Brittany Rhoades, PhD, Evaluation Research Specialist Geoffrey Kolchin, Program Analyst/PAYS Project Leader Brian Bumbarger, MEd,

Director of the EPISCenter Pennsylvania Public Health Association Conference Septemeber 27, 2011

PAYS 101: Overview & History Statewide PAYS Results - Hot off the presses!
How can communities make use of the PAYS?

Voluntary, statewide survey of PA school students in 6th, 8th, 10th, and 12th grade
Conducted every other year by Pennsylvania Commission on Crime & Delinquency (PCCD) since 1989

Provides statewide & local estimates

Risk and protective factors, substance use,

violence, school and community climate

Who uses PAYS data?

State leaders, local communities and schools

Which schools participate?

All are encouraged, but random sample are

invited to participate at no cost

Student-reported

Risk Factors
Protective Factors Risky Behaviors
Substance Use

Overall: 160,000+ students across 400 schools in 200+ school districts

Statewide random sample: 22,647 students

Summary of 2009 findings and past reports are available at: www.pays.state.pa.us

Higher numbers = protection

Higher numbers = risk

PAYS

PAYS

PAYS
Centers for Disease Control: www.cdc.gov

Compare local risk & protective factors to each other (relative risk/protection)
Which risk/protective factors are highest in my community?

With multiple years of data, compare trends across time

Pre-post program implementation

Compare to state averages

Are we better/worse than the rest of PA, on average?

Risk Factor Scores for Centre County: Community, Family, School Domains Centre County
CTC Matched Comparison

Lower scores are better

Risk Factor Scores for Centre County: Community, Family, School Domains Centre County
CTC Matched Comparison

Lower scores are better

20 15 10 5 0 -5 -10 -15 -20

Po or Po or m ily Su pe Fa Fa m ily Pa Hi st or y Pa tti tu Ac ad tti t An tis Lo em ic Ac hi

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Protective Factors Family Rewards School Rewards Religiosity Risk Factors Poor Family Supervision Poor Family Discipline Parental Attitudes Toward ATOD Use Parental Attitudes Toward Antisocial Behavior

2000 50 45 47

2005 59 50 52

change 9 *priority target met (52)

5
5

*priority
*priority

target met (50)

no target set

52 51 51 50

41 37 44 45

-11 -14 -7 -5

*priority *priority *priority *priority *priority *priority *priority

target met (48) target met (48) target met (49) target met (48) target met (52) target met (53) target met (50)

Academic Failure
Low School Commitment Sensation Seeking*

56
58 53

48
49 44

-8 -9 -9

Past 30-day Alcohol Use

60 50 40 30 20 10 0 2000 2003 2005

6th 8th 10th 12th

It is not enough to be busy. So are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about? Henry David Thoreau

Geoff Kolchin
Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Phone: (717) 265-8483 Email: gkolchin@state.pa.us www.pccd.state.pa.us www.pays.state.pa.us

Brittany Rhoades
Evidence-based Prevention and Intervention Support Center (EPISCenter) Phone: (814) 863-2568 Email: brhoades@episcenter.org http://www.episcenter.psu.edu