A central Illinois mental health professional is anxiously awaiting the results of the Illinois Youth Survey results - which is wrapping up in Illinois.

Tony Kirkman is the Executive Director of the Piatt County Mental Center and indicates the Illinois Youth Survey is an every-other-year gathering of data on a variety of things facing Illinois adolescents.

According to Kirkman, there are two mental health issues that he is going to be watching closely as well as the impact of legalized marijuana on youth in Illinois.

There is still an issue with vaping and e-cigarettes and Kirkman indicates this is a long-running issue now and wants to know if any of the prevention messaging they've done is working.

Kirkman says there are messaging campaigns the State of Illinois has taken up about a lot of these topics. He hopes any messaging that is done will treat youth like adults and present them with facts. 

The results of the survey should start to sprinkle back in later this spring and by the summer he should have most of the data back.