[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 1]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 976]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




     HONORING GIRLS INC. OF ALAMEDA COUNTY'S GIRLS RESEARCH PROJECT

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. FORTNEY PETE STARK

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 3, 2004

  Mr. STARK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Girls Inc. of 
Alameda County's Girls Research Project. The research project is one of 
the most comprehensive and innovative health and wellness studies by 
and about teenage girls in Alameda County. Girls, Inc. launched this 
project as an outgrowth of its strategic plan which revealed that it 
was extremely difficult to find or gain access to disaggregated data 
about teenage girls on a range of critical factors relating to their 
physical and mental health, access to medical care, educational 
experiences, perceptions of school and community, and support networks, 
among others.
  The core intent of the Project has been to gather robust qualitative 
and quantitative data about the health and wellness of teenage girls to 
enhance youth programs and inform policy agendas while at the same time 
teaching girls themselves about the power of data and guiding them to 
become leaders and advocates for positive health outcomes in girls' 
lives.
  The project is unprecedented in Alameda County and has surpassed all 
original expectations. Successful written surveys were conducted in 11 
public and alternative high schools in Berkeley, Oakland and San 
Leandro yielding responses from more than 1,900 girls in the 9th 
through the 12th grade, representing more than 21 % of the entire 
female high school population in the target school district. A 
dedicated group of 20 young women were trained to conduct almost 100 
one-on-one interviews of their peers. They also helped analyze and 
interpret both the qualitative and quantitative data collected through 
the research efforts.
  The resulting analysis presents a mixed portrait of girls in Northern 
Alameda County. A portrait, which on the one hand, demonstrates the 
resilience and enthusiasm of teen girls, while on the other hand, 
reveals continued areas of concern relating to girls' physical and 
mental health; their engagement in risk behaviors; their negative 
attitudes towards some academic areas, as well as their perceptions and 
experiences of safety and violence in their schools and communities.
  I applaud Girls Inc. of Alameda County for initiating and completing 
the Girls Research Project. I am confident the research findings will 
provide valuable guidance for families, educators, health care 
professionals, policymakers, and the myriad organizations focused on 
the health and well-being of teenage girls.

                          ____________________