About
What is the Youth Health Data Hub of Western MA?
The Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts developed the Western Massachusetts Youth Health Data Hub through a regional collaboration designed to make youth health data easy to find, understand, and use. Our goal is to provide communities, schools, organizations, and policymakers with clear, actionable information that supports their efforts to promote young people’s wellbeing.
The Hub includes:
- Western MA data to guide regional approaches to supporting youth health;
- Insights to inform local- and state-level policy and decision-making;
- A platform to build on and amplify existing data collection and prevention efforts.
Who Is Behind the Youth Health Data Hub?
Since 2024, the Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts has convened a Youth Health Data Hub advisory group with representatives from across Western Massachusetts, including regional planning commissions, community coalitions, youth organizations, school districts, public health departments, LGBTQIA+ youth programs, and several young leaders.
Learn More About The Advisory Group
Regional & Statewide
Behavioral Health Integrated Resources for Children (BIRCh) Center at UMass Boston
The BIRCh Center advances equitable interconnected behavioral health systems that support children in Massachusetts by building school districts’ capacities for implementation of integrated behavioral health, fostering community partnerships, providing pre-service training and professional development, and advancing best practices through translational research. For example, the BIRCh Center helps schools embed mental health screening practices into their daily activities and develop curricula to help students learn how to understand and manage their emotions (social and emotional learning or SEL).
Contact:
Bethany Nichols
Bethany.Nichols@umb.edu
Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts (PHIWM)
PHIWM provides coalition building, research and evaluation, and policy advocacy expertise to improve health and wellbeing in Western MA communities. PHIWM builds partnerships to increase local capacity to improve community health, with a commitment to health equity and linking data to action. PHIWM coordinates several projects that support youth mental and behavioral health, including administering youth surveys in some Hampden County communities and convening the Springfield Youth Mental Health Coalition.
Contact:
Lisa Ranghelli
LRanghelli@publichealthwm.org
Quaboag Hills Substance Use Alliance
The Quaboag Hills Substance Use Alliance is comprised of local partners and community members dedicated to community-based substance use prevention, treatment, and recovery supports. The Alliance works collaboratively to reduce youth and adult substance use, break down stigma, and support community efforts to expand treatment access across towns in Hampshire, Hampden, and Worcester counties.
Contact:
Rebecca Edwards
redwards@townofware.com
Berkshire County
Berkshire Regional Planning Commission (BRPC)
BRPC provides planning services to municipalities in Berkshire County, including transportation, community and economic development, housing, and public health. The agency promotes collaboration and coordination among communities and governments in the region. BRPC coordinates the Supporting Positive Actions for Resiliency & Knowledge (SPARK) Coalition, which aims to prevent and reduce substance misuse and its associated harms among Central Berkshire County middle and high school aged youth.
Contact:
Noé González Ortiz
NGonzalezOrtiz@berkshireplanning.org
Northern Berkshire Community Coalition
The Northern Berkshire Community Coalition works to empower the Northern Berkshire region and improve quality of life for the community by bringing residents together through Asset-Based Community Development. The Coalition convenes work that includes substance use prevention strategies, neighborhood development, positive youth development, leadership development, and more.
Contact:
Meredith Starr
info@nbccoalition.org
Railroad Street Youth Project (RSYP)
At RSYP, youth take the lead, explore their full potential and become equipped to meet the challenging transition to adulthood. RSYP matches youth-generated ideas with community resources, empowering youth to create and oversee a wide range of innovative, life-changing projects. RSYP helps young people ages 14-25 in Southern Berkshire County find their voice and realize the benefits of their commitment to themselves and their community through mentoring and apprenticeship programs, a sexual health education initiative, an all-youth board that funds innovative, youth-inspired projects, and a Drop-in Center in Great Barrington, MA.
Contact: info@rsyp.org,
phone: 413-528-2475
Franklin County
Communities That Care Coalition / Franklin Regional Council of Governments (FRCOG)
The Communities That Care Coalition brings together youth, families, schools, and community members to support evidence-based prevention strategies that reduce risky behaviors and substance use among local youth. The Coalition collaborates to improve the health and well-being of young people in the Franklin County and North Quabbin region. The Coalition is operated out of FRCOG, a service organization providing advocacy, planning, and cooperative services to communities in Franklin County with the mission to promote a vibrant and sustainable region for all residents.
Contact:
Nick Hathaway
NHathaway@frcog.org
Hampden County
CARE Coalition/West Springfield Public Schools
Operating out of the West Springfield Public Schools, the CARE Coalition strives to build community capacity to support positive youth development and reduce risky behaviors among youth through several approaches. Coalition members assess local youth needs and share data with the community, establish collaboration among local stakeholders, increase protective factors and reduce risk factors among youth, facilitate fundraising and programming, and research evidence-based practices to support youth.
Contact:
Elizabeth Monopoli
emonopoli@wsps.org
www.townofwestspringfield.org/Community-Resources/CARE-Coalition
CLOSE Community (Coalition of Longmeadow for a Drug Free Community)
CLOSE Community is a coalition of community members and local organizations working collaboratively to strengthen capacity to support positive youth development, reduce substance use, and sustain prevention and intervention efforts in the Town of Longmeadow.
Contact:
Ananda Lennox
Alennox@longmeadow.k12.ma.us or close01106@gmail.com
Out Now
Out Now is a queer youth organization in Springfield, Massachusetts that provides a safe environment for LGBTQ+ individuals under 22 years of age to build friendships, develop leadership skills, and learn about themselves. Out Now is committed to promoting health and wellbeing, self-determination, and community building through peer support and anti-oppression organizing.
Contact:
Holly Richardson
OutNow@Comcast.net
Springfield Department of Health and Human Services
The City of Springfield Department of Health and Human Services provides services ranging from environmental health, community nursing, and health education in the city of Springfield. The department also convenes several prevention and advocacy programs for youth, people who use IV drugs, and citizens with disabilities, among others.
Contact:
Henry Alston
HAlston@springfieldcityhall.com
Stop Access Coalition/Gándara Center
The Stop Access Community Coalition serves youth in Hampden County, MA, by promoting citywide changes that build protective factors to reduce underage substance use and empower young people to thrive in their communities. The Stop Access Coalition is operated out of the Gándara Center, whose mission is “to promote the well-being of Hispanics, African-Americans and other culturally diverse populations through innovative, culturally competent behavioral health prevention and educational services”.
Contact:
Amanda Lesnick
alesnick@gandaracenter.org
Youth Mental Health Coalition (YMHC)
The YMHC is convened by the Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts and funded by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health Problem Gambling Services. The YMHC consists of behavioral health and youth-serving organizations serving youth and families across Greater Springfield. One of YMHC's main initiatives is the Beat the Odds Youth Leaders in Problem Gambling Prevention program, a youth leadership program in Springfield focused on youth mental health and problem gambling prevention.
Contact:
Tiffany Rufino
trufino@publichealthwm.org
www.publichealthwm.org/youth-mental-health
Hampshire County
Strategic Planning Initiative for Families and Youth (SPIFFY) Coalition/ Collaborative for Educational Services (CES)
SPIFFY is a coalition of community partners working to improve outcomes for youth in Hampshire County. SPIFFY leads prevention activities that bring together local organizations, schools, parents, and other partners to foster collaboration and build a local culture that is supportive of positive youth development. The coalition utilizes data to identify strategies, policies, and evidence-based programs that reduce unhealthy behaviors in youth. SPIFFY is operated out of CES, a nonprofit agency that provides a variety of services to its member school districts throughout New England. CES offers direct services for at-risk youth, professional development and training for educators, and consulting on topics such as community health, research and evaluation, and business services.
Contact:
Lisa Goldsmith
lgoldsmith@collaborative.org
www.collaborative.org/youth-and-families/healthy-families-community/spiffy/
Youth for Equity and Action (YEA) /Northampton Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)
YEA is a Northampton High School club sponsored by Northampton’s DHHS. YEA's goals are to center youth voices in decisions that affect their lives and make positive change in our school and community related to health equity.
Contact:
Kara McLaughlin
kmclaughlin@northamptonma.gov
Why Did We Create the Youth Health Data Hub?
Youth mental and behavioral health emerged as critical regional needs in the 2019 Community Health Needs Assessments for the Coalition of Western MA Hospitals/Insurer, and the COVID-19 pandemic intensified these challenges. In 2023, the Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts brought together a broad group of stakeholders to develop the Western MA Youth Mental Health Roadmap ("the Roadmap”), building on the Commonwealth’s Promote and Prevent Commission’s 2018 report and the 2021 Massachusetts Behavioral Health Roadmap.
Statewide, significant investments have been made in treatment and crisis services. To fully support youth mental and behavioral health, we also need to target promotion and prevention, not just treatment and recovery. Mental and behavioral health promotion and prevention focus on creating the environments and conditions that support well-being and prevent mental and behavioral health challenges before they begin.
Through the Roadmap development process, we heard from teenagers and community members about the strong prevention efforts already underway, and the need for better collaboration, greater access to data and evidence-based strategies, and stronger policy and system supports. We created the Youth Health Data Hub of Western MA in direct response to these needs: a tool to bring data, resources, and shared learning together in one place to better support young people across the region.
Mental and behavioral health are shaped by many factors, so our Hub addresses health more broadly and is built to evolve with emerging needs.
What Did We Learn from the 2024 Western MA Youth Mental Health Roadmap?
The 2024 Youth Mental Health Roadmap for Western MA focuses on five strategies that are essential for improving young people’s mental and behavioral health:
- Destigmatizing and normalizing mental and behavioral health conversations and help‑seeking. Stigma can affect a young person’s ability or willingness to acknowledge mental health challenges, discuss mental health, and seek help.
- Strengthening social connection among youth, families, and communities. In our society, data shows that we are becoming less socially connected over time and that loneliness has become widespread. Isolation can increase the risk of mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety.
- Supporting Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) and skill‑building across settings. With SEL, young people learn how to develop a healthy self-identity, control emotions, set and reach goals, understand and show empathy for others, build and maintain strong relationships, and make responsible and caring choices.
- Addressing impacts of social media, both positive and harmful. On one hand, it can be a powerful tool for connection and social support among peers. On the other hand, it can be harmful because of cyberbullying, peer pressure to engage in risky behaviors, impacts on self-esteem, and algorithms that encourage excessive use.
- Improving community–clinical linkages to connect youth with timely, culturally responsive care. An example of community-clinical linkages are school-based health centers.
Engaging young people and their families in designing promotion and prevention strategies is critical to their success. The Roadmap shares examples of promising programs in our region as well as recommendations for policy, systems, and environmental change. Its content served as the foundation for the Youth Health Data Hub of Western MA, guiding our choice of topics.
