Minnesota Student Survey
The Minnesota Student Survey (MSS) is administered every three years to students across Minnesota, including youth in public schools, alternative learning centers, and juvenile correctional facilities. The MSS is the most consistent source of data about the health and well-being of Minnesota's students and asks students about their activities, opinions, behaviors, and experiences.
In 2013, an item was added to assess youths' experiences of parental incarceration. Using data from the MSS, our team has published several papers and infographics examining outcomes among youth with a history of parental incarceration.
Selected Publications
Thompson, M., Pendleton, V., Davis, L., & Shlafer, R. Differences in sexual health behaviors and outcomes between adolescents in public schools and juvenile correctional facilities. Journal of Correctional Health Care.
Brown, C., Davis, L., & Shlafer, R. J. (2020). Are We Meeting Their Needs? Well-child, Dental, and Mental Health Care for Youth in Juvenile Correctional Facilities in Minnesota. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 31(1), 171-184.
Ruhland, E., Davis, L., Atella, J., & Shlafer, R. (2019). Externalizing behaviors among youth with a current or formerly incarcerated parent. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 64(1), 3–21.
Hiolski, K., Eisenberg, M., & Shlafer R. (2019). Youth Self-Reported Health and Their Experience of Parental Incarceration. Families, Systems, and Health, 37(1), 38-45.
Davis, L. & Shlafer, R. (2017). Substance Use among Youth with Currently and Formerly Incarcerated Parents. Smith College Studies in Social Work, 87(1), 43-58.
Shlafer, R., Reedy, T., & Davis, L. (2017). School-Based Outcomes Among Youth With Incarcerated Parents: Differences by School Setting. Journal of School Health, 87(9), 687-695.
Davis, L., & Shlafer, R. (2017). Mental health of adolescents with currently and formerly incarcerated parents. Journal of Adolescence, 54, 120-134.
MSS_Who Has an Incarcerated Parent.pdfMSS_Academic Outcomes.pdfMSS_Chemical Health.pdfMSS_Mental Health.pdfMSS_Physical Health JCFs.pdfMSS_Sexual Health JCFs.pdf