At the Sept. 20 Catasauqua Communities That Care meeting, Melissa Fausey, with Penn State EPISCenter, attended to discuss next steps for the coalition checkup.

Fausey last attended the June meeting when members came up with an action plan to address the group’s priority to increase its outreach. This included finishing the coalition’s brochure, ordering items for giveaways, updating the website, attending community events and creating a display board to help share information at various school and community events.

Fausey commented on how most of those steps have either been completed or have a plan for completion.

The giveaway items and brochures have been completed, received and used for a number of community events in which the group took part. The display is currently a work in progress.

The website update has been put on hold until the Pennsylvania Youth Survey data could be included. As the group is still going through this data, this step will be put on hold for now.

“Really good job with a quick turnaround on completing that,” Faucey said.

Group members should expect another survey to check in again in the next few months. This will lead to another report they can use to help plan priorities to encourage growth. The report is expected in December or January 2023.

“We had a very ambitious summer,” said Denise Continenza, CTC coordinator and Penn State Extension educator, referring to the updated communication plan, attending events, doing PAYS review and more.

The majority of the meeting was spent wrapping up discussions on the PAYS data.

During the summer months, CTC members identified strengths and challenges in the data. These observations will help inform decisions about programming in the district.

The data goes through a validity process with rigorous checks to ensure the information is as accurate as possible. There are seven check points each survey must meet before being tabulated and added to the whole.

The current Catasauqua CTC priorities are substance use prevention, meeting the needs of resource-stressed families and mental health and wellness. The question for the coalition members was: “Do we want to continue with these?”

It was noted the substance use numbers weren’t bad for the district, but vaping continues to be a concern. There were also enough students reporting parental permissiveness toward some behaviors, such as drinking.

“For all grades, the primary sources of alcohol is parents (29.8%), taking it from home without permission (29.8%) and friends’ siblings over 21 (24.6%),” according to a report of the PAYS data.

Continenza noted the group might want to address these factors.

It was noted the Catasauqua Community Cares Program has done a great job addressing food insecurity in the district. The number of students reporting worrying about skipping a meal declined across all grade levels.

To help with these endeavors, the schools and the C3P have expanded their reach beyond food to include clothing and hygiene items.

The mental, social and emotional health of students was a concern in the PAYS data. The rates of depression and thoughts of self harm have been elevated.

Amy Dymond-Jones, Catasauqua Middle School guidance counselor and CTC coordinator, reported the district is already introducing additional programming to address the mental health of students.

The CBITS program from Valley Youth House is being added in all three district buildings to help students recover from and deal with stressful events.

The Center for Humanistic Change’s Project Success is being introduced at Catasauqua High School. This program proved to be a success at CMS. The CHC has an elementary school version of the program Dymond-Jones hopes to get added in the next few years.

It was also noted bullying was reported to be a problem by some of the students. The PAYS data shows the majority of students who were bullied experienced it either to or from school.

Dymond-Jones mentioned this has been an ongoing discussion since CMS is primarily a walking school.

“Students aren’t always making the best decisions walking to and from school,” she said.

Catasauqua Area School District is considering implementing busing for fifth- and sixth-grade students.

Continenza also reported they are looking into adding other parent education programs. Right now, CASD holds the Strengthening Families program, but additional resources are being explored.

In other business, Holy Trinity Memorial Lutheran Church Pastor Brian Reidy reported members of his congregation hand out snacks and Gatorade to CASD students as they walk home from school each day.

He said is isn’t so much about feeding the students but rather to make sure they know the community cares about them.

CTC members loved the idea and agreed to help collect snack donations or help with the distributions.

Additionally, Dymond-Jones noted the efforts of a CMS teacher have rippled out to create a larger impact. David Linton went out and bought shoes for a student whose shoes were falling apart. This led to teachers and community members reaching out to help.

Dymond-Jones noted Linton’s Closet received more than $1,000 in donations during the summer. She said a large portion of those donations came from American Legion Rider Chapter 215.

Coalition members discussed changing the time and place of the next meeting to coincide with the distribution of snacks with Holy Trinity members at the gazebo at Catasauqua Park and Playground, 501 American St.

The next meeting is set for 1 p.m. Oct. 19.