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For more information on Healthy Start, contact the School Health Connections/Healthy<br />
Start Office, at (916) 319-0914. Additional information is also available on the Healthy<br />
Start Web site at http://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/pf/hs.<br />
The California Healthy Kids Survey<br />
The California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS) is a comprehensive youth self-report data<br />
collection system that provides essential health risk assessment and resilience<br />
information to schools, districts, and communities. This survey is required for districts<br />
receiving Title IV Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities and Tobacco-Use<br />
Prevention Education funding. The CHKS is easily customized, confidential, voluntary,<br />
and anonymous. Targeted at grades five through twelve, it enables schools and<br />
communities to collect and analyze valuable data regarding local youth health risks,<br />
assets, and behaviors. The survey is designed to be part of a comprehensive datadriven<br />
decision-making process to help build more effective health, prevention, and<br />
youth development programs.<br />
At the heart of the CHKS is a research-based core module that provides valid indicators<br />
of drug use, violence, crime, and physical and mental health. The core, together with<br />
the Resilience and Youth Development Module, is used to collect all the student data<br />
needed for compliance with the No Child Left Behind Act and allows comparison with<br />
state and national data. In addition, there are five supplementary modules to choose<br />
from at the secondary school level that ask detailed questions on specific topics.<br />
Individual modules assess tobacco use; drug use and violence; diet, physical activity,<br />
and general health; and sexual behavior and HIV/AIDS risks. There is also a custom<br />
module incorporating additional questions targeting topics of local interest.<br />
Beginning with the 2004-05 school year, schools began administering the Staff School<br />
Climate Survey. Its purpose is to obtain staff perceptions of student behavior and<br />
attitudes, school programs and policies, and the overall school climate. The survey<br />
deals with such issues as truancy, safety, harassment, substance use, school<br />
connectedness, and learning supports.<br />
For more information on the California Healthy Kids Survey, contact the Safe and<br />
Healthy Kids Program Office at (916) 319-0920, or e-mail Robin Rutherford at<br />
rrutherf@cde.ca.gov. More information is available on the California Healthy Kids<br />
Survey Web site at http://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/yd/re/chks.asp.<br />
Youth Development<br />
Youth development provides youths with the critical supports and opportunities needed<br />
to thrive academically, socially, and emotionally even when they are challenged by risk<br />
and adversity. Youth development strategies are gaining increasing support as new<br />
research demonstrates that “school connectedness” is the primary school-related factor<br />
that consistently protects students from engaging in unhealthy behaviors. School<br />
connectedness is fostered when students feel a sense of belonging at school and find<br />
teachers to be fair and caring.<br />
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