Last week St. Louis County Children’s Service Fund released the Children’s Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services Needs Assessment for St. Louis County. Through a collaboration between St. Louis University, University of Missouri- St. Louis, and the Children’s Service Fund the report details how County youth, parents, and school staff perceive the need for mental health and substance abuse services for St. Louis County youth. While I encourage you to look through the entire report I personally was interested in the results that stemmed the surveys that were conducted at several St. Louis County Public Schools. Here are some of the facts that really stood out to me:
- The average age of initiation for alcohol was 13 years old with 16.8% of respondents having consumed alcohol within the last 30 days.
- The average age of initiation for marijuana was also 13 years old with 12.2% of respondents having used the drug within the last 30 days.
- 13.8% of youth had considered attempting suicide and 7.2% of respondents had attempted suicide.
I personally was alarmed at the low age of marijuana and alcohol initiation and the relatively high percentage of youth that had considered suicide. The silver lining is that when youth do seek help there will be resources open to them thanks to the St. Louis County Children’s Service Fund. Almost Home, along with 53 other non-profits that serve children, receive funding from the Children’s Fund and that funding allows them to provide mental health and substance abuse services to St. Louis County youth. I highly encourage you to take a look at the full Needs Assessment and let me know which facts stood out to you.
Best,
Ashlie Hutcherson
Associate Development Director
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