Youth Programs TEST

From nutrition to substance use prevention, we have programs to help our community’s young people stay healthy.

Our Youth Programs

Healthy habits developed at a young age can last a lifetime. From nutrition to substance use prevention, Beach Cities Health District (BCHD) has programs to help our community’s young people stay healthy. BCHD partners with local school districts in Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach and Redondo Beach to create environments that support student, staff and parent health. This includes providing an array of programs and services that increase physical activity, improve nutrition and promote social-emotional well-being.

Programs & Services

Beach Cities Partnership for Youth Coalition

BCHD is just one of more than 200 local partners in the Beach Cities Partnership for Youth Coalition that collaborates to achieve measurable outcomes in improving student mental health and well-being and reducing substance use. The Coalition has five stakeholder workgroups: students, parents, providers, schools and community.

Youth Advisory Council

The Youth Advisory Council, one of the Coalition’s workgroups, is youth-led and focused on the health and well-being of their peers. Members act as ambassadors of health by connecting peers with resources, events and information, and raising awareness of and offering recommendations on health issues affecting Beach Cities youth.

Youth Substance Use Prevention

As a Drug-Free Communities grant recipient, BCHD aims to address underlying factors contributing to youth substance in the Beach Cities. Initiatives include a “Talk About It” campaign, teen Mental Health First Aid trainings, and distribution of free overdose prevention kits including two doses of naloxone nasal spray and two fentanyl test strips.

Physical Activity & Active Transportation

BCHD created opportunities for additional physical activity minutes to be added into an average school day through 8-Minute Exercises and Classroom Activity Breaks. The public safety campaign “Streets for All” focuses on spreading public education messages about street safety to residents of all ages.

LiveWell Kids Program

LiveWell Kids is a comprehensive garden and nutrition education program developed specifically for elementary school students. It is comprised of six interactive lessons focused on educating students about the process and benefits of growing their own food, improving nutritional knowledge, and making healthy eating choices.

Health Priorities Addressed

Mental Health & Substance Use

25% of Beach Cities 11th graders reported experiencing chronic sadness/hopelessness in the past 12 months
8% of Beach Cities 11th graders reported seriously considering attempting suicide within the past 12 months
17% of Beach Cities 11th graders reported the use of alcohol or drugs in the past 30 days

Source: California Healthy Kids Survey, 2024

Physical Health

13% of Beach Cities 11^th graders reported missing school in the past 30 days due to not getting enough sleep.

Source: California Healthy Kids Survey, 2024

Community Impact

BCHD provided fentanyl education and training on the life-saving opioid overdose reversal medication, naloxone, to 565 teachers, administrators and staff of Beach Cities schools.

More than 200 people attended the community viewings at middle and high schools of the documentary “Screenagers: Under the Influence,” a film that delved into how the tech revolution has reshaped adolescence and its effects on substance use.

The LiveWell Kids program was delivered to kindergarten through fifth grade students at 11 Beach Cities schools by 350 trained volunteers. A total of 5,128 students across these campuses participated in the program over the course of the 2023-2024 academic year.

Nearly 2,800 people participated in Walk and Roll to School Day every year, an international event that involves communities walking and rolling to school.