RPE DIRECTORS STEERING COMMITTEE CALL

February 20, 2007

Present:

Carol Hensell (AZ) Marci Diamond (MA)

Binnie LeHew (IA) Debbie Ruggles (WA)

Becky Odor (VA) Peg Prusa-Ogea (NE)

Amy Okaya (MN)Carol Thornton (PA)

Absent:

Teresa Brechlin (UT) Kathy Middleton (OK)

Jane Key (SC)Jan Davis (FL)

Rebecca Koshiba (PALAU) (not able to access the bridge line from the territories)

Binnie opened the meeting at 3:04 p.m. E.T.

CDC Updates

The call that Binnie & Becky have with the CDC was delayed, so there is no update at this time.

Becky is serving on the annual meeting planning group and they want some input from us on topics. She has a draft schedule that proposes three full days, but the committee convinced them to hold it down to 2-1/2 days of meetings. The first day would be CDC updates, and the rest would be for training and technical assistance. They have proposed a third day morning session that would be a “mock” assessment process and the afternoon would be a mock “planning” process. The committee wants our input on topics and possible speakers, even though they don’t have a lot of extra funds to pay them.

Becky questioned their goal for the “mock” sessions, and what they hoped to accomplish. Debbie asked if they have outlined specific goals for the meeting. The only ones are to provide training & TA for the first two years of the grant. Debbie noted that many of us have been doing this work for many years – and have a considerable amount of experience to offer. Some of the topics seem very rudimentary. She would like to understand what CDC is expecting to see at the end of this 5-year project?

Marci noted that many of our annual conferences/meetings have focused on offering evidence-based strategies, risk and protective factors, etc. – those are the kinds of subjects we look for from a national conference. She would like to see the meeting tie into some of the feedback from the theory and activities models calls. Would it be useful to have some forums for the group to talk about what’s working and what’s not? It’s also a time when the state coalition folks and HD folks can have some one-on-one discussions together.

Amy commented that some of the states have already done their planning, and wondered whether they would feel like a basic session on planning would be very relevant. She guesses that there are three states who are well on their way to completing their strategic plan.

She also referenced the recent email conversations about the BRFSS on the list serve, and suggested that would a good area to share some lessons learned, have state-to-state conversations around surveillance about SV. Becky did confirm that discussions of BRFEE will be on the agenda.

Amy mentioned including the issue of program measurement. Even if some states have developed plans, how are they measuring progress or what they are doing? It might be useful to find someone from the CDC who could help with the development of meaningful measures. Especially when there are other program areas who have probably already done so and they could be translated to RPE. She also said that she is concerned about how the “silo” of sexual violence prevention has been created and that there is not a lot of integration between this CDC program and others (across other public health programs) that have been going on for awhile. She would like to see more conversation with CDC about this “siloed” aspect – can it be integrated with other violence prevention activities/thinking? Can they make use of the things the states are doing to educate CDC more about what’s happening?

Binnie suggested the idea of two different “tracks” – one for states who need basic content and one that offers more advanced information.

Marci reminded us that we have talked before about wanting opportunity to interact with our Coalition folks more during the meeting – is there a way we could seek opportunities through the sessions for the DOH & Coalition folks to come together.

Amy had another idea about the strategic planning that people are doing – it might be nice to start to build a picture of what is emerging out of these plans – so we can see where the effort needs to go. Perhaps that would help states who haven’t gotten that done yet. It would be like a “lessons learned” session.

Becky suggested that it would be good to receive an update on what has been learned from the ESCAPe grant.

Someone else suggested we encourage them to do a pre-meeting orientation with the newer RPE directors – then the rest of the meeting could address other in-depth topics. Carol T. told the group that they only reviewed the grant manual when she went to orientation two years ago.

Other Announcements

Marci wondered if we had asked the CDC to send out the explicit email with the dates of the carryovers and annual report reminders – she noted that it was very explicit and helpful, since there had been a number of contradictory things sent out before then. (If we were responsible he wanted to thank us!)

Amy mentioned that this was her last Steering Committee call and wanted to formally say goodbye to all of us. Tomorrow is her last full work day. She has really enjoyed working with all of us over the years, and she values all of the ideas and resources we have shared. She has put out a request to have someone else in her region serve on the Steering Committee through the end of the term (which is this summer). Most of us shared how we will miss her presence in our group and expressed appreciation for the contributions she has made over the years. She has been one of the leaders in the “movement”. We wished her the best in her new endeavors and hope that our paths will cross again.

Hensell announced that her husband is finally coming home after being deployed the past two years. We offered our congratulations for a happy reunion.

Old Business

Becky wondered if Marci knew anything about when the new Annual Report form would be sent. Marci said that it was supposed to have come out by now but she figured that they may be waiting until after March 5th when the close-out report is due so people aren’t confusing it that one and the carryover report. Marci has heard nothing from the committee in a month. Becky & Binnie can follow-up on the CDC call tomorrow and ask about the status of the report.

New Business

The NSVRC is having a gathering about sexual assault and the military – looking for an RPE Director to talk about prevention in that arena? If we can think of someone, please let Sally Laskey know. Hensell is interested since she has done some work with the DOD and supporting military families as part of her husband’s deployment. Marci suggested she contact Sally directly.

Next meeting

  • We will see if there is a need to hold a meeting as the time gets closer and if nothing seems pressing, we’ll cancel the March meeting.
  • Binnie suggested that we be thinking about our elections process for the meeting – perhaps look at the committees we have and see if we want to establish any others (all we have now is the Curricula committee.
  • Please let Becky know if you have more input into topics, speakers, or priorities for the annual meeting.

Meeting adjourned at 3:58 p.m.

Next meeting: Tuesday, March 20th, 3:00 p.m. EDT.

Meeting notes: Binnie LeHew (IA)