Next Monday (12/9), the Teen Assessment Project will host a conference entitled "Making Effective Use of NH Youth and Family Data." It begins with a press conference to officially release the 2000-2001 Multi-Community Report and research findings. UNH faculty will join Charlotte Cross and Fran Chickering to discuss the research findings and applications of TAP data as well as share information about other comparable adolescent data sources.

Dr. Rebecca Warner will discuss parental influences and other predictors of risky behavior, and Dr. Carolyn Mebert will share risk and protective factors associated with students' plans to attend college. Variables examined include demographic factors, substance use, sexuality and extracurricular activities. Dr. Vicki Banyard will address the use of TAP data to understand the educational and mental health impact of physical and sexual dating violence on victims and risk factors for perpetrators. Dr. Kristine Baber will give an overview of the new Adolescence Resource Center, a state/university collaboration to provide research capacity, education and state-of-the-art information about adolescent health and well-being.

A few highlights...
In May, the Conway project was featured on a NH Outlook program, and Raymond received media attention from WMUR News 9 when they shared their survey data in September. Anyone wishing to view TV coverage of TAP projects is welcome to borrow tapes.

TAP was a lead partner with other state agencies to host the Adolescent Health Institute conference at the Margate on Lake Winnipesaukee in June. The conference was a great success with 257 participants and tremendous positive feedback.

Pemi-Baker school district in Plymouth re-surveyed in November and plans are in the making for re-surveys at both Lin-Wood and Bristol school districts. TAP has reached 23,634 youth in 21 school districts/regions representing 88 communities. There are currently 95,703 youth in grades 7-12 NH public schools and academies.

In collaboration with other UNH faculty, TAP was the cornerstone of a $1.5 million Centers for Disease Control Grant "Collaborative Research to Support Communities for Youth." The application was among the top 40 approved for funding but only the first 25 were funded at this time. Of the 40 proposals approved, our score was 1.88, compared to 1.39-1.82 for those 25 projects funded. The CDC will keep our request on file for 1 year, and it's anticipated more funds may be available in March. Since our score was only .06 from the cut-off point, we are hopeful we will receive funding at that time.
For more information about the Teen Assessment Project, and to view the 2000-2001 Multi-Community Report (available online after 12/9/02) visit our web site: http://ceinfo.unh.edu/cragin/4HYouth/Documents/TAP.htm.