A biannual survey of Illinois school-aged children has been released, and a central Illinois mental health expert is weighing in on this year's data trends.

Tony Kirkman is the Executive Director of the Piatt County Mental Health Center and reminds people that the Illinois Youth Survey is given to youth in Illinois schools with a variety of questions surrounding mental health challenges and substance use. He says the data from this past spring's assessments was recently released.

According to Kirkman, there are four specific questions in this survey that he looks for first each year. The questions he seeks out deal with suicidal ideation in teens, having a trusted adult other than a parent they can talk to, and substance use.

For Kirkman, a success in the data from the Illinois Youth Survey is the dramatic decrease in alcohol and illegal substance use. He feels this is a direct result of education efforts they've taken in recent years.

There are many other data points that Kirkman is analyzing, as the data has just been released. He is noting that increased access to marijuana and marijuana infused consumables is increasing among youth. However, vaping - identified as a major challenge - is down. We'll hear more from Kirkman in the weeks ahead at the Hart Media Group.