Leadership Council Meeting Minutes 3.8.10
Attendees: Adrienne Yancey, Cheryl Moder, Chris Edwards, Chris Searles, Christine Lafontant, Dana Richardson, Deirdre Kleske, Howard Taras, Jill Monroe, Kate Bartkiewicz, Kristin Garrett, Naomi Butler, Nick Yphantides, Phil Nader, Randall Marks, Sandy Silverman, Stephanie Gioia, Wilma Wooten
Guest: Jim Harisiades, Director of Child Advocacy for Chicago Memorial Children's Hospital, and stakeholder in the Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children (CLOCC)
I. Discussion: Strategic Planning Retreat Overview Group
· The COI’s Annual Strategic Planning Retreat was held on Friday, January 29 at Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens in Escondido. The event was a success; our partners enjoyed the venue, food, and physical activity breakout sessions.
· Cheryl conducted a survey of the group’s opinions on various aspects of the Retreat, and presented the results to the group.
· Overall, the results were positive. People felt that the best parts of the Retreat were the venue itself, the breakout groups and their discussion on COI’s future direction, the unique perspectives at the table, the facilitator, and the focus on the positive instead of the negative.
· Some suggestions for the future included the following:
- Spend less time having the domains report out
- Include more time for the “next steps” discussion and group discussion in general
- Hold event at a quieter location
- Make sure the group is able to clearly define COI’s role in the community and be able to define who and what COI is.
- Develop an action item while still at the Retreat that tasks the committee to meet shortly after to start hashing out discussion and turn into action plan.
· The group spent some time asking questions about the COI Executive Committee, which was mentioned earlier in this discussion. Currently, the members on this committee include the three co-chairs of the Leadership Council, the two Board Supervisor Aides, Kristin Garrett, Cheryl Moder, and Adrienne Yancey (the final two individuals function as staff support and are not voting members).
· Some members of the Leadership Council were concerned that this would affect the power of the committee, but the co-chairs explained that the Executive Committee does not intend to operate in a silo. Cheryl and Wilma explained that the Executive Committee functions as a smaller governing body of the Leadership Council that makes urgent decisions on behalf of COI when there is a political issue, a grant deadline with a fast turnaround time, or anything else that must be voted on quickly. Other than that, the entire Leadership Council will be engaged in all topics discussed at the Executive Level at each monthly meeting.
· One of the facilitator’s recommendations is that this group formalize the composition of the leadership structure of this group. Perhaps this is something that can be revisited on an annual basis to be sure it is fitting the needs of the group at large.
· Wilma said that as far as the Executive Committee goes, there needs to be an odd number of people. Stephanie added that it is necessary to define a process that will allow this smaller committee to pick and choose matters of importance, maximize staff time/resources, and present proposals to the entire Leadership Council.
· Wilma wondered how this group could select a process by which to operate. This decision needs to be made ahead of actual action-oriented decisions.
· Randall Marks suggested that there also be an evaluator on the smaller board. Kristin agreed and added that the evaluator should not currently be a paid contractor.
· A motion carried unanimously for those in favor of selecting a governing process. The individuals involved in the Executive Committee will return to the Leadership Council with a charter that outlines different duties and functions at next month’s meeting. If you have any input in the meantime, please e-mail Cheryl with your thoughts.
II. Funding Update Cheryl Moder/Naomi Butler
· Active Living Research—Chris Edwards reported that a proposal is being developed for the ALR funds, which are geared toward youth engagement projects. Dr. Susan Woodruff, an epidemiologist from SDSU, will be the primary investigator on this grant. These funds could contribute to COI’s Youth Engagement and Action for Health (YEAH!) projects. The first trainings were conducted in February. Jenna Kirschenman has been hired by COI on a consulting basis to conduct the trainings. Chris reported that groups at the training that are interested in doing their own youth engagement project are ready to get started, but this money would not arrive until January if received. She explained that the hope is to gain momentum with this work so that by time funds are available, there will be completed work to evaluate. The proposal is due on April 14.
· ARRA—Wilma reported that there is still nothing that the County can say publicly regarding the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds available through the CDC. The County applied for nearly $20 Million at the end of last year for obesity prevention funds.
· Healthy Retail Pilot—Naomi reported that there are Federal dollars available that will allow state municipalities (such as San Diego County) to provide buyer incentives to food stamp participants who use their EBT cards to purchase fresh produce. Each state is eligible to jointly apply for the funds with selected counties within the state. Naomi reported that the State is considering San Diego County to go in on the application. Further information will be reported as it becomes available.
· National Dairy Council/NFL “Fuel Up to Play 60” Program—These two national bodies have partnered to create the “Fuel Up to Play 60” program, an in-school program focusing on nutrition and physical activity messages that should educate students about living healthy lifestyles. The funding would support sustainability of healthier food and physical activity choices in school; any school is eligible to enroll in the program and currently according to the program website, about 60% of schools in the United States are enrolled. Cheryl will follow up with representatives of the Dairy Council of CA to gather more information.
III. Presentation: ICANATWORK Kate Bartkiewicz
· Kate presented on her ICANATWORK project, which provides worksite wellness resources for employers in San Diego County. The primary goals of this program are to have diverse businesses enrolled in order to promote and encourage a working culture in San Diego that fosters health and wellness in the work place.
· Kate explained that she is in the process of formulating a coalition that will help get this project off the ground and into San Diego work sites. This coalition would consist of HR professionals and wellness experts, an expert panel staffed with legal and data professionals, as well as subject-specific specialists in mental health, worker’s comp, diabetes, immunizations, etc. In addition, there is a Leadership Board consisting of select members of the expert panel and coalition as well as CEOs from small and large companies. The model intends to present cost-effective programs to promote wellness. The expert panel would serve as the body that researches the challenges/benefits of implementing worksite wellness programs.
· Kate reported that she has gained some feedback on the topic of worksite wellness from local employers. Most have reported that they would like to be connected with other employers that have tried wellness plans at their worksites, so the plan for the ICANATWORK campaign is interactive.
· She announced a CEO Best Practices breakfast on Friday, March 26 from 9:30 to 11am in San Diego. This is a free event that will convene employers of both small and large companies to learn about how their company can benefit from sound wellness and prevention strategies.
· Some members of the group were curious as to whether or not this project could become a work plan for the Business Domain. Kate reminded the group that ICANATWORK does not develop wellness plans, it just uses certain strategies as a guide to help employers develop activities that will work for their employees. This may be too broad of a goal to make this a COI work plan.
· Randall suggested contacting employee assistance programs for ideas. Kate reported that she and her partners at ICAN are looking into putting EAP’s on the expert panel for the campaign.
· Cheri suggested that Kate get this information out to health providers. Kate said that the program will become increasingly industry-specific as the coalition grows. Kristin asked Cheri if she could promote the campaign at Rady Children’s Hospital. Cheri will speak with the appropriate contact about this.
· Phil mentioned that he has a sheet that covers the benefits of worksite lactation policies that could be a good resource for the ICAN campaign to use. Phil will forward it to the group.
· Charlie Huff-McTyer said that the Network has a worksite wellness program. Kate reported that she has an MOU with the Network to share resources, and that the organization would likely have a representative sitting on the expert panel as well.
IV. Legislative Update Naomi Butler
· Naomi reported that many of the proposed bills from the last session were recently vetoed by the governor. Some legislation of interest did make it into law, including SB257, which will require employers to inform nursing mothers that there is a designated breastfeeding location at the worksite.
· Deirdre reported on SB1413, which calls for fresh water to be available at all schools. This bill has been directly supported by Governor Schwarzenegger, and it is a subject that was touched on at the 2010 Summit on Health, Nutrition and Obesity.
o At the Summit, the governor identified 8 priorities that he would like to focus on to create healthy living environments across the state.
o The governor’s office asked organizations across the state to provide local/regional examples of these priorities already in practice. California Project LEAN was asked to report out on local/regional policies and practices to demonstrate several of those priorities, including:
· access to free water during mealtimes
· joint use agreements
· MVPA: 50% of PE class time
· MVPA: minimum 30 minutes in after school programs
· not selling Electrolyte Replacement Beverages (ERBs) in middle and high schools
o Deirdre reported that San Diego’s networking rendered it the region that yielded the highest number of best practice examples, putting it on the radar at the State level.
V. Update: Evaluation Phil Nader
· Phil Nader updated the group on the progress of the COI’s overall evaluation plan and the incorporation of childhood BMI into the San Diego Immunization Registry data.
· The data currently being collected for the surveillance database is coming from EMR data interfaces, community clinic pilot sites, and WIC data interfaces. Additionally, promotion, awareness, and adoption will likely increase the amount of data being input for reports.
· There are 3 community clinic pilot sites throughout the county that Altarum has been directly supporting through the trial process—North County Health Services San Marcos, Imperial Beach Health Center, and La Maestra in National City.
· Group members were curious about how to prevent duplications in data entry. Dr. Nader explained that there will be an interface in place that will allow for specific information to be able to identify patients and avoid duplicative entries.
· Jim of CLOCC asked if injury prevention & safe routes to school figures are being examined. Dr. Nader said that once the BMI-SDIR interface is a robust system of surveillance, the features will be enhanced to relate it to all childhood health issues.
· Naomi said that she would like to see representatives of the Schools Domain create partnerships with clinics so that figures can be shared with school boards.
VI. Domain Reports
1. Government—Christine Lafontant/Tracy Delaney/Naomi Butler
· Christine Lafontant reported that County Parks & Rec Department is almost done with its strategic plan. She said that the department has also submitted applications for Prop 84 funding, which would provide funds to enhance park structures and facilities.
· Naomi recently attended a rollout meeting for a recent food shed assessment and food security report conducted by California State University San Marcos.
2. Healthcare—Cheri Fidler
· Cheri reported that Dr. Morton (UCSD) will be presenting at the next Healthcare Domain meeting on her work in City Heights Schools. She has been tracking BMI and various other measures in students. Members of the Schools Domain may want to attend the meeting. Erica will send out more information to the appropriate domains.
· Naomi mentioned that Kathleen Ferrier with the Health Equity by Design project may be interested in this information. She will put Kathleen in contact with Cheri.
3. Schools—Naomi Butler
· Deirdre reported before that CA Project LEAN was called upon to submit best practice figures in San Diego in regard to the Governor’s 8 priorities for healthy living. She reported that it was the partners in the schools domain that helped collect district data. Deirdre will share with the group.
· Someone asked about farm-to-school programs throughout the county. Naomi reported that although there are no current farm-to-school programs operating right now, a few districts, including San Diego Unified, may be beginning programs soon.
4. Early Childcare—Sandy Silverman
· Sandy thanked the group for the resources and support that were offered for the Early
Years Conference held at the end of January and sponsored by SDCOE. EY covered a
variety of topics related to early childhood education.
· Sandy also reported that the San Diego County Family Childcare Association has
released a call for proposals for a conference in May that will convene private and home
childcare providers. She encouraged those at the table to let their appropriate contacts
know that they are looking for abstracts. She suggested that wellness transition from
preschool to kindergarten would be a good topic. Sandy will send out additional info
to the group.
· Cheryl added that the Early Childhood Domain is collaborating with Jamie Moody
of SDSU and YMCA Childcare Resource Services to create a survey that will assess the