The Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics has a new president of its Board of Directors

The Puerto Rico Statistics Institute (Institute) has a new president of its Board of Directors. The Board elected Dr. Javier Hernández Acosta as president, after the expiry of the term as board member of the past president, Nicolás Muñoz Muñoz. Dr. Hernández is a professor and director of the School of Arts, Design and Creative Industries at the Sacred Heart University. Similarly, Dr. Hernández is the Founder of Cultural Investment and the Center for Creative Economy, Inc., non-profit organizations that support the development of cultural and creative industries in Puerto Rico. Dr. Hernández has been a member of the Board of Directors since October 2020 and prior to that role he collaborated as a researcher on several projects of the Institute such as the World Values Survey (2018), the Innovation Survey (2015) And the Science and Technology Survey: Research and Development (2015).

Members of the Board of Directors do not earn compensation for their services. The Board is composed, in addition to Dr. Javier Hernández Acosta, Mrs. Carola Ballester Descartes, vice-president, Dr. José A. Jorge Pagán, secretary, Mr. Vicente Feliciano Pérez, Dr. Francisco E. Martínez Aponte and Mr. Manuel Laboy. This Board of Directors, as established in Act 209 of August 28, 2003, is the governing body that establishes the administrative policy of the Institute, which is led by Dr. Orville M. Disdier, Executive Director. “The Institute's relevance increases every day with the need for greater transparency and accessibility to information sources to support decision-making. It is up to us to guarantee its autonomy and fiscal sustainability so that it can continue to expand its impact. It is a great responsibility to support this management from the Board of Directors,” said Dr. Hernández, president of the Board of Directors.

The Puerto Rico Statistics Institute is a governmental entity with fiscal and administrative autonomy with the mission of coordinating the statistical production service of government entities. To learn more about the Institute of Statistics, you can access the website: www.estadisticas.pr.gov. On social media through Facebook (@estadisticas .pr), Instagram (@estadisticas .pr), Twitter (@EstadisticasPR) and LinkedIn (Institute of Statistics of Puerto Rico) accounts.

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For questions and more information write to the following email: preguntas@estadisticas.pr

President of the New York Federal Reserve applauds the Institute's efforts

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PRESS RELEASE

They add data on substance use by students to the interactive map on school and community profiles

Based on the Mental Health and Addiction Services Administration (ASSMCA) “Youth Consultation” study

May 23, 2022: The executive director of the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics, Dr. Orville M. Disdier, announced that a new layer, on substance use by students living in Puerto Rico, has been added to the interactive map on school and community profiles, known as the “School Community Profile: The Interactive Map”. This new layer consists mainly of data on the prevalence of substance use, risk and protective factors, access to substances, risk perception, and violent behavior, among others. The tool also contains a copy of the official report from which the data were obtained. This particular layer is entitled “Youth Consultation 2018-2020 (ASSMCA)” and must be activated using the “layers” menu.

“These data are based on the Youth Consultation survey conducted during the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 academic years and measures the prevalence of substance use among students from seventh to twelfth grade, both in public and private schools in Puerto Rico. In particular, this new layer is divided into ten (10) service areas or regions grouped into: Metro Area, Arecibo, Bayamón, Caguas, Fajardo, Guayama, Mayaguez, Moca, Ponce and Utuado,” explained Dr. Disdier.

Some aspects that this new layer allows us to observe are, for example, that, in the area or region of Utuado, 7.8% of students ever used marijuana, 5.3% used unprescribed pills, 51.6% (of those who used cocaine) started using cocaine when they were less than 12 years old, and 36.8% lived in a conflicted family environment, among other statistics. In the same way, by concurrently activating the Public School Directory layer, it can be seen that most schools in that geographical area of Utuado have a three (3) star rating. “This is just one example of many geospatial observations and/or analyses that could be carried out,” emphasized Dr. Disdier.

The School Community Profile: The interactive map, with this new layer, resides on the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics website and interested parties can access it at any time through the following e-mail address: School-community profile.

For technical questions about this tool, you can send an email to: preguntas@estadisticas.pr.

About the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics

To learn more about the Institute of Statistics, you can access the website: www.estadisticas.pr.gov. On social media through Facebook accounts (@statistics.pr), Twitter (@EstadisticasPR), Instagram (@institutodeestadisticas) and LinkedIn (Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics).

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Contacts:

Idia M. Martinez, R-28, 787-603-3200

Lourdes Burgos, R-27, 787-562-2932

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