The importance of kids having a trusted adult in their lives as a protective factor like bubble wrap
is the aim of a new campaign spearheaded by the Regional Youth Prevention Network managed by
the Gloucester Health Department.
The regional youth prevention effort recently launched its “Adults We Trust” campaign, which
includes a video featuring local students from Cape Ann and the North Shore and Cape Ann
talking about what they look for in a trusted adult.
The Regional Youth Prevention Network is a collaboration of seven communities —,Gloucester,
Rockport, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Essex, Beverly, Danvers and Ipswich — focusing on preventing
teen substance use and keeping kids and families healthy and safe.
Information on the Adults We Trust campaign, which can be found at the website
regionalyouthpreventionnetwork.org, points out that young people who have at least one teacher
or adult in their school they can turn to on topics important to them are nearly 60% less likely to
experience poor mental health outcomes compared with those who don’t have a trusted adult in
their lives.
The campaign is multi-pronged, according to Regional Prevention Director Chelsea Goldstein
Walsh, a social worker who works for the Gloucester Health Department.
First, the website features a video of middle- and high-school students talking about what makes
somebody a trusted adult.
“What I look for in a trusted adult is somebody who is kind and understanding,” Hannah Queen, a junior at Ipswich High School, says in the video. “And somebody who meets you where you’re at and who pushes you in the right direction and kind of helps you along the way.”
Eighth grade O’Maley Innovation Middle School student Erika Taylor-Grossi talks about what it means to have an adult you trust during a presentation at O’Maley Innovation Middle School about a new campaign called “Adults We Trust,” presented by the Regional Youth Prevention Network.
DAVID SOKOL/Staff photo
Also featured is Erika Taylor-Grossi, 14, an eighth grader at O’Maley Innovation Middle School
who also serves as secretary of the Gloucester Youth Leadership Council, the youth arm of the
Regional Youth Prevention Network that works to make a positive impact in the community.
Taylor-Grossi said in an interview she has a trusted adult in her life. “I think a trusted adult is important in your life because you should always have somebody who you are able to turn to, say, like, something really bad happened at school and you have nobody else to talk to, but then you go home and say it’s your mother, your sister, your grandmother; it could even be somebody in the school, who you just … you trust them so much that you are able to open up to them about problems that you could have, anywhere.”
Another phase of the campaign revolves around young people nominating their trusted adults for
recognition.
Another effort, Goldstein-Walsh said, includes trainings for adults who may serve as a trusted
adult but who may not feel confident in their skills if a kid should come to them with concerns.
Plans are to offer a series of youth mental health first-aid trainings in May during Mental Health
Awareness Month that will be free to members of the community, she said. “We use the term ‘trusted adult’ because oftentimes that’s what kids in schools are taught,” Goldstein-Walsh said. “For many kids that can be a parent; it can be a teacher, a coach. A trusted adult is any adult, including those who may not fit the stereotypical mold of a trusted adult, such as a school bus driver, a cashier, the lunch lady, or a custodian, who has a positive influence on a young person’s life. School resource officers often fill the role of a trusted adult”, Goldstein-Walsh said.
“So what we know and what research shows is that having at least one trusted adult both in the home and out of the home can have a significantly beneficial effect for youth,” Goldstein-Walsh said. “It can act as a protective factor that mitigates the risk of things like a substance use challenge or a mental health challenge.”
While there are factors that can increase the risk for young people when it comes to certain
challenges, protective factors like having a trusted adult should be thought of like bubble wrap,
she said. “The more layers of bubble wrap that you have around you, the less likely you are to break apart,” she said. “Having a trusted adult both inside and outside of the home adds a layer of support. It could be someone at the local YMCA, within a faith-based community, or even a neighbor”, she said.
The Regional Youth Prevention Network includes DanversCARES, Be Healthy Beverly, Ipswich
Aware, Gloucester Youth Leadership Council, and the Eastern Essex Regional Public Health
Coalition for Rockport, Essex, Hamilton and Wenham.
Rebecca Jackson is the director of community programs for the Greater Beverly YMCA and the
facilitator of the Be Healthy Beverly Coalition who said the organization is excited about the
trusted adult campaign.
For young people, having a trusted adult is important because it allows them to have open
conversations around mental health and healthy relationships. She defines a trusted adult as
someone who matters to a young person. “Having somebody you can trust is so beneficial all around,” she said. She said a lot of what they work on are providing “protective factors” when it comes to issues young people might face. “Giving them protective factors for anything they come across is really beneficial,” she said.
Taylor-Grossi said it was important for her to be a part of the campaign as part of her work with the Gloucester Youth Leadership Council. “I think this campaign is an amazing idea, actually, because when we do stuff like this it kind of shows kids that, like, there’s always going to be somewhere you can go and there’s always something you can join,” she said.
Part of the trusted adult campaign involves nominating a trusted adult, to help celebrate positive
role models in the community. These caring adults will be recognized by the Regional Youth
Prevention Network, and there’s a nomination form on campaign’s website.
Funding sources for the campaign include the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration; the state Bureau of Substance Addiction Services, a division of the
Massachusetts Department of Public Health; and the Peter and Elizabeth C. Tower Foundation.
Ethan Forman may be contacted at 978-675-2714, or at
eforman@northofboston.com.
