease in youth self-harm, suicidal planning

Survey shows teen screen use, on the rise since 2007, dips from 2021 peak

Survey shows seven-year peak in student bullying in Franklin County, North Quabbin

Coalition Meeting and Data Release October 18th

October 4, 2024

Please join the Communities That Care Coalition for the release and discussion of the 2024 Student Health Survey data on Friday, October 18th.  New information on school climate, substance use, mental health, screen time, and equity locally. All welcome! 

Two options for participation:

In person: 11am to 1pm at the Communities That Care Coalition’s Fall Full Coalition meeting at Baystate Franklin Medical Center, 164 High Street in Greenfield, in the hospital conference rooms. Lunch provided. Registration at: https://tinyurl.com/CommunitiesThatCareOct2024

By zoom: 9am to 10:45am at the North Quabbin Community Coalition’s October monthly forum. Invite Link https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86721708478

“Perspectives on Trauma” on GCTV

June 20, 2024

Ahmad Esfahani interviewed Leigh-Ellen Figueroa and Ilana Gerjuoy on his series on GCTV titled “Perspectives on Trauma”. On the series Esfahani interviews people from around Western Massachusetts about the topic of trauma. You can watch the interview HERE.