ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – Multiple groups in St. Johns County are working to address the mental health and behavioral needs of the community.
The Health Planning Council of Northeast Florida, Investing in Kids (INK!) and Area Behavioral Health Consortium are some of the groups involved in the project, which includes focus groups, attending summits and now, asking residents to take an anonymous survey.
Cathy Newman with INK!, an organization that supports students and teachers in St. Johns County, said the project is needed because it gets answers from the community on what they feel needs to be done to suit them best.
There’s one survey for adults and one for children 10 to 17.
They ask questions like: “In the last 12 months, did you put off, cancel, or neglect seeking services from a mental health or substance abuse professional?”
The groups involved hope both adults and children who take the survey are honest about their feelings.
Newman said the assessment falls under a project called “Resiliency Through the Community.”
“For us asking only adults what’s going on with them and just asking them to assume with kids wasn’t enough. So that’s why we wanted to ask kids directly,” Newman said.
She said the information gained through the surveys will better help their groups know what services are most needed to reach the community.
Newman also said the last time a project like this was done was before the pandemic so it was important now to get a better gauge of how things have changed.
Newman said they are asking anyone who lives in St. Johns County to fill out the surveys.
She says the data collected will be presented in August.