HomeMy WebLinkAboutBOH agenda 052715
ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH
MEETING AGENDA
DATE: May 27, 2015
TIME: 7:00 P.M.
PLACE: Whitted Building, 3rd Floor Meeting Rooms
300 West Tryon Street
Hillsborough, NC 27278
TIME ITEM
7:00 p.m. I. Welcome New Employees
7:00 – 7:05 II. Public Comment for Items NOT on Printed Agenda
Public Comment for Items ON Printed Agenda will be
handled during that agenda item
(Please sign up for both on sheet near the entrance to room.)
Please limit your comments to 3 minutes.
7:05 – 7:10 III. Approval of May 27, 2015 Agenda
7:10 – 7:15 IV. Actions Items (Consent)
A. Minutes of March 25, 2015
7:15 – 8:00 V. Educational Sessions
A. Community Health Assessment Update Liska Lackey
B. Healthy Home Asthma Initiative Alan Clapp & Coby Austin
C. Quarterly Financial Reports Rebecca Crawford
8:00 – 8:15 VI. Action Items (Non Consent)
A. General Public Seat Recommendation Susan Elmore
B. Reappointment Recommendation Susan Elmore
8:15 – 8:55 VII. Reports and Discussion with Possible Action
A. Child Fatality Prevention Team Annual Report Pam McCall
B. Tobacco Preemption Resolution Update Coby Austin
C. Professional Engineer, Optometrist, and Susan Elmore
General Public Seat Recruitment
D. Health Director Report
E. Media Items
8:55 – 9:00 VIII. Board Comments
9:00 VIIII. Adjournment
BOARD MEMBERS: To ensure a quorum, SEND E-MAIL to lstrange@orangecountync.gov
advising her of your attendance at this meeting OR CALL 919-245-2411.
Compliance with the “Americans with Disabilities Act” and Title VI - Interpreter services and/or special sound
equipment are available on request. Call the Immigrant and Refugee Health Program Manager at 919.245.2387 to
request an interpreter or other accommodation.
Conforme a la “Ley sobre Estadounidenses con Discapacidades” (ADA) y el Título VI – los servicios de intérprete
y/o equipo de sonido especial están disponibles a solicitud. Llame a la Administradora del Programa de Salud para
Inmigrantes y Refugiados al 919-245-2387 para solicitar un intérprete u otros arreglos o adaptaciones.
MINUTES-Draft
ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH
March 25, 2015
S:\Managers Working Files\BOH\Agenda & Abstracts\2015 Agenda & Abstracts/ January Page 1
ORANGE COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT MISSION STATEMENT: To enhance the
quality of life, promote the health, and preserve the environment for all people in the
Orange County community.
THE ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH MET ON March 25, 2015, at the
Orange County Health Department, 300 West Tryon Street, Hillsborough, NC.
BOARD OF HEALTH MEMBERS PRESENT: Susan Elmore, Chair; Liska Lackey,
Vice Chair; Corey Davis, Paul Chelminski, Tony Whitaker, Michael Carstens, Nick
Galvez, Sam Lasris, Esther Earbin, Dan Dewitya, and Mia Burroughs
BOARD OF HEALTH MEMBERS ABSENT: None
STAFF PRESENT: Dr. Colleen Bridger, Health Director; Donna King, Public Health
Education Director; Meredith Stewart, Public Health Program Manager; Alan Clapp,
Environmental Health Director; Rebecca Crawford, Finance and Administrative Service
Division Director; Pam McCall, Personal Health Director; Stacy Shelp, Communications
Manager; Tiffany Mackey, Public Health Associate; Ashley Mercer, Healthy Carolinians
Coordinator; and Jean McDonald, Family Nurse Practitioner.
GUESTS PRESENT: None
I. Welcome
II. Public Comment for Items NOT on Printed Agenda: None
III. Approval of the March 25, 2015 Agenda
Motion was made by Nick Galvez to approve the agenda, seconded by Sam Lasris
and carried without dissent.
IV. Action Items (Consent)
A. Minutes Approval of February 25, 2015 Meeting
Motion to approve Consent Agenda without corrections to the February, 2015
minutes as follows was made by Nick Galvez, seconded by Tony Whitaker and
carried without dissent.
V. Educational Sessions
A. 2014 State of the County Health Report
Ashley Mercer presented the 2014 State of the County Health Report and shared
that we are in the process of updating the Community Health Assessment this
MINUTES-Draft
ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH
March 25, 2015
S:\Managers Working Files\BOH\Agenda & Abstracts\2015 Agenda & Abstracts/ January Page 2
year, which is updated every four years and last updated in 2011. Access to
Care, Chronic Disease Prevention and Mental Health/Substance Abuse
Prevention are the three areas that are focused on in the report. Breast Cancer
and Suicide death rates are the only rates that are higher than the state.
Emerging topics include an increase in Breast Cancer Screening programs and
the Family Success Alliance program.
• Access to Care
o Transportation is a big focus and the Board of Health is
working on representation on the Transportation Board.
o ACA: increase of over 1,500 people who enrolled in ACA
over last year in Orange County.
• Chronic Disease
o Orange County Food Council was formed.
o Napsack program was started to help with childhood obesity.
Offered healthy snack alternatives for kids through daycares.
o Nutrition Services increased their encounters and services
by almost double.
• Mental Health/Substance Abuse
o Carrboro Police Department was the first in the state to
prevent a death through the use of Naloxone.
o All police departments now have Drug Dropboxes and the
Sheriff’s Department added two additional boxes as of today.
o Increased awareness in the Smoke Free Public Places Rule.
The BOH members had several questions that were addressed by Ashley
Mercer, Healthy Carolinians Coordinator.
B. Orange County Advisory Board Summary
Meredith Stewart reported on trends in Advisory Board Actions since last fall.
There were multiple resolutions on immigrant children and access to education
and other services. There was a lot of movement on transportation and
pedestrian items, including about the changes to the Hillsborough Circulator and
ADA Paratransit. The Orange Unified Transportation Board (OUTBoard) has
added “public health” as an area of expertise to their membership criteria in lieu
of a dedicated Board of Health seat as requested by the Board last fall. Meredith
encouraged Board members to apply for vacant OUTBoard positions, or refer
individuals with public health expertise to apply.
The BOH received the report without any questions.
VI. Action Items (Non Consent)
A. Letter to State regarding WTMP Inspection
Alan Clapp summarized the draft letter to NC DENR Division of Water Resources
(state), which states that since Environmental Health can’t permit the state
approved systems, WTMP inspections cannot be performed by staff as a result
of the Osborne-Phillips case. The letter requests that state perform regular
MINUTES-Draft
ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH
March 25, 2015
S:\Managers Working Files\BOH\Agenda & Abstracts\2015 Agenda & Abstracts/ January Page 3
inspection of their systems and pursue remedies for out of compliance systems.
The letter lists the most common deficiencies found when Environmental Health
staff was allowed to inspect the state systems.
The BOH members had several questions and suggestions that were
addressed by Alan Clapp, Environmental Health Director.
Motion was made by Liska Lackey to accept the proposed Letter to the
State with the addition of the percentage of cases out of compliance,
seconded by Corey Davis, and carried without dissent.
VII. Reports and Discussion with Possible Action
A. Tobacco Sales Preemption Resolution
Tiffany Mackey and several TRU students (Demetrius Jones, Shanaera Davis,
Kintwon Pettiford and Ms. Williams, advisor) from Orange County High School
presented a resolution to request the recension of preemption and to allow for local
control over the age limit for tobacco purchases. Tiffany shared statistics for youth
tobacco and tobacco –related product usage in North Carolina. The students
presented ways youth are accessing tobacco products and how easy it is to access
them. Research shows that marketing from tobacco companies is targeted towards
youth and disadvantaged areas. Tiffany shared multiple research sources showing
the positive results on decreased usage and access to tobacco products by youth
with an increase in the age limit to 21.
The BOH members had several questions that were addressed by Tiffany
Mackey, Public Health Associate and Dr. Bridger. BOH members requested
that the resolution be revised to explicitly refer to e-cigarettes and rename the
resolution “Resolution Requesting that the North Carolina General Assembly
Rescind Preemption of Tobacco Including E-cigarettes Regulation and
Therefore Restore Local Control Over Tobacco Policies.”
Motion was made by Michael Carstens to pass a resolution to restore local
control over tobacco policies by rescinding preemption, seconded by Liska
Lackey, and carried without dissent.
B. Maintenance of Effort Measurement
Rebecca Crawford explained the state Maintenance of Effort requirement of all
Health Departments and shared that if the BOCC approves the requested FY
2015-2016 requested budget, Orange County will have exceeded the
Maintenance of Effort requirement (FY 10-11 level of $5,017,639) by $886,911.
The BOH members had several questions that were addressed by Dr.
Bridger and Rebecca Crawford, Financial and Administrative Services
Director.
MINUTES-Draft
ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH
March 25, 2015
S:\Managers Working Files\BOH\Agenda & Abstracts\2015 Agenda & Abstracts/ January Page 4
C. General Public Seat Recruitment
Susan Elmore, Chair, requested that a few BOH members review applications for
a new General Public Seat, given that Esther Earbin will no longer serve on the
Board. Mike and Tony volunteered their services; Mike will lead the effort. There
are guides available to assist with the process. Dr. Bridger encouraged members
to tell any friends or contacts to submit their applications quickly in order to be
approved at the May meeting and to make sure to mention any mental health
experience even though it will not be a mental health seat. Dr. Bridger stated that
since the opening was posted we have already received three applications. Dr.
Bridger suggested canceling the second BOH meeting in April due to the
scheduled Joint BOH and BOCC meeting in early April.
The BOH members had several questions and comments that were
addressed by Susan Elmore, Chair, and Dr. Bridger.
Motion was made by Mia Burroughs to cancel the April 22nd BOH meeting,
seconded by Dan Dewitya, and carried without dissent.
D. BOH Committee Assignments
Susan Elmore facilitated a discussion on the annual review of BOH Committee
Assignments. Dr. Bridger pointed out the current committee assignments and
mentioned that Dan Dewitya and Mia Burroughs currently are not assigned to
any committees.
Dan Dewitya and Mia Burroughs volunteered for committees and all other
BOH members elected to keep their current committee assignments.
E. Discussion of April BOH & BOCC Meetings
Susan Elmore facilitated a discussion of the upcoming Joint BOH and BOCC
meeting April 14. The following items were chosen for the agenda:
• FSA – to be presented by Meredith Stewart
• Dental – Dr. Colleen Bridger
• Strategic Plan – BOH members will present
o Substance Abuse and Mental Health – Corey Davis
o Access to Care – Dan Dewitya
o Child and Family Obesity – Nick Galvez
• Health in All Policies Request – Tony Whitaker
Dr. Bridger shared her opinion that staff could prepare slides for the Strategic
Plan section, to be presented by BOH members. Tony Whitaker suggested
that we weave the theme of “health in all policies” throughout the joint
meeting, which was ultimately decided to be a stand-alone item at the end of
the joint meeting.
The BOH members shared comments for topics at the meeting.
MINUTES-Draft
ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH
March 25, 2015
S:\Managers Working Files\BOH\Agenda & Abstracts\2015 Agenda & Abstracts/ January Page 5
F. Health Director Report
There were no questions from the board regarding the Health Director’s
Report included in the packet. Dr. Bridger shared the Excellence in
Communications Award from NC3C (1st Place in Printed Publication
Category) that the Health Department received for the Annual Report; the
news that Orange County is now the number one Healthiest County in
North Carolina (we have been second for the last few years); and that the
Health Department received funding this year from Susan G. Komen for
women with breast cancer.
G. Media Items
Media Items were in the packet which focused on Orange County’s events and
our involvement in various efforts.
VIII. Adjournment
A motion was made by Mia Burroughs to adjourn the meeting at 8:30p.m., was
seconded by Nick Galvez and carried without dissent.
The next Board of Health Meeting will be held April 14, 2015 at the Orange County
Southern Human Services Center, 2501 Homestead Road, Chapel Hill, NC at 5:30
p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Colleen Bridger, MPH, PhD
Orange County Health Director
Secretary to the Board
Agenda Item Number:
ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH
AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY
Meeting Date: May 27, 2015
Agenda Item Subject: Community Health Assessment Update
Attachment(s): 2011 CHA Executive Summary
Staff or Board Member Reporting: Liska Lackey
Purpose: ____ Action
__X_Information only
____Information with possible action
Summary Information: Healthy Carolinians Chair Liska Lackey will present a brief update on the progress of
planning for the 2015 Community Health Assessment in Orange County. She will also identify opportunities for
Board of Health members to participate in the process through data collection.
Background: Every four years, the Health Department is required to conduct a community health assessment
to collect primary and secondary data about Orange County’s communities and their health, identify priority
health issues, and plan interventions to improve the health of Orange County.
The last Orange County community health assessment was completed in 2011 and the full report can be found
here. The health priorities identified were 1) Child and Family Obesity Prevention, 2) Substance Abuse and
Mental Health and 3) Access to Care.
Recommended Action: ___Approve
___Approve & forward to Board of Commissioners for action
___Approve & forward to ___________________________
_X_Accept as information
___Revise & schedule for future action
___Other (detail):
2011 ORANGE COUNTY
COMMUNITY HEALTH ASSESSMENT
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Chronic Disease
Transportation
Access to Health Care and Insurance
Environmental Health Injury and Violence
Health Disparities
Substance Abuse
Mental Health
Education
Physical Activity and Nutrition Tobacco
Communicable Disease
2 | Orange County Community Health Assessment - Executive Summary
The 2011 Community Health Assessment (CHA) is intended
to enable local public health officials and community groups
to monitor trends in health status, identify priorities among
health issues, and determine the availability of resources
within Orange County to adequately address these priorities.
The document seeks to be useful, relevant, actionable, and
both reflective and forward-looking; and to provide
information for effective strategic community health planning.
The Orange County Health Department, and the Healthy
Carolinians of Orange County (HCOC) Partnership with its 125
individual members from 80 partner agencies and community
representatives, worked collaboratively to complete the
community health assessment. Information gathered from
nearly 230 community members (through surveys and
focus groups), data from local agencies, and county and state
statistics were used to assess the health of the Orange County
community.
This Executive Summary does not include all the details in the
full report. The full report can be found online at
www.orangecountync.gov/healthycarolinians. Hard copies
of the full report are available at the Chapel Hill, Carrboro,
and Orange County public libraries and at Health Department
locations in Chapel Hill and Hillsborough. Please contact the
Healthy Carolinians Coordinator for a digital copy on CD-ROM.
Community Health Assessment
Introduction to Community Health Assessment
Acknowledgements
Thanks to the residents of Orange County, the Community Health Assessment Team members and all of the
Healthy Carolinians partners and member agencies who helped to guide and make the assessment a true
community process.
Assessment Process
The CHA report is based on both primary and secondary data sources; and the participation of hundreds of
individuals in various roles from November 2010 to December 2011. Secondary data was gathered from a wide
range of sources that are cited throughout the full document. To ensure that the true needs of the community
were identified and addressed, the assessment process involved the community at every phase, including
planning, data collection, evaluation, identification of health issues and community strengths, and the
development of strategies to address identified problems.
A Community Health Opinion Survey was used to collect primary quantitative data. Since one of the main goals
of the Healthy Carolinians of Orange County task force is to address health disparities and to identify needs of
populations who are most disadvantaged, survey households were sampled from census blocks with the
highest poverty percentage. Out of 700 households attempted, 160 individuals completed the 110-question
survey. The survey, carried out by a team of 90 volunteers and administered in multiple languages, covered
various health topics, including quality of life in Orange County, community improvement, health information,
personal health, family health, access to care, environmental health, emergency preparedness, and
demographics.
In addition, nine focus groups were conducted with 69 individuals, to give traditionally hard-to-reach
populations an opportunity to share, and to gain a more well-rounded understanding of residents’ health
concerns in Orange County. Questions included in the focus group guide were intentionally broad, and explored
definitions of health, community strengths, barriers to accessing care and information. After this, five open
community forums were held at different locations in Orange County, and nearly 200 individuals participated.
Attendees were presented with the main findings from the survey and focus groups.
Community Opinion Survey
Location Map
Blue dots indicate
attempted households
Orange County Community Health Assessment - Executive Summary | 3
4 | Orange County Community Health Assessment - Executive Summary
Top Ten Community Concerns
The “Top Ten” concerns of county residents who participated in community forums are listed below, in the
order of the number of votes they received:
Access to Health Care, Insurance, and Information
Access includes availability of health care services;
affordability of services and health insurance; ability to
navigate and understand the health system; physical
access to services (including transportation and
disability access); and information about health care.
Chronic Disease, Exercise, and Nutrition
Chronic disease refers to diseases that are long-lasting
in nature. Physical activity and nutrition significantly
contribute to good physical health. Regular physical
activity and good nutrition can help prevent cancer,
type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and respiratory
ailments, and can help one maintain a healthy body
weight.
Mental Health
Mental health refers to a wide range of conditions that
affect one’s mood, thinking, and behavior. Broad classes
of mental illness include mood disorders (depression,
bipolar disorder), anxiety disorders, psychotic disorders
(schizophrenia), eating disorders, personality disorders,
and addictive behaviors/substance abuse disorders.
Transportation
Accessible and affordable transportation is an issue for
those with limited incomes, physical or mental
disabilities, or living in rural areas. Transportation
affects one’s ability to access services, employment,
healthy foods, recreation, and other resources.
Expanding active transportation (walking and biking)
options and safety can help prevent disease, reduce
motor vehicle-related injury and deaths, improve
environmental health, and improve equal access to
resources.
Built Environment
This includes human-made structures such as housing,
recreational facilities, sidewalks, streets, businesses,
schools, parks, playgrounds and, more broadly, land use
patterns. The built environment impacts both physical
and mental health.
1
2
3
4
5
6 Cancer
Cancer continued to be the leading cause of death in
Orange County in 2010. It is estimated that nearly 80%
of cancers are due to factors that can be prevented:
tobacco use, poor nutrition, lack of physical activity,
exposure to radiation, and other environmental
factors. Many cancers are highly treatable with
advanced screening.
Substance Abuse
This refers to the harmful or hazardous use of alcohol,
tobacco, and other illegal drugs (including the misuse
and illegal use of prescription drugs). It is related to
underage drinking, impaired driving, mental health,
addiction, and injury related to alcohol and drugs.
Environmental Health
This includes air quality; drinking, and ground water
quality; food safety and protection; sewer systems; solid
waste management, and lead hazards.
Oral Health
This not only includes tooth and gum health, but other
health conditions that may result from poor oral health.
Issues in oral health include availability of affordable
dental insurance, access to regular and preventive care,
and population-specific issues like children’s dental
health, increasing refugee population needs, and
linguistic barriers.
Injury
This is the chief cause of death and disability for people
under age 44 and may be unintentional like those
resulting from motor vehicle crashes, falls, burns,
poisonings, drowning, etc.; or violent and intentional
including sexual assault, child abuse, partner violence,
homicide, and suicide. Like most chronic disease,
injuries are preventable.
7
8
10
9
Top Concerns
Orange County Community Health Assessment - Executive Summary | 5
Current Focus Areas
The results from the five community forums were brought to the Healthy Carolinians of Orange County Annual
Meeting in September 2011. Participants attending the Annual Meeting were asked to identify the “Top Five”
issues on the basis of their importance and changeability. These health priorities, as determined by Annual
Meeting participants to be of greatest concern to the Orange County community, were:
1. Access to health care, insurance, and information
2. Chronic disease, exercise, and nutrition
3. Mental health
4. Substance use
5. Injury
Participant votes mirrored those from the community forums indicating strong consistency between
community members and agency providers about the most important health issues facing Orange County.
Selected Priorities
Voting for Priorities at Community Forum
6 | Orange County Community Health Assessment - Executive Summary
Access to Health Care, Insurance, and Information
The ability to access quality and affordable health care services is a key component in a person’s overall health.
Health care access impacts a person’s quality and quantity of life, as it dictates when and how often a person can
use the health care system to obtain preventive, diagnostic, and treatment services.
There are three prerequisites to accessing health care services:
1. The ability to enter and navigate the health care system. Navigating the health care system is easier to do
when a person has adequate financial resources and health insurance to pay for services. Having medical
insurance can ease a person’s financial burden.
2. The ability to identify and use convenient health care locations. Gaining access to the best health care sites
often requires the ability to travel within or outside the community.
3. The ability to establish a good working relationship with a medical provider where communication is easy. To
form a trusting relationship with a medical provider a person must feel comfortable with communicating and
asking questions, which is generally the result of having a consistent provider or medical home.
Not having these essential skills or resources may lead to barriers that can keep a person from benefiting from
the preventive care or treatment plans available for maintaining health.
Orange County residents’ ability to get health insurance impacts all areas of their physical and mental health.
Without insurance, many have problems getting needed health care and often delay or do not get care because
of the cost. Although Orange County is ranked number one in the state for the ratio of primary care physicians to
residents, there are limited places for low-cost or free medical care in Orange County.
Access to Health
People with a regular primary care doctor more often get preventive services
and have fewer hospitalizations because of earlier medical care. Since the
uninsured often delay care over time, they may have more serious conditions,
more hospitalizations, and more disabilities when they finally seek care. Adults
without health insurance have a higher chance of dying prematurely. Medical
bills can cause severe financial and credit problems for the uninsured and is
often the main reason why families cycle into poverty.
A person’s ability to comprehend health information can contribute positively
to their health behaviors and outcomes. Health literacy is the degree to which
individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health
information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions. Health
literacy extends beyond a person’s reading and writing skills to also include the
ability to comprehend spoken words; to use numeracy and math skills for
calculations; and to navigate the health care system.
Orange County Community Health Assessment - Executive Summary | 7
Chronic Disease, Exercise, and Nutrition
Exercise and proper nutrition are key interventions for individuals to reach a healthy body weight, for unlike
genetics, metabolism, environment, culture, and socioeconomic factors, both are relatively modifiable health risk
behaviors.
A lack of physical activity has a negative effect on health, and is contributing to the increase in obesity.
Meeting recommendations for physical activity can help prevent cardio-metabolic conditions such as type 2
diabetes, heart disease, respiratory ailments, high blood pressure, stroke, atherosclerosis, and osteoporosis.
Many factors contribute to the lack of physical activity. Notably,
the reliance of technological adoptions in the home, workplace,
and schools has reduced the innate need to be active in order to
survive. Technology like televisions and the internet can promote
sedentary behavior. Moreover, America’s car dependent society
coupled with the design of sprawling communities, make people
opt out of physically active transport, like biking or walking. Lastly,
many school environments have eliminated or reduced recess or
physical education programs.
Healthy eating and proper nutrition is associated with reduced risk for many diseases, including the three leading
causes of death: heart disease, cancer, and stroke. Eating patterns that are focused on consuming fewer calories
and making informed food choices can help people attain and maintain a healthy weight, reduce their risk of
chronic disease, and promote overall health.
Many factors contribute to current poor nutritional habits and have occurred over the long term. These factors
include increased access to fast foods, rising prices of fruits and vegetables, and marketing of high sugar and high
fat foods to children. Limited access to, availability and affordability of fresh healthy foods are of concerns as well,
particularly for those with insufficient financial resources.
Good nutrition begins in infancy. Research shows that there is a strong association between breast feeding and
the decreased incidence of overweight and obesity. The family and home environment also influence the types
of foods children eat. Children often rely on their parents to shop for food and prepare meals, thus it is important
for parents to model healthy behaviors and make an effort to purchase healthy foods and prepare meals at home
rather than dining out. Healthy eating in childhood and adolescence is important for proper growth and
development, and can prevent health problems such as obesity, diabetes, dental caries, and iron deficiency
anemia.
Chronic Disease
8 | Orange County Community Health Assessment - Executive Summary
Mental Health and Substance Use, including Tobacco
Mental illness refers to a wide range of mental health conditions that affect one’s mood, thinking, and behavior.
Broad classes of mental illness include mood disorders (depression, bipolar disorder), anxiety disorders,
psychotic disorders (schizophrenia), eating disorders, personality adaptations or disorders, and addictive
behaviors/substance abuse disorders. A variety of genetic and environmental factors may contribute to the onset
of illness including inherited traits, biological factors, life experiences, and brain chemistry. Stress is also a
significant factor to one’s mental health. Stress contributes to the likelihood of the emergence of mental health
disorders. Poverty and violence are both sources of stress.
Mental disorders and substance abuse disorders may be caused by a combination of these factors, complicating
efforts to understand how to prevent them. If these conditions go undiagnosed or untreated, they can have
serious consequences leading to disrupted daily functioning, failure in school, reduced productivity,
unemployment, disability, social isolation, family conflicts, addiction, or suicide.
Addiction is a chronic, relapsing disease that follows a predictable and progressive course that may result in death
if left untreated. Treatment of substance abuse disorders costs Medicaid hundreds of millions of dollars
annually in medical care, suggesting that early interventions for substance abuse could enhance positive
treatment outcomes and save considerable amounts of money.
If symptoms are recognized and treated early, many of the distressing and disabling effects of a mental illness and
substance dependence may be prevented or minimized. Prevention efforts need to be focused on reducing access
and availability to substances, identifying stressors, establishing screening processes for high risk and early onset
of problems, and increasing knowledge on how to access early intervention and crisis services.
Tobacco use remains the leading preventable cause of death in North Carolina. Lung cancer is the leading cause
of cancer death among both men and women. Smokers are at increased risk for at least 15 types of cancers,
including oral, esophageal, pancreatic, cervical, bladder, stomach, and kidney cancers. In addition, smoking is also
a major cause of heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, chronic bronchitis, and emphysema, and is associated
with gastric ulcers. Smokers are more likely to experience heart attacks and strokes.
Environmental risk factors, such as easy access and availability of tobacco products, cigarette advertising and
promotion, and affordable prices for tobacco products, make smoking among young people more common.
Non-smokers are also at risk from the dangers of inhaling secondhand
smoke. There is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke.
Secondhand smoke exposure can cause premature death, and has been
linked to heart disease and lung cancer in nonsmokers. Youth exposure
to secondhand smoke can lead to hindered lung development, respiratory
and ear infections, and asthma.
Mental Health and Substance Abuse
Orange County Community Health Assessment - Executive Summary | 9
Injury
Unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death for all North Carolinians from the ages of 1-44, and the fifth
leading cause of death overall. They also remain a leading cause of death in Orange County. Intentional injuries
(or violence) are pervasive and are a leading cause of death and hospitalization, especially for youth aged 15-35.
Between 2007 and 2010, suicide rose to be the ninth leading cause of death in Orange County. The prevention of
both unintentional injuries and violence are complex, and require the involvement of many sectors: public health,
mental health system, law enforcement, social service agencies, health care professionals, faith community,
community members, and others.
Recent Progress
Orange County is doing reasonably well in terms of the health of its residents, though further progress is needed
in some areas. Some indicators of recent progress are given below:
Health Rankings Data: According to 2011 County Health Rankings data, Orange County is the second overall
healthiest county in the state (though NC ranked 32nd overall in the nation in 2011). This county ranking data
allows residents to look at how healthy their county is, and to compare this to other counties in the state and
nation. According to the latest report, Orange County ranked first for each health factor category except for
physical environment. The county ranked second for mortality, and second for morbidity.
Health Self-Reports: Self-reported health is another relevant measure of overall population health. According
to 2009 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey data, 87.2% of Orange County adult residents rated their
health as good, very good, or excellent, exceeding the state’s current benchmark of 81.9%. This self-assessment
was corroborated by the Community Health Opinion Survey conducted for this 2011 CHA. Of those who
responded to the opinion survey, a total of 81% self-reported that their overall health is excellent (23%), very
good (35%), or good (23%). About 17% reported fair health, and 2% poor health.
Causes of Death: The leading causes of death in Orange County are very similar to the leading causes in the
state of North Carolina. For Orange County in 2005-2009, the top five leading causes of death were cancer,
diseases of the heart, cerebrovascular diseases, chronic lower respiratory diseases, and unintentional injuries.
For each of these, the percentages and overall pattern were roughly the same in Orange County and in NC.
The age-adjusted death rates for Orange County were consistently below the rates for NC, for all of the top 10
causes of death except for suicide where it was slightly higher.
Causes of Hospitalization: The leading causes of hospitalization in Orange County and North Carolina are
important, both as indicators of health status and drivers of health cost. In general, the ten leading causes of
hospitalization are similar in Orange County and in North Carolina. In the county and state, cardiovascular and
circulatory diseases, pregnancy and childbirth, digestive system diseases, injuries and poisoning, and other
diagnoses (including mental health) rank among the five leading causes of hospitalization.
Life Expectancy: The average life expectancy in Orange County, based on 2006-2008 numbers, is 80.8 years.
The comparable figure for the state of North Carolina is 77.3 years.
Injury/Recent Progress
10 | Orange County Community Health Assessment - Executive Summary
Disparities
In Orange County, as in other parts of NC and the United States, health status depends in part on where one lives
and the individual’s racial, ethnic, and economic status, gender, and income. Some aspects of health disparities in
Orange County are the following:
Race: A lifetime of health disparities shortens the lives of People of Color. The average life expectancy of
African Americans living in Orange County is 76 years, while their white counterparts are expected to live until
81.3 years. Also, per CHA survey results, People of Color were 10% less likely to self-report very good or
excellent health and 10% more likely to report poor or fair health than white people.
In Orange County, as elsewhere in the state and nation, significant racial differences in morbidity and mortality
continue to be documented. For example, during 2005-2009, the rate of death from diabetes complications for
minority residents in Orange County was 3.4 times that of white residents. And the rate of minority-race infants
born with low birth weight (and at-risk for developmental complications) in recent years was close to twice that
for white infants. With a growing Latino population in Orange County it is important to increase an
understanding of how to sustain good health among immigrants, refugees, and their offspring.
Ethnicity: Due to their cultural and linguistic diversity and unfamiliarity with the US health care system, recent
immigrants and refugees in Orange County face special challenges in accessing health care. Barriers related to
language, health insurance, the high cost of health care, and the need for health care orientation and
education are recurring themes among both groups. Both immigrants and refugees have voiced a need for
better patient/provider communication. Latino community leaders in particular have emphasized a need for
more appointments at health centers that charge on a sliding-scale, where these populations tend to seek
services.
Gender: The average life expectancy in Orange County, based on 2006-2008 numbers, varies by gender. Life
expectancy for males living in Orange County is 78.5 years, while females are expected to live to 82.7 years.
However, in the CHA Opinion survey, self-reports of health were not different by gender.
Income: It is expected that socioeconomic status may significantly impact Orange County and NC life
expectancies (due to availability of care, quality of life, etc.). Among those responding to the
Community Health Opinion Survey undertaken for this CHA, the highest income bracket was 10-20% more
likely to characterize their health as excellent or very good than the lower two income brackets.
Place: Neighborhood conditions have an indirect effect on health by impacting the ease with which residents
can make healthy choices related to diet, exercise, and safety. Where people live may also determine their
proximity to health care or environmental hazards, access to clean water and sewer, the quality of schools, the
availability of affordable housing, and the opportunity for positive social interactions with neighbors.
Local Health Disparities
Orange County Community Health Assessment - Executive Summary | 11
Report Structure
The 2011 Community Health Assessment report addresses these priority areas and other issues as they relate to
the topics covered in various chapters. The report highlights such aspects as ensuring that disadvantaged
communities have greater access to health providers that understand their culture and language, provide
affordable preventive services, prescribe effective and efficient treatment for diseases, provide counseling
services that encourage healthy habits and promote mental health, and reduce overall health care costs.
The report is organized by chapters and sections that reflect key health areas, such as: social and economic
determinants of health, like education, access to health care, transportation, and the built environment; physical
and mental health; and environmental health.
In discussing the health status and health-related issues in Orange County, the report covers most, if not all, of
the topics covered in the 2009 report titled Prevention for the Health of North Carolina: Prevention Action Plan,
prepared by the North Carolina Institute of Medicine (NCIOM) Task Force on Prevention; and it takes into account
the objectives, strategies, and targets recommended for 2020 in each of the focus areas covered by the 2011
report titled Healthy North Carolina 2020: A Better State of Health, prepared by the NC Department of Health and
Human Services, Office of Healthy Carolinians/Healthy Carolinians Governor’s Task Force, and the NCIOM.
The report discusses Orange County health status in relation to the focus areas highlighted in Healthy NC 2020.
Next Steps
Next Steps
Findings from this Community Health Assessment report will help influence
strategic planning across the community. Healthy Carolinians of Orange
County will assure broad dissemination of the full report so that entities
contributing to the health of Orange County residents can develop new or
modify existing programs, services, and resources to address the community
health needs relevant to their stated missions.
By mid-2012, the Healthy Carolinians of Orange County Partnership and
committees will develop Community Health Action Plans detailing the
strategies to be carried out to address the priority issues. The Partnership will
continue to engage in ongoing evaluation, and will encourage collaboration
between agencies and community groups to achieve better health outcomes.
It is hoped that this report and its follow-up activities will be of use to
community members and service providers alike, for all are working towards
the goal of making Orange County a healthy place to live, work, and play.
A Call to Action
How to Be Involved
Many efforts are underway to address priority areas, but new initiatives are
needed to respond identified gaps. Progress will require a total community
involvement including the government, businesses, local agencies, the university,
hospitals and health care, and all residents in order to improve the quality of life
for people living in Orange County, particularly those who face economic,
emotional, and physical challenges.
Join the more than 125 other individuals and 80 county agencies and organizations who
are partnering with Healthy Carolinians of Orange County to find creative solutions so
that all Orange County residents can choose health as their first priority.
To find out how to become involved with work groups addressing the top health
concerns in the county, please contact the Healthy Carolinians Coordinator at
(919) 245-2440 or hcoc@co.orange.nc.us.
Membership information and a copy of the full report can be found at
www.orangecountync.gov/healthycarolinians.
Healthy Carolinians of Orange County
Orange County Health Department
300 West Tryon Street | Hillsborough, NC 27278
Phone: (919) 245-2440
Email: hcoc@co.orange.nc.us
PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER
Agenda Item Number:
ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH
AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY
Meeting Date: May 27, 2015
Agenda Item Subject: Asthma and the Healthy Homes Approach
Attachment(s):
Staff or Board Member Reporting: Alan Clapp and Coby Jansen Austin
Purpose: ____ Action
__X_Information only
____Information with possible action
Summary Information: Both of the Family Success Alliance zones identified kindergarten readiness as a
priority, indicating the value these communities place on learning and academics. Asthma is one of the leading
causes of school absenteeism, and controlling asthma may be an important public health contribution to
helping children be present in school and be healthy enough to learn.
This presentation will provide a brief overview of key components in asthma control and management,
describe the Healthy Homes approach and how it is implemented in other NC communities, and discuss
considerations in exploring a similar intervention in Orange County.
Recommended Action: ___Approve
___Approve & forward to Board of Commissioners for action
___Approve & forward to ___________________________
_X_Accept as information
___Revise & schedule for future action
___Other (detail):
Asthma and the Healthy
Homes Approach
Alan Clapp
Coby Jansen Austin
Board of Health Meeting
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
ASTHMA & OC
•Leading cause of school absenteeism in NC1
•Children are more likely to be hospitalized
•Orange County Data
–369 ED visits per 100,0002
–Hospitalization rate? (AHRQ Quality Indicator)
–School absences?
Management: Asthma Plan, Medication & Triggers
1.NC Health and Human Services, School Health Unit. NC Annual
School Health Services Report, 2010-2011.
2.NC DETECT, 2012 (first two Dx code)
BACKGROUND
•Late 90’s - early 2000s
–HUD launches HH Initiative (expand from lead)
–OC Asthma Coalition (home visits, care coordination)
•2009
–Surgeon General’s Call to Action on HH
–New EPA, HUD & CDC plans, funding for HH
–Attempted statewide Healthy Homes program in NC
•Today
–Hodge-podge of programs across NC that network
through NC Healthy Homes Outreach Task Force
HEALTHY HOMES APPROACH
1.Referral
–By whom? Emergency Dept, PCP, school nurse,
home visitors
2.Home assessment
–What? Triggers like chemical irritants, mold &
moisture, pests and pesticides, plus safety hazards
–By whom? CHW, nurse, enviro. health, housing
inspector
–# visits? 1-8 visits
3.Address problems
–pillow covers, vacuum, landlord edu/enforce, etc.
4.Follow-up & evaluate impact
MODELS IN NC
•Community-based
–e.g., Community Care of
Wake & Johnston,
Greensboro Housing
Coalition
•County-based
–e.g., Alamance Health Dept
•Regional
–e.g., Mission Children’s
Hospital
MOVING FORWARD?
•Need? (data)
•Demand? (community)
•Existing Programs &
Resources?
Assess
•Structure / Scope
•Community Linkages
•Staff/Resources/Training
Needed
Determine
Agenda Item Number:
ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH
AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY
Meeting Date: May 27 , 2015
Agenda Item Subject: Quarterly Financial Reports
Attachment(s): 3rd Quarter Billing Dashboard
Quarterly Financial Report
Staff or Board Member Reporting: Rebecca Crawford
Purpose: ____ Action
_X _ Information only
____ Information with possible action
Total Health Department Revenue: Average YTD monthly revenue in FY15 after the
3rd Quarter is $200k/month or $1.8M YTD, representing 74% of our overall budgeted
revenue for the year. This is an increase from an average of $174k/month in FY14.
Revenue is slightly below budget projection ($207k/m, $2.5M/y), however, some
allocations, such as for Medicaid Maximization, will be transferred into the budget at the
end of the fiscal year only if needed. Expenses are lower than budgeted at 70%.
Total Billing Accuracy: Medical increased its billing accuracy by 11% from 73% in FY
12-13 to 84% in FY 13-14. After surpassing our billing accuracy goal of 80% in FY 13-
14, we set a new goal of reaching 90% in FY 14-15. Current, combined accuracy this
quarter in medical and dental clinics is 88.6% (medical: 82%, dental: 95%).
Billing accuracy for most recent months is artificially reduced as many of the claims from
the most recent quarter are still being processed. Monthly numbers from the most
current quarter will increase (and less so with previous quarters) and will be updated on
future dashboards as those back claims receive payment. Progress continues in
refining our definition of billable claims, though the billing accuracy percent presented
here always reflects a conservative estimate of accuracy. Though reducing the
proportion of unpaid Self-Pay claims is a work in progress, it’s not likely we will ever
recover 100% of those claims. Therefore, 90% is still an aggressive, but achievable
goal.
Dental Earned Revenue by Source: Dental earned revenue has consistently
increased from year to year, and our current average monthly revenue ($34k/month)
exceeds our budget projection ($32k/month).
Medical Earned Revenue by Source: Medical earned revenue follows a similar trend
as last FY. The monthly average after this quarter ($48.5k/month) is greater than FY14
($44k/y) and FY13 ($25k/y), but slightly higher than our budget projection ($48k/month).
Both expected seasonal increases in revenue (flu season) and additional staff filling
vacant medical positions contributed to the Q3 increase in revenue. Staff turnover,
however, decreased both expenses and revenues in clinic.
Recommended Action: ___Approve
___Approve & forward to Board of Commissioners for action
___Approve & forward to ___________________________
_X_Accept as information
___Revise & schedule for future action
___Other (detail):
BOH GOVERNANCE DASHBOARD Q3 FY14-15
* NOTE :FY 14-15 Billing accuracy newly combines dental and medical paid claims, unpaid claims & un-claimed appointments.
Claims can take a quarter to realize payment - billing accuracy for all months increases with time as claims are finalized and errors are reworked.
188
162 174
228
178
201
179
210
284
(50)
-
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
J A S O N D J F M A M J
Th
o
u
s
a
n
d
s
TOTAL HEALTH DEPARTMENT REVENUE
vs. budget projections & prior year
Other State
Grants Environ Health
Dental Personal Health
Total OCHD Revenue (1.8M YTD)YTD Month Avg (200k/m, ~2.4M/y est)
FY15 Budget Projection (207k/m, 2.5M/y)Prior: FY14 Revenue - Avg (174k/m, 2.1M/y)
Prior: FY13 Revenue - Avg (170k/m, 2.0M/y)Prior: FY14 Revenue (2.1M/y)
30 28
49
60 58
51
44
60 57
-
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
J A S O N D J F M A M J
Th
o
u
s
a
n
d
s
MEDICAL (PH) EARNED REVENUE BY SOURCE
vs. budget projection & prior year
Self Pay Insurance
Medicaid Total PH Revenue (437k YTD)
YTD Month Avg (48.5k/m, ~582k/y est)Budget Projection (48k/m, 589k/y)
Prior: FY14 PH Revenue - Avg (44k/m, 532k/y)Prior: FY14 PH Revenue (532k/y)
Prior: FY13 PH Revenue - Avg (25k/m, 296k/y)
32 34
29
44
34
29
34 36 35
-
20
40
60
80
J A S O N D J F M A M J
Th
o
u
s
a
n
d
s
DENTAL EARNED REVENUE BY SOURCE
vs. budget projection & prior year
Self Pay Insurance
Medicaid Total D Revenue (307k YTD)
YTD Month Avg (34k/m), ~410k/y est)Budget Projection (32k/m, 388k/y)
Prior: FY14 D Revenue - Avg (26k/m, 317k/y)FY14 Year Dental Revenue (317k/y)
Prior: FY13 D Revenue - Avg (22k/m, 269k/y)
84%84%80%85%80%82%82%84%81%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
120%
J A S O N D J F M A M J
TOTAL BILLING ACCURACY*
vs. prior years & goal
Total FY15 Billing Accuracy (YTD avg 82%)Accuracy Target (90%)
M FY15 Total Accuracy (YTD avg 82%)D FY15 Total Accuracy (YTD avg 82%)
M FY14 Accuracy - Avg (84%)M FY13 Accuracy - Avg (73%)
Orange County Health Department
Profit Loss Budget Performance
2014-15
TOTAL HEALTH Q3 YTD ACTUAL ANNUAL BUDGET
% OF ANNUAL
BUDGET
Ordinary Revenue/Expenditures
Revenues
Donations
Dental Health (337.50)(337.50)0.00 0.00%Personal Health 0.00 (813.90)(3,815.00)21.33%
Donations Total (337.50)(1,151.40)(3,815.00)30.18%
Internal Allocations
Finance and Admin Services 0.00 0.00 (23,500.00)0.00%
Dental Health 0.00 0.00 (18,000.00)0.00%
Internal Allocations Total 0.00 0.00 (41,500.00)0.00%
Service Revenue
Finance and Admin Services 2,317.66 (14.92)0.00 0.00%
Dental Health (110,095.93)(312,004.28)(387,000.00)80.62%
Health Promotion & Edu 0.00 0.00 (667.00)0.00%
**Environmental Health (120,660.00)(295,104.05)(409,700.00)72.03%
Personal Health (165,077.19)(441,128.34)(588,966.00)74.90%
Service Revenue Total (393,515.46)(1,048,251.59)(1,386,333.00)75.61%
State Allocations
Finance and Admin Services 5,244.55 (42,885.00)(42,885.00)100.00%
**Health Promotion & Edu (23,414.10)(29,417.37)(39,832.00)73.85%
Environmental Health 0.00 (4,000.00)(26,500.00)15.09%
**Personal Health (132,710.96)(303,857.30)(453,780.00)66.96%
State Allocations Total (150,880.51)(380,159.67)(562,997.00)67.52%
Grants Project Revenue
Dental Health 0.00 (4,000.00)(4,000.00)100.00%
Personal Health (2,910.00)(2,910.00)(1,000.00)291.00%
NACCHO Grant (3,500.00)(3,618.18)(5,925.00)61.07%
Piedmont Hlth Srv - Nutr 0.00 (25,897.05)(28,938.00)89.49%
Meaningful Use Incentive (42,500.00)(85,000.00)(42,500.00)200.00%
Smart Start (10,503.44)(30,805.74)(65,574.00)46.98%
**CC4C Accesscare (42,389.41)(121,883.94)(152,225.00)80.07%
**PCM Accesscare (48,846.15)(118,079.31)(129,323.00)91.31%
**Health Disparities (44,538.45)(44,538.45)(93,254.20)47.76%
Grants Project Revenue Total (195,187.45)(436,732.67)(522,739.20)83.55%
Total Non-County Revenue (739,920.92)(1,866,295.33)(2,517,384.20)74.14%
Expenditures
Expenditures
Salaries 1,331,568.70 3,604,981.29 5,013,100.00 71.91%
Benefits 463,490.54 1,213,379.76 1,656,816.00 73.24%
Travel 102.50 2,086.75 6,075.00 34.35%
Training 5,153.68 19,038.58 35,486.00 53.65%
Certifications & Licensing 2,408.28 12,477.95 16,143.00 77.30%
Mileage 5,064.80 19,388.29 28,943.00 66.99%
Telephone 14,132.66 54,404.57 77,391.00 70.30%
Postage 2,701.74 9,656.67 16,650.00 58.00%
Motor Pool 6,112.85 30,824.19 48,806.00 63.16%
Equip Repairs 1,204.81 5,656.37 9,901.00 57.13%
Orange County Health Department
Profit Loss Budget Performance
2014-15
TOTAL HEALTH Q3 YTD ACTUAL ANNUAL BUDGET
% OF ANNUAL
BUDGET
Equip Rent 232.06 713.28 1,200.00 59.44%
Duplicating 2,505.69 5,237.74 10,700.00 48.95%
Printing 919.63 4,284.02 10,620.00 40.34%
Advertising 6,935.77 9,172.06 12,548.00 73.10%
Dues 2,586.13 3,039.13 5,008.00 60.69%
Subscriptions 430.80 1,603.80 1,944.00 82.50%
Dept Supplies 9,966.06 17,805.67 24,911.00 71.48%
Edu Supplies 610.06 1,392.25 12,219.00 11.39%
Office Supplies 8,737.35 25,405.94 31,501.00 80.65%
Medical Supplies 24,859.48 93,490.35 123,480.00 75.71%
Bloodborn Path Supplies 336.25 926.34 7,000.00 13.23%
Pharm Supplies 35,660.66 160,572.36 238,462.23 67.34%
Comp Supp/Software 303.48 303.48 1,335.00 22.73%
Other Supplies 848.40 849.36 1,783.00 47.64%
Public Hlth Co 0.00 175.00 5,500.00 3.18%
Contracted Srv 103,624.67 251,620.49 428,922.00 58.66%
X-Ray 4,360.10 6,950.30 8,000.00 86.88%
Lab Srv 14,159.57 33,239.66 74,000.00 44.92%
Bonds & Insurance 0.00 0.00 11,950.00 0.00%
Uniforms 1,104.60 6,489.44 9,227.00 70.33%
Community Proj 602.76 5,365.68 26,240.58 20.45%
Employee Wellness 33.15 483.84 500.00 96.77%
Innovations Project 3,395.81 4,995.81 20,000.00 24.98%
Accreditation Project 0.00 2,750.00 3,700.00 74.32%
Wise Woman Program 0.00 0.00 6,154.00 0.00%
Preparedness BT 0.00 50.00 1,371.00 3.65%
Tobacco Project 0.00 12.96 0.00 0.00%
Family Success Alliance 0.00 0.00 10,000.00 0.00%
Credit Card Exp 2,870.50 7,423.45 7,500.00 98.98%
Capital Exp Under $500 719.94 719.94 1,350.00 53.33%
Grant Project Expenditures
Health Disparities 23,229.32 59,706.80 109,348.51 54.60%
Meaningful Use Incentive 24,503.64 24,503.64 42,500.00 57.66%
Smart Start 8,411.44 39,133.12 65,744.85 59.52%
NACCHO Grant 0.00 87.55 0.00 0.00%
Capital Expenditures
Equipment 0.00 9,715.86 7,715.86 125.92%
IT Equipment 1,834.68 5,701.68 11,239.20 50.73%
Furnishings 0.00 687.50 1,188.00 57.87%
Expenditures Total 2,115,722.56 5,756,502.92 8,244,173.23 69.83%
Total County Revenue (Appropriation 1,375,801.64 3,890,207.59 5,726,789.03 67.93%
Agenda Item Number:
ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH
AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY
Meeting Date: May 27, 2015
Agenda Item Subject: General Public Seat Recommendation
Attachment(s): Volunteer Application
Staff or Board Member Reporting: Susan Elmore
Purpose: __X_ Action
____Information only
____Information with possible action
Summary Information: The Board of Health will vote to recommend a new General Public Seat
representative for appointment by the Board of County Commissioners.
Background: The new representative will fill the seat vacated by Esther Earbin in April 2015.
Recommended Action: ___Approve
_X_Approve & forward to Board of Commissioners for action
___Approve & forward to ___________________________
___Accept as information
___Revise & schedule for future action
___Other (detail):
Agenda Item Number:
ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH
AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY
Meeting Date: May 27, 2015
Agenda Item Subject: Reappointment Recommendation
Attachment(s): None
Staff or Board Member Reporting: Susan Elmore
Purpose: __X_ Action
____Information only
____Information with possible action
Summary Information: The Board of Health will vote to recommend Nick Galvez to his first full term starting
June 2015.
Background: None.
Recommended Action: ___Approve
_X_Approve & forward to Board of Commissioners for action
___Approve & forward to ___________________________
___Accept as information
___Revise & schedule for future action
___Other (detail):
Agenda Item Number:
ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH
AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY
Meeting Date: May 27, 2015
Agenda Item Subject: Child Fatality Prevention Team/Community Child
Protection Team Annual Report
Attachment(s): 2014 Child Fatality Prevention/Community Child Protection Team
Annual Report
Staff or Board Member Reporting:
Purpose: ____ Action
_ _ Information only
__X__ Information with possible action
Summary Information: The report is a review of CFPT/CCPT in Orange County North
Carolina. Included is a description of membership, duties, procedures and activities.
Per the Board of Health’s Policies and Procedures, and North Carolina State Law, the
report should be reviewed by the Board of Health and forwarded to the Board of County
Commissioners for information.
Recommended Action: ___Approve
___Approve & forward to Board of Commissioners for action
___Approve & forward to ___________________________
___Accept as information
___Revise & schedule for future action
__X_Other (detail): Review & forward to the Board of
Commissioners for their information
Orange County
Child Fatality Prevention Team/Community Child Protection Team 2010
Annual Report
I. Introduction:
The 1991 General Statute 7-B-Article 14 of the North Carolina Juvenile Code established a
Community Child Protection Team (CCPT) in every county in North Carolina. In 1993 the
legislature added Child Fatality Prevention Teams (CFPT) in every county. The charge of
these two teams is to reduce preventable deaths in our state. Since the mandates and
purposes of these teams are so similar, the Orange County’s CFPT and CCPT have
functioned as one interagency review team since 1998.
The general statutes require that CFPT/CCPT membership include the Department of Social
Services (DSS) Director, DSS Staff, *DSS Board, the Health Department Director, Law
Enforcement, Superintendent of each School System, Mental Health, Guardian ad Litem
Program, Health Care Providers, Emergency Medical Services, Medical Examiner’s Office,
Parent of a deceased child, *District Attorney’s Office, Day Care/Head Start, *Community
Action organization, *District Court Judge, and up to five at-large community members
(* no current representation on CFPT/CCPT).
The general statute grants the CFPT/CCPT access to all medical, hospital, mental health,
social service, and law enforcement records as well as records maintained by any state,
county or local agency as necessary to carry out its duties. The local health director assures
that the local CFPT completes mandated services while the local social services director
assures that the local CCPT mandates are met. The CFPT/CCPT operates under strict
confidentiality requirements; therefore, meetings are not subject to the Open Meetings Law.
Both teams are required by statute to submit reports annually to the State of North Carolina,
the local Boards of Health/Department of Social Services, and the local County
Commissioners.
In 2014, the Orange County CFPT/CCPT functioned as a cohesive group of professionals
with good attendance and participation. The Orange County CFPT/CCPT is comprised of
excellent collegial professionals and community volunteers in keeping with the requirements
of the governing statute.
Our local CFPT/CCPT received $749 for FY 2014-1015 from the NC General Assembly.
These funds were used to provide training for human service workers in the county on
preventing Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.
II. Child Fatality Prevention Team
A. Purpose:
The CFPT meets at least quarterly to review deaths of children 0 through 17 years of age
that occurred in the same quarter of the previous year for the following purposes:
1. To identify child death patterns,
2. To identify system problems or gaps in services to children and families, and
3. To make and carry out recommendations for change that will prevent future child
deaths.
B. Activities—the CFPT met five times and reviewed a total of 16 fatalities in 2014:
1. Findings included:
• 2 infant deaths were due to complications related to extreme immaturity.
• 2 infants died within one day of birth due to physical disorders
• 3 infants died within 3 months of birth due to unspecified causes
• 1 child under 5 years of age died of complications of acute or chronic illness
• 4 youth under 18 years of age died of complications of acute or chronic illnesses.
• 2 youth under 18 years of age died due to motor vehicle accidents
• 1 youth under 18 years of age died due to intentional self-harm
• 1 child under 2 years of age died from an accident at home.
2. Potential System Problems identified:
• Infants being placed in unsafe sleeping positions or arrangements
• Unsafe use of infant sling carrier
• Alcohol use in pregnancy
• Home not adequately child-proofed for safety
III. Community Child Protection Team
A. Purpose:
The CCPT reviews selected cases in which children are being currently served by child
protective services and to review all cases in the county in which a child died as a result
of suspected abuse or neglect to identify gaps in services in the community child
protection system.
1. To ensure that families have resources available to them to enhance their ability
to provide safe environments for their children,
2. To inform the community regarding child protection issues that impact the
ability of families to protect their children,
3. To facilitate collaboration of team and community resources in order to protect
vulnerable children, and
4. To make recommendations for legislative changes.
3. Activities: The CCPT reviewed the cases of 10 families with 19 children who were
actively involved with Child Protective Services (CPS). The team assisted in
identifying resources for children. Recommendations were made regarding follow
up.
1. Findings included:
a. Substance abuse was an issue for 7 families.
a. One child was born positive for cocaine and marijuana
b. Mental health was an issue for 3 families.
c. Sexual abuse occurred in one family.
d. Domestic violence was present in four families.
e. DSS had legal custody of the children in 6 of the cases at the time of the
review.
2. Potential system problems identified:
a. Barriers to accessing supportive comprehensive mental health services.
b. Challenges in maintaining substance abusers in treatment.
c. Limited resources for the abusers in domestic violence cases.
IV. Recommendations by CFPT/CCPT:
1. Families need awareness of unsafe sleep environments for infants – reinforce dangers of
co-sleeping.
2. Families need awareness of safety concerns with using an infant sling for carrying babies
less than 3 months of age.
3. Need for greater access to parenting education.
4. Human service providers working with young women should stress dangers of alcohol
use in pregnancy.
V. Actions and Accomplishments of the Orange County CFPT/CCPT:
A. Met 5 times in 2014 to review child fatality and child protection cases. Thoughtful
discussion with identification of system problems and subsequent recommendations
occurred.
B. Collaborated with Early Head Start to provide training for human service workers in the
community. The training was presented by Amy Hendricks, Project Director for the
NC Fetal Alcohol Prevention Program. Thirty-eight human service workers including
nurse practitioners, nurses and social workers attended.
C. Reported fatality associated with infant equipment to the Consumer Product Safety
Commission.
D. Provided a clearinghouse through e-mail for member agencies to share information on
community events, pertinent news articles and data, and training opportunities on
child health, safety, and protection issues.
Agenda Item Number:
ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH
AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY
Meeting Date: May 27, 2015
Agenda Item Subject: Update: BOH Resolution on Tobacco Preemption
Attachment(s):
Staff or Board Member Reporting: Coby Jansen Austin
Purpose: ____ Action
____Information only
__X_Information with possible action
Summary Information: The Board of Health’s recent resolution on tobacco preemption has spurred interest
among other local Boards of Health and statewide advocates in working to increase the minimum sales age in
NC and on rescinding preemption. Ms. Austin will provide an update to Board members on actions taken or
planned by other local Boards of Health, and will discuss the development of a long-term statewide strategy on
this issue.
Possible Action #1: The General Assembly is expected to conclude its session by the end of May. Board of
Health members are invited to join health department staff in an informational meeting with state
representatives this summer. The purpose of the meeting is to share both the Institute of Medicine report on
increasing the minimum legal sale age and Orange County BOH’s resolution.
House Members
Representative Verla Insko, Democrat - District 56
Representative Graig R. Meyer, Democrat - District 50
Senate Member
Senator Valerie P. Foushee, Democrat - District 23
Possible Action #2: Ask the Board of County Commissioners to adopt the resolution at their June 16
meeting.
Recommended Action: ___Approve
___Approve & forward to Board of Commissioners for action
___Approve & forward to ___________________________
___Accept as information
___Revise & schedule for future action
_X__Other (detail): Sign-up to meet with a local representative & forward the
request to the Board of Commissioners to adopt the resolution at their June 16
meeting
Agenda Item Number:
ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH
AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY
Meeting Date: May 27, 2015
Agenda Item Subject: Recruitment
Attachment(s): BOH Applicant Interview Guide
Staff or Board Member Reporting: Susan Elmore
Purpose: __X__ Action
_ _ Information only
____ Information with possible action
Summary Information: Board members Tony Whitaker and Mike Carstens will
complete their second full terms as Board of Health members this August. Additionally,
Corey Davis will be moving from Orange County and therefore will not be eligible for
reappointment.
Therefore, the Board needs to recruit new members for the Engineer, Optometrist,
General Public seats. The notice of vacancies will be posted to the county website to
solicit applications. Two to three BOH members are needed to review applications,
interview selected candidates, and recommend new members at the June 2015 BOH
meeting.
Attached are a list of suggested interview questions that focus on the BOH’s strategic
plan and OCHD’s priorities.
Financial Considerations: None
Recommended Action: ___Approve
___Approve & forward to Board of Commissioners for action
___Approve & forward to ___________________________
___ Accept as information
___Revise & schedule for future action
_X__Other (detail): Assign BOH members to review
applications and recommend appointee for open seats in
June 2015.
Orange County Board of Health
Applicant Interview Guide
General Background
Why did you decide to apply for the Orange
County Board of Health?
What other community organizations or
activities have you been, or are currently
involved with?
What unique skills, knowledge, or
perspective would you bring to the Board of
Health?
What any health-related topics or issues do
you feel passionate about?
Pillars
The Orange County Health Department and Board of Health are guided in our work by four
characteristics, or pillars. That is, we have a vision of an organization that is customer-
centered, efficient, high quality, and innovative.
Which of these four pillars do you identify
with most? Why?
As a Board of Health member, how might
you use these pillars to guide the Board’s
work?
Governance
The Board of Health is the primary policy-making, rule-making and adjudicatory board for
the health department. It is charged to protect and promote the public health of Orange
County and has administrative, advocacy, and policy development functions.
What is the role of public policy in protecting
and promoting the health of the public?
The Board of Health can be faced with
making controversial decisions. What are
three key considerations you would take
into account when making a controversial
decision?
How can advisory boards like the Board of
Health effectively engage with their
communities?
How would you define success in your role
as a Board of Health member?
Orange County to improve Family
Success Alliance to help families in
poverty
By Maggie Monsrud | Published 9 hours ago
Orange County officials are engaging the community to improve the Family Success Alliance, a
program that focuses on addressing the needs of Orange County families and children that live in
poverty.
Meredith McMonigle, project coordinator for the Family Success Alliance, said the program is in the
beginning stages, which makes community engagement crucial.
"We want to tap into the local knowledge and wisdom of the community," she said. "It's important
that it be a community driven project."
The program concentrates on two zones of Orange County — Zone 4 and Zone 6.
Zone 4 is located between Interstate 40 and Interstate 85 in central Orange County. Zone 6 extends
southwest from downtown Chapel Hill to N.C. Highway 54.
Volunteers visited both zones Saturday to survey residents, asking a wide range of questions about
topics like health, transportation, feelings of safety and child care.
Stacy Shelp, spokeswoman for the Orange County Health Department, said 20 surveys were
completed on Saturday and 200 more were left at doorsteps. Residents are also able to complete
the survey online at the county's website.
Shelp said the data from these surveys will help the program's advisory council determine which
priorities to focus on.
"We're hoping this information coming straight from the community will tell us where the biggest
needs are and where the biggest strengths are," she said.
Orange County Commissioner Bernadette Pelissier, who is a member of the advisory council, said
the survey will help the council evaluate the efforts that already exist in the county.
"You can't implement a program for families to succeed and address child poverty without
addressing what's happening in that specific area," she said, "It's not going to be the same
everywhere and needs may be different."
Pelissier said the feedback might not demonstrate a need for new programs, but a need to integrate
the existing programs.
"You want to integrate so you have a system in place so people can easily navigate the services,"
she said.
Pelissier said the council is also looking at the Harlem Children's Zone, a similar program that
operates in New York City's Harlem neighborhood, to gain more input on what they can do for the
program.
Shelp said all of the data will be compiled and analyzed by the beginning of April, when there will be
two community zone prioritization meetings to announce the county's next step with the program.
The Zone 4 meeting will be April 8 at Stanback Middle School in Hillsborough, and the Zone 6
meeting will be April 9 at Carrboro Elementary School. Both meetings are from 5 to 7 p.m.
Orange County Health Department workers step up
Mar. 24, 2015 @ 04:32 PM
Keith Upchurch
Orange County Health Department Preparedness Coordinator Ann Zellmer and her dog,
Alli, take a walk on an Orange County trail. (Special to The Herald -Sun/Orange County
Health Department)
Meredith Stewart (from left), Tiffany Mackey and Colleen Bridger (from left to right) hold
a walking meeting as they leave the Orange County Health Department. (Special to The
Herald-Sun/Orange County Health Department)
CHAPEL HILL —
Step by step, staff members at the Orange County Health Department are inching closer to their goal of
“walking” to California.
They’re doing it without leaving North Carolina, tracking every inch they walk from the time they awaken
until bedtime.
It’s part of an eight-week “cross-country” walking challenge designed to highlight the importance of
physical activity.
The challenge involves about 20 staff members who plan to walk a total of 3,000 miles — the distance to
that “other” Orange County — the one in California.
The Health Department has created an online map of the journey to help track their progress and connect
with communities along the way. Each week, the team calculates their individual steps using pedometers
and other devices, adds them and identifies how many miles they’ve completed.
The interactive map highlights health departments along the way, which will be tagged to encourage
interaction on social media. The map can be found on the department’s web page at
www.orangecountync.gov/health/. Click on “Walking the Walk.”
“We are very excited to embark on this health journey as a staff,” Colleen Bridger, Orange County health
director, said. “It is a great way for us to practice what we preach every day and raise awareness of public
health.”
The challenge began the first of March and has generated friendly competition among the staff, according
to Stacy Shelp, public information officer for the department.
Some participants have “standing desks” at the office that let them take stationary steps as they work,
she said. One staff member brought a treadmill from home and fitted it to her desk so she can walk and
work at the same time.
“The biggest benefit of this challenge is improvement in the overall health of employees,” Shelp said. “We
know that workplace wellness is really important. It increases morale and productivity.”
Shelp said the department wants to convey that message to the entire community.
“We often talk about the importance of physical activity, and we want to show the community that we’re
actually walking the walk,” she said.
Prescription boxes installed to curb
drug abuse
By Mengqi Jiang | Published 11 hours ago
To further its effort to curb prescription drug abuse, Orange County is opening two more drop boxes
for prescription drugs in Hillsborough Wednesday.
In 2011 the county’s Mental Health and Substance Abuse Committee conducted a community health
assessment and found that prescription drug abuse and misuse has contributed to the county’s
increased suicide rate. The committee has made its primary focus the reduction of drug abuse and
misuse.
One box will be located in the lobby of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and the other will be in the
lobby of the Orange County Courthouse, said Orange County Sheriff Charles Blackwood.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10 a.m. today at the sheriff’s office will accompany the opening of the
drop boxes.
Blackwood said installing the boxes was important to allow residents to conveniently discard their
unwanted and unused medication in safe locations in the county.
“Some people go to the police department and others are able to come to the sheriff’s office,” he
said.
Ashley Mercer, coordinator of Healthy Carolinians of Orange County, said there is a drop box
installed in every police department in Orange County. She said Healthy Carolinians helped
implement the installation of prescription drop boxes in the county’s law enforcement buildings to
lower prescription drug abuse.
Lt. Josh Mecimore, spokesman for the Chapel Hill Police Department, said having the drop boxes
available protects the Chapel Hill and Orange County communities from the risks of medication
misuse.
“We installed that drop box to provide a consistent and constant location for people to drop off
prescription medication, to keep them out of the water supply, out of landfills and out of the hands of
people who might abuse them or accidentally overdose or misuse them,” Mecimore said.
Mercer said Healthy Carolinians advertises the boxes and educates residents about what should be
dropped in the box and what should not.
She said the first drop box was installed at the Chapel Hill Police Department in the summer of 2013
and was followed that same summer by drop boxes in the police departments of Carrboro and
Hillsborough.
Mercer said the boxes are monitored to keep them secure.
“We have accomplished our goal,” she said. “We have all of our law enforcement engaged into the
process.”
Mecimore said Chapel Hill Police Department employees clean out the drop box weekly and dispose
of the medication to leave room for drop-offs.
“Disposing these properly is important — not only to people, but to the environment,” Mecimore said.
“We have an obligation to try to help with that process.”
Orange County Health Department workers step up
By Keith Upchurch / The Herald-Sun, Durham, N.C. (TNS)
Published: Wednesday, March 25, 2015 at 10:15 AM.
CHAPEL HILL — Step by step, staff members at the Orange County Health Department are inching
closer to their goal of “walking” to California.
They’re doing it without leaving North Carolina, tracking every inch they walk from the time they
awaken until bedtime.
It’s part of an eight-week “cross-country” walking challenge designed to highlight the importance of
physical activity.
The challenge involves about 20 staff members who plan to walk a total of 3,000 miles — the
distance to that “other” Orange County — the one in California.
The Health Department has created an online map of the journey to help track their progress and
connect with communities along the way. Each week, the team calculates their individual steps using
pedometers and other devices, adds them and identifies how many miles they’ve completed.
The interactive map highlights health departments along the way, which will be tagged to encourage
interaction on social media. The map can be found on the department’s web page at
www.orangecountync.gov/health/. Click on “Walking the Walk.”
“We are very excited to embark on this health journey as a staff,” Colleen Bridger, Orange County
health director, said. “It is a great way for us to practice what we preach every day and raise
awareness of public health.”
The challenge began the first of March and has generated friendly competition among the staff,
according to Stacy Shelp, public information officer for the department.
Some participants have “standing desks” at the office that let them take stationary steps as they
work, she said. One staff member brought a treadmill from home and fitted it to her desk so she can
walk and work at the same time.
“The biggest benefit of this challenge is improvement in the overall health of employees,” Shelp said.
“We know that workplace wellness is really important. It increases morale and productivity.”
Shelp said the department wants to convey that message to the entire community.
“We often talk about the importance of physical activity, and we want to show the community that
we’re actually walking the walk,” she said.
Literally "walking the walk'
Mar. 26, 2015 @ 06:36 AM
Hats off -- and running/walking shoes on – for the workers at the Orange County Health Department. They are setting an example for us all.
Here’s the thing: We all know, even if we often want to avoid the knowledge that we’re in the midst of what can only be called an obesity
epidemic. We all know that those New Year’s resolutions we made a scant three months ago to exercise more, eat less and choose our food
more wisely, to shed those extra pounds we’ve put on and reduce our stress in the process – we know they’ve long since gone in the dead-
letter pile with last year’s, and the ones from the year before.
We know we should spend a lot less time on the couch, that another evening of binge-watching a season of “Game of Thrones” while binge-
eating mint chocolate chip ice cream is not good for us.
Still, we persist.
And if people who work for the health department aren’t going to set an example, well, who is?
That’s why we’re impressed with the Orange County Health Department team. They are, as The Herald -Sun’s Keith Upchurch reported
Wednesday morning, “walking” to California.
Not literally, of course. We couldn’t spare them for the time that cross-country trek would take. And not individually – this is a team sport.
About 20 staff members, though, have committed to walk a total of 3,000 miles during an eight -week period (roughly the distance to the
West Coast Orange County). They’re toting up their mileage each week, recording their individua l distances with pedometers and other
devices. They’ll collectively burn close to 300,000 calories.
“We are very excited to embark on this health journey as a staff,” Colleen Bridger, Orange county health director, said. “It is a great way for
us to practice what we preach every day and raise awareness of public health.”
The participants have been inventive. Some are using “standing desks” so they can take stationary steps as they work. One wor ker has
hooked a treadmill up to her desk and walks while she works. Colleagues have been seen holding “walking meetings,” which sounds not only
healthier but more interesting than being trapped around a conference table.
“We often talk about the importance of physical activity, and we want to show the community we’re actually walking the walk,” said Stacy
Shelp, the department’s public information officer.
Good for them – and many of us could benefit from joining them on that walk.
Orange is Healthiest County in State
By Blake Hodge
Posted March 26, 2015 at 9:34 am
County-by-County Health Reports were released by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, on
Wednesday.
Orange County is the healthiest county in the Tar Heel state, according to the newly-released data.
Andrea Ducas, Program Officer with Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, says there is more to the report
than a ranking.
“What we really hope folks will do is, in addition to looking at where their counties rank, is really digging
into the data,” she says, “to get a better sense of how where we live, where we work, and where we’re
playing have to deal with how healthy we are.”
Ducas says Orange County is excelling in areas including premature deaths, adult smoking rate, and an
increased rate of physical activity.
She adds having a healthy county extends far beyond immediate access to high-quality medical care.
“Individual health behaviors – whether folks in a community smoke, whether they have good access to
diet and exercise opportunities,” Ducas says, “and also some social and economic factors like
employment rates, graduation rates, what income looks lik e in a county, and physical environment
conditions all go into a county’s rank.”
Dr. Colleen Bridger, Director of the Orange County Health Department, says they were not surprised to
be ranked at the top of the scale for county-by-county health.
“The health of a community is essentially determined by two things,” she says. “One is how well educated
the community is. And two is how wealthy the community is.
“Folks who follow Orange County statistics understand that, pretty typically, Orange County leads the
state in both of those categories.”
While Orange County is well positioned, it also is an area that sees higher disparity between residents.
And that can play a big role on the health of different segments of the community.
“One of the indicators in these rankings is what they call income inequality,” Bridger says. “Orange
County’s income inequality was higher than average.
“Basically, what that means is we have a lot of people at the top of the income scale, and we have a lot of
people at the bottom of the income scale.”
To battle income inequality, Bridger credits programs including the Family Success Alliancefor helping
children in low-income families succeed through high school and beyond.
Other obstacles that present themselves for Orange County include affordable housing – which Bridger
says can lead to difficult decisions for residents. She adds she has been surprised binge drinking for
adults was higher in our area when compared with national rates.
Bridger says there were plenty of highlights for Orange County to be proud of, including limited tobacco
use.
“12 percent of our population uses tobacco, and that’s one of the best percentages in the entire nation,”
she says.
She adds other areas where Orange County excels include teen birth rate and increased use and
availability of healthcare services.
You can see the full rankings here.
Orange County Looks to Harlem Initiative to Help Kids
in Poverty
By Danny Hooley
Posted April 8, 2015 at 8:32 am
Orange County is taking steps to address the effects of poverty on children, “from cradle to
college” and beyond.
A county initiative called the Family Success Alliance is modeled after the Harlem Children’s
Zone, an acclaimed New York program that works to keep Harlem kids on the track toward
college graduation.
“We were inspired by the work of the Harlem Children’s Zone,” said Meredith Stewart, program
manager of the Orange County Health Department, “because of their focus on picking a specific
geographic area and saying, ‘How do we work with families and children in that geographic area
or zone, to really create changes at scale?’
“So we want to see changes in the community, not just at the individual level, but at the
community level.”
Two out of six local zones being considered were selected as pilot zones for the project.
Wednesday, from 5 until 7, partners from Zone 4 – the area between I-40 and I-85 in central
Orange County – will join members of the FSA for a public meeting at A.L. Stanback Middle
School, at 3700 NC 86 South, in Hillsborough.
They’ll discuss the findings of door-to-door surveys in Zone 4, which includes Stanback and
New Hope Elementary. Fifty-five percent of Zone 4 students receive free or reduced lunch.
“What I might see on a daily level is a parent calling me and telling me they don’t have a place
to live,” said Aviva Scully, a social worker at Stanback Middle School, “or they need help
paying a bill; they’ve had a shutoff notice; they need help with clothing; lots of calls for help
with food.”
A similar meeting will be held Thursday for Zone 6, from 5 until 7 p.m. at Carrboro Elementary
School, at 400 Shelton St. The zone stretches from downtown Chapel Hill southwest to Highway
54, and has the highest number of the county’s children under 18 living in poverty – nearly 900.
Child care, a light dinner and interpreters will be available at both meetings.
FSA prioritizes needs for central Orange County
By Katie Jansen / The Herald-Sun, Durham, N.C. (TNS)
Published: Thursday, April 9, 2015 at 09:19 AM.
HILLSBOROUGH — The Family Success Alliance on Wednesday night shared preliminary data
gathered from 68 survey responses collected in central Orange County between I-40 and I-85.
The region, known as Zone 4 to the Family Success Alliance, is one of two pilot zones selected to
begin work in creating a pipeline that supports children from the cradle to college or a career.
Mayor Tom Stevens thanked those for their interest in the community’s needs and for their work to
meet those needs.
“It’s not right if the things that make us a cool town and a great place to live are not available to
everyone,” he said.
To gather the data, volunteers went door-to-door administering surveys, and the survey was also
available online.
Input was received from youth, parents, community leaders and service providers, said Meredith
McMonigle of the Orange County Health Department.
Focus groups also had discussions about needs in the community. Groups included a group of service
providers, a group of Latina mothers and a group of middle school girls.
Allison Young of the Orange County Health Department and Jennifer Walters, a social work
researcher at RTI, presented some of the trends found from the data.
Many families surveyed expressed a need for early childhood resources, such as easier access to child
care.
EOG scores also showed potential problems within schools. The average third-grade reading
proficiency for Zone 4 was 19 percentage points lower than the average third-grade reading level
across the entire school district.
However, Walters said, most parents surveyed did feel that students were supported when in school.
They also felt the district offered a wide variety of after-school programs, although parents cited
several challenges that inhibited participation: cost, transportation and lack of communication —
meaning that parents simply don’t know what’s available to their children.
Some of the challenges were specific to the Hispanic and Latina community.
New Hope Elementary, a school within Zone 4, currently has a student body that is 42 percent
Hispanic or Latina. This may suggest a shift in the demographics of the population.
But many Latina mothers expressed concern about communicating with their children’s schools and
about transportation. If they were to take their children to afterschool activities, they said they would
be afraid of getting stopped by the police in routine traffic stops.
Sandra Blefko, ESL family outreach specialist for Orange County Schools, said she was not surprised
by the data presented and that many of the families she works with voice similar concerns.
“That’s probably why (parents are) not that involved,” she said. “Not that they don’t care. They just
don’t know how.”
Once the data had been presented, McMonigle asked the crowd gathered to help prioritize the
trending problems that had been drawn from the survey responses.
The themes listed were: transportation, support for Latino families, college and career preparation,
readiness for kindergarten, mentoring, childcare, out of school time, family support and academic
support.
Those in the audience were allowed to vote for what they felt were the most pressing needs for their
community. Each person was allotted 10 votes and could not use more than four votes for any single
topic.
Once all the votes had been cast, four needs came out on top: transportation, childcare, readiness for
kindergarten and support for Latino families.
Individuals were then voted to cast votes for suggested strategies to meet these needs — or to suggest
their own strategies.
The crowd voted for the following strategies or solutions:
— Transportation: Expand existing bus services, allow more transportation for after-school or
summer programs
— Child care: Increase child care subsidies
— Readiness for kindergarten: Expand Pre-K enrollment
— Support for Latino families: Provide more opportunities for Latino parents to learn English.
McMonigle said the votes and the written suggestions would be taken into account as the Family
Success Alliance continues to compile data.
Surveys will still be received for another two weeks, and McMonigle said the alliance plans to
continue surveying in future years as time passes and needs shift.
“We’re here. We’re staying. We’re committed,” she said of the relatively new initiative.
A similar meeting — with a different set of data that reflects the needs of Zone 6, or Chapel Hill and
Carrboro — will be held Thursday, April 9 at Carrboro Elementary School from 5 to 7 p.m. Child care
and a light meal will be provided.
The priorities chosen from both zones will be presented at a meeting of the Family Success Alliance
Advisory Council on April 20 from 1 to 2:30 p.m. The meeting will be held at the Carrboro Century
Center, and it is open to the public.
FSA prioritizes needs for central Orange County
Apr. 08, 2015 @ 08:33 PM
Katie Jansen
HILLSBOROUGH —
The Family Success Alliance on Wednesday night shared preliminary data gathered from 68 survey responses
collected in central Orange County between I-40 and I-85.
The region, known as Zone 4 to the Family Success Alliance, is one of two pilot zones selected to begin work in
creating a pipeline that supports children from the cradle to college or a career.
Mayor Tom Stevens thanked those for their interest in the community’s needs and for their work to meet those
needs.
“It’s not right if the things that mak e us a cool town and a great place to live are not available to everyone,” he said.
To gather the data, volunteers went door-to-door administering surveys, and the survey was also available online.
Input was received from youth, parents, community leaders and service providers, said Meredith McMonigle of the
Orange County Health Department.
Focus groups also had discussions about needs in the community. Groups included a group of service providers, a
group of Latina mothers and a group of middle school girls.
Allison Young of the Orange County Health Department and Jennifer Walters, a social work researcher at RTI,
presented some of the trends found from the data.
Many families surveyed expressed a need for early childhood resources, such as easier access to child care.
EOG scores also showed potential problems within schools. The average third-grade reading proficiency for Zone 4
was 19 percentage points lower than the average third -grade reading level across the entire school district.
However, Walters said, most parents surveyed did feel that students were supported when in school.
They also felt the district offered a wide variety of after -school programs, although parents cited several challenges
that inhibited participation: cost, transportation and lack of communication — meaning that parents simply don’t
know what’s available to their children.
Some of the challenges were specific to the Hispanic and Latina community.
New Hope Elementary, a school within Zone 4, currently has a student body that is 42 percent Hispanic or Latina.
This may suggest a shift in the demographics of the population.
But many Latina mothers expressed concern about communicating with their children’s schools and about
transportation. If they were to take their children to afterschool activities, they said they would be afraid of getting
stopped by the police in routine traffic stops.
Sandra Blefko, ESL family outreach specialist for Orange County Schools, said she was not surprised by the data
presented and that many of the families she works with voice similar concerns.
“That’s probably why (parents are) not that involved,” she said. “Not that they don’t care. They just don’t know how.”
Once the data had been presented, McMonigle asked the crowd gathered to help prioritize the tren ding problems
that had been drawn from the survey responses.
The themes listed were: transportation, support for Latino families, college and career preparation, readiness for
kindergarten, mentoring, childcare, out of school time, family support and academic support.
Those in the audience were allowed to vote for what they felt were the most pressing needs for their community.
Each person was allotted 10 votes and could not use more than four votes for any single topic.
Once all the votes had been cast, four needs came out on top: transportation, childcare, readiness for kindergarten
and support for Latino families.
Individuals were then voted to cast votes for suggested strategies to meet these needs — or to suggest their own
strategies.
The crowd voted for the following strategies or solutions:
— Transportation: Expand existing bus services, allow more transportation for after-school or summer programs
— Child care: Increase child care subsidies
— Readiness for kindergarten: Expand Pre-K enrollment
— Support for Latino families: Provide more opportunities for Latino parents to learn English.
McMonigle said the votes and the written suggestions would be taken into account as the Family Success Alliance
continues to compile data.
Surveys will still be received for another two weeks, and McMonigle said the alliance plans to continue surveying in
future years as time passes and needs shift.
“We’re here. We’re staying. We’re committed,” she said of the relatively new initiative.
A similar meeting — with a different set of data that reflects the needs of Zone 6, or Chapel Hill and Carrboro — will
be held Thursday, April 9 at Carrboro Elementary School from 5 to 7 p.m. Child care and a light meal will be
provided.
The priorities chosen from both zones will be presented at a meeting of the Family Success Alliance Advisory
Council on April 20 from 1 to 2:30 p.m. The meeting will be held at the Carrboro Century Center, and it is open to
the public.
Family Success Alliance Advisory
Council creates anti-poverty
programs for Orange County
BY CLAIRE NIELSEN | January 7, 2015
Members of the new Family Success Alliance Advisory Council are making headway in
creating services to address the needs of Orange County children and families living in
poverty.
On Dec. 16, the advisory council, made up of 22 representatives from local
governments and non-profit organizations across the county, chose two zones within
the county to pilot a cradle-to-career program for children in low-income families.
The two zones were chosen from six original zones that were determined by data such
as the number of children in Orange County qualifying for free or reduced lunches and
those eligible for Medicaid, said Stacy Shelp, spokeswoman for the Orange County
Health Department.
“The specific reason the health department became interested was because of research
about the long-term effects poverty has on people’s health outcomes,” she said.
Orange County is one of the wealthiest counties in the state, but it also has some of the
highest rates of income inequality, said Orange County Commissioner Bernadette
Pelissier. According to data provided by the Orange County Health Department, the
number of children living in poverty in Orange County increased by 7.4 percent from
2001 to 2011.
“Sometimes families that are struggling within Orange County can fly under the radar,”
said Dr. Michael Steiner, chief of the Division of General Pediatrics and Adolescent
Medicine at UNC Hospitals and chair of the advisory council.
He said poverty is one of the most effective predictors of a person’s overall health and
life expectancy.
“A very small portion of people’s overall health is related to the quality of the medical
care they receive,” he said. “A big part of people’s overall health is related to what we
call social determinants of health.”
The advisory council chose Zone 4 and Zone 6 to pilot the program.
Zone 4 is between Interstate 40 and Interstate 85 in central Orange County, and it
includes A.L. Stanback Middle and New Hope Elementary schools.
Zone 6 spans downtown Chapel Hill southwest to N.C. 54. Schools in Zone 6 include
Phoenix Academy, Carrboro Elementary School, Northside Elementary School,
Culbreth Middle School and Carrboro High School.
In the coming months, the Family Success Alliance will conduct a needs assessment in
each of the zones.
“We aren’t identifying what kind of programs are going to happen yet be cause we
haven’t really done that in-depth dive into the communities,” Shelp said.
The Orange County Board of Commissioners has allocated $100,000 from its social
justice funds for the future programs and services, Pellissier said.
FSA prioritizes needs for central Orange County
By Katie Jansen / The Herald-Sun, Durham, N.C. (TNS)
Published: Thursday, April 9, 2015 at 09:19 AM.
HILLSBOROUGH — The Family Success Alliance on Wednesday night shared preliminary data
gathered from 68 survey responses collected in central Orange County between I-40 and I-85.
The region, known as Zone 4 to the Family Success Alliance, is one of two pilot zones selected to
begin work in creating a pipeline that supports children from the cradle to college or a career.
Mayor Tom Stevens thanked those for their interest in the community’s needs and for their work to
meet those needs.
“It’s not right if the things that make us a cool town and a great place to live are not available to
everyone,” he said.
To gather the data, volunteers went door-to-door administering surveys, and the survey was also
available online.
Input was received from youth, parents, community leaders and service providers, said Meredith
McMonigle of the Orange County Health Department.
Focus groups also had discussions about needs in the community. Groups included a group of service
providers, a group of Latina mothers and a group of middle school girls.
Allison Young of the Orange County Health Department and Jennifer Walters, a social work
researcher at RTI, presented some of the trends found from the data.
Many families surveyed expressed a need for early childhood resources, such as easier access to child
care.
EOG scores also showed potential problems within schools. The average third-grade reading
proficiency for Zone 4 was 19 percentage points lower than the average third-grade reading level
across the entire school district.
However, Walters said, most parents surveyed did feel that students were supported when in school.
They also felt the district offered a wide variety of after-school programs, although parents cited
several challenges that inhibited participation: cost, transportation and lack of communication —
meaning that parents simply don’t know what’s available to their children.
Some of the challenges were specific to the Hispanic and Latina community.
New Hope Elementary, a school within Zone 4, currently has a student body that is 42 percent
Hispanic or Latina. This may suggest a shift in the demographics of the population.
But many Latina mothers expressed concern about communicating with their children’s schools and
about transportation. If they were to take their children to afterschool activities, they said they would
be afraid of getting stopped by the police in routine traffic stops.
Sandra Blefko, ESL family outreach specialist for Orange County Schools, said she was not surprised
by the data presented and that many of the families she works with voice similar concerns.
“That’s probably why (parents are) not that involved,” she said. “Not that they don’t care. They just
don’t know how.”
Once the data had been presented, McMonigle asked the crowd gathered to help prioritize the
trending problems that had been drawn from the survey responses.
The themes listed were: transportation, support for Latino families, college and career preparation,
readiness for kindergarten, mentoring, childcare, out of school time, family support and academic
support.
Those in the audience were allowed to vote for what they felt were the most pressing needs for their
community. Each person was allotted 10 votes and could not use more than four votes for any single
topic.
Once all the votes had been cast, four needs came out on top: transportation, childcare, readiness for
kindergarten and support for Latino families.
Individuals were then voted to cast votes for suggested strategies to meet these needs — or to suggest
their own strategies.
The crowd voted for the following strategies or solutions:
— Transportation: Expand existing bus services, allow more transportation for after-school or
summer programs
— Child care: Increase child care subsidies
— Readiness for kindergarten: Expand Pre-K enrollment
— Support for Latino families: Provide more opportunities for Latino parents to learn English.
McMonigle said the votes and the written suggestions would be taken into account as the Family
Success Alliance continues to compile data.
Surveys will still be received for another two weeks, and McMonigle said the alliance plans to
continue surveying in future years as time passes and needs shift.
“We’re here. We’re staying. We’re committed,” she said of the relatively new initiative.
A similar meeting — with a different set of data that reflects the needs of Zone 6, or Chapel Hill and
Carrboro — will be held Thursday, April 9 at Carrboro Elementary School from 5 to 7 p.m. Child care
and a light meal will be provided.
The priorities chosen from both zones will be presented at a meeting of the Family Success Alliance
Advisory Council on April 20 from 1 to 2:30 p.m. The meeting will be held at the Carrboro Century
Center, and it is open to the public.
Chapel Hill News
County’s Family Success Alliance wants to learn about needs,
challenges for children in poverty
By Tammy Grubb
tgrubb@newsobserver.com
03/10/2015 3:30 PM
CHAPEL HILL
Orange County needs volunteers to survey Carrboro families this weekend about the challenges they
face and what they think are the community’s strengths.
The survey, organized by the Family Success Alliance, starts at 9 a.m. Saturday with training and
breakfast. Volunteers will meet at Carrboro Town Hall, 301 W. Main St. in Carrboro, said Stacy Shelp,
with the Orange County Health Department.
Volunteers will work in two-person teams, going door-to-door to conduct the surveys between 11 a.m.
and 1 p.m. They hope to have at least one person on each team who speaks Spanish, Shelp said.
Volunteers will be given nametags and red vests, she said.
The Family Success Alliance has identified two Orange County zones for its pilot project aimed at
creating a pipeline of success from the cradle to college or a career for children living in poverty.
A survey already was completed in Zone 4, located between I-85 and I-40 in the area surrounding New
Hope Elementary School. Saturday’s survey will cover Zone 6, which surrounds downtown Carrboro.
The survey also is available online in English and Spanish at nando.com/p5.
County officials will report the results of both surveys at community meetings in April and work with
those communities to decide what action to take.
If you’d like to help, call Meredith McMonigle at 919-245-2071 919-245-2071. Last-minute
volunteers also can show up Saturday at Carrboro Town Hall.
More information about the Family Success Alliance is available online or follow the changes on Twitter
at @FSA_OC.
Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/community/chapel-hill-
news/article13212569.html#storylink=cpy
Orange County’s anit-poverty program
zeroes in on downtown Chapel Hill
BY AREN BESSON | PUBLISHED 8 HOURS AGO
More than 20 Orange County officials and residents came together Thursday to brainstorm
strategies for reducing poverty.
The kickoff meeting was the first of many needs-assessment sessions for the Family Success
Alliance anti-poverty program created last year.
The Family Success Alliance Advisory Council, a group of 22 representatives from local
governments and non-profit organizations across the county, hopes to lower the rates of child
poverty in Orange County through grassroots outreach and action.
In December, the council decided to target its efforts in Zone 4 and Zone 6 of Orange County.
That progress continued with the kickoff meeting, which focused on the needs of Zone 6.
Zone 4 is located between Interstate 40 and Interstate 85, while Zone 6 covers the area from
downtown Chapel Hill southwest to N.C. 54.
Stacy Shelp, spokeswoman for the Orange County Health Department, said the meetings will
identify where the cracks are in the system and determine the best strategies for fixing those
cracks.
“The common goal will obviously meet the needs for specific zones, but then reach out to other
zones to provide different support so we don’t see kids falling through the cracks,” she said.
Carrboro Alderman Damon Seils said the program will more effectively coordinate social
services to increase access to education, food and health care for lower-income residents of
Orange County.
“We are in the phase where we are figuring out what the needs are so we can decide what to do
next,” Seils said.
Meredith McMonigle, Family Success Alliance project coordinator, said the data collection is a
participatory process.
“We don’t want to come in as outsiders — we are inviting the community to participate in this
process,” she said.
Shelp said the needs assessment phase is expected to take two to three months.
“It’s going to be fast, and we want to get it moving quickly in an impactful way,” she said.
Members of the community can give input by coming to needs-assessment sessions, including
the Zone 4 session tonight from 5 to 6:15 p.m. at A. L. Stanback Middle School in Hillsborough.
Earl McKee, chair of the Orange County Board of Commissioners, said the county is at a good
starting point.
“Any effort that Orange County can make towards ensuring the success of our residents is
something we are all obligated to look at,” he said.
city@dailytarheel.com
Orange County to improve Family
Success Alliance to help families in
poverty
By Maggie Monsrud | Published 9 hours ago
Orange County officials are engaging the community to improve the Family Success Alliance, a
program that focuses on addressing the needs of Orange County families and children that live in
poverty.
Meredith McMonigle, project coordinator for the Family Success Alliance, said the program is in the
beginning stages, which makes community engagement crucial.
"We want to tap into the local knowledge and wisdom of the community," she said. "It's important
that it be a community driven project."
The program concentrates on two zones of Orange County — Zone 4 and Zone 6.
Zone 4 is located between Interstate 40 and Interstate 85 in central Orange County. Zone 6 extends
southwest from downtown Chapel Hill to N.C. Highway 54.
Volunteers visited both zones Saturday to survey residents, asking a wide range of questions about
topics like health, transportation, feelings of safety and child care.
Stacy Shelp, spokeswoman for the Orange County Health Department, said 20 surveys were
completed on Saturday and 200 more were left at doorsteps. Residents are also able to complete
the survey online at the county's website.
Shelp said the data from these surveys will help the program's advisory council determine which
priorities to focus on.
"We're hoping this information coming straight from the community will tell us where the biggest
needs are and where the biggest strengths are," she said.
Orange County Commissioner Bernadette Pelissier, who is a member of the advisory council, said
the survey will help the council evaluate the efforts that already exist in the county.
"You can't implement a program for families to succeed and address child poverty without
addressing what's happening in that specific area," she said, "It's not going to be the same
everywhere and needs may be different."
Pelissier said the feedback might not demonstrate a need for new programs, but a need to integrate
the existing programs.
"You want to integrate so you have a system in place so people can easily navigate the services,"
she said.
Pelissier said the council is also looking at the Harlem Children's Zone, a similar program that
operates in New York City's Harlem neighborhood, to gain more input on what they can do for the
program.
Shelp said all of the data will be compiled and analyzed by the beginning of April, when there will be
two community zone prioritization meetings to announce the county's next step with the program.
The Zone 4 meeting will be April 8 at Stanback Middle School in Hillsborough, and the Zone 6
meeting will be April 9 at Carrboro Elementary School. Both meetings are from 5 to 7 p.m.
FSA prioritizes needs for central Orange County
Apr. 08, 2015 @ 08:33 PM
Katie Jansen
HILLSBOROUGH —
The Family Success Alliance on Wednesday night shared preliminary data gathered from 68 survey responses
collected in central Orange County between I-40 and I-85.
The region, known as Zone 4 to the Family Success Alliance, is one of two pilot zones selected to begin work in
creating a pipeline that supports children from the cradle to college or a career.
Mayor Tom Stevens thanked those for their interest in the community’s needs and for their work to meet those
needs.
“It’s not right if the things that mak e us a cool town and a great place to live are not available to everyone,” he said.
To gather the data, volunteers went door-to-door administering surveys, and the survey was also available online.
Input was received from youth, parents, community leaders and service providers, said Meredith McMonigle of the
Orange County Health Department.
Focus groups also had discussions about needs in the community. Groups included a group of service providers, a
group of Latina mothers and a group of middle school girls.
Allison Young of the Orange County Health Department and Jennifer Walters, a social work researcher at RTI,
presented some of the trends found from the data.
Many families surveyed expressed a need for early childhood resources, such as easier access to child care.
EOG scores also showed potential problems within schools. The average third-grade reading proficiency for Zone 4
was 19 percentage points lower than the average third -grade reading level across the entire school district.
However, Walters said, most parents surveyed did feel that students were supported when in school.
They also felt the district offered a wide variety of after -school programs, although parents cited several challenges
that inhibited participation: cost, transportation and lack of communication — meaning that parents simply don’t
know what’s available to their children.
Some of the challenges were specific to the Hispanic and Latina community.
New Hope Elementary, a school within Zone 4, currently has a student body that is 42 percent Hispanic or Latina.
This may suggest a shift in the demographics of the population.
But many Latina mothers expressed concern about communicating with their children’s schools and about
transportation. If they were to take their children to afterschool activities, they said they would be afraid of getting
stopped by the police in routine traffic stops.
Sandra Blefko, ESL family outreach specialist for Orange County Schools, said she was not surprised by the data
presented and that many of the families she works with voice similar concerns.
“That’s probably why (parents are) not that involved,” she said. “Not that they don’t care. They just don’t know how.”
Once the data had been presented, McMonigle asked the crowd gathered to help prioritize the tren ding problems
that had been drawn from the survey responses.
The themes listed were: transportation, support for Latino families, college and career preparation, readiness for
kindergarten, mentoring, childcare, out of school time, family support and academic support.
Those in the audience were allowed to vote for what they felt were the most pressing needs for their community.
Each person was allotted 10 votes and could not use more than four votes for any single topic.
Once all the votes had been cast, four needs came out on top: transportation, childcare, readiness for kindergarten
and support for Latino families.
Individuals were then voted to cast votes for suggested strategies to meet these needs — or to suggest their own
strategies.
The crowd voted for the following strategies or solutions:
— Transportation: Expand existing bus services, allow more transportation for after-school or summer programs
— Child care: Increase child care subsidies
— Readiness for kindergarten: Expand Pre-K enrollment
— Support for Latino families: Provide more opportunities for Latino parents to learn English.
McMonigle said the votes and the written suggestions would be taken into account as the Family Success Alliance
continues to compile data.
Surveys will still be received for another two weeks, and McMonigle said the alliance plans to continue surveying in
future years as time passes and needs shift.
“We’re here. We’re staying. We’re committed,” she said of the relatively new initiative.
A similar meeting — with a different set of data that reflects the needs of Zone 6, or Chapel Hill and Carrboro — will
be held Thursday, April 9 at Carrboro Elementary School from 5 to 7 p.m. Child care and a light meal will be
provided.
The priorities chosen from both zones will be presented at a meeting of the Family Success Alliance Advisory
Council on April 20 from 1 to 2:30 p.m. The meeting will be held at the Carrboro Century Center, and it is open to
the public.
Volunteers sought for childhood poverty initiative survey
Mar. 10, 2015 @ 04:42 PM
Katie Jansen
CHAPEL HILL —
The Orange County Health Department is seeking volunteers who can help gather data Saturday for the newly
launched Family Success Alliance.
The Family Success Alliance is an effort to bridge gaps in education and alleviate childhood poverty across the
county. But before the gaps can be bridged, the Health Department needs to know what they are.
Six zones were originally designated as geographical areas that needed help, and two of those were selected as
pilot zones in December.
Surveying has now begun to determine the most pressing needs for the two zones chosen, the area east of I -40
(Zone 4) and Chapel Hill/Carrboro (Zone 6).
Last weekend, about 28 volunteers canvassed the zone east of 40, going door -to-door to speak with residents and
administer surveys.
Stacy Shelp of the Orange County Health Department said they were able to collect about completed surveys and
tag doors of people who weren’t home.
They surveying of Chapel Hill and Carrboro was delayed because of inclement weather, but it has been
rescheduled for this Saturday.
Shelp said only 10 volunteers are signed up so far.
“We would love for some volunteers to come out and help and be part of the community and part of the effort this
weekend,” she said.
After the surveys are completed, needs will be assessed and compiled so that stakeholders and groups involved in
the Family Success Alliance can determine which goals to prioritize.
Community meetings will be held next month to discuss the future for both zones.
The meeting for Zone 4 will take place on April 8 from 5 to 7 p.m. at A.L. Stanback Middle School.
The meeting for Zone 6 will take on April 9 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Carrboro Elementary School.
Child care and a light meal will be provided at both meetings.
In the meantime, people are encouraged to take the survey, either in paper form or online at
http://orangecountync.gov/health/fsa.asp. Surveys are available in English and Spanish.
To volunteer to help on Saturday, call 919-245-2071 919-245-2071.
News of OrangeHome
Family Success Alliance targets
poverty in children, families
Posted: Wednesday, January 14, 2015 7:00 am
By Amanda VanDerBroek, News of Orange staff writer, a.vanderbroek@newsoforange.com
The voice of poverty is all too often a quiet one.
But the Family Success Alliance hopes to forge change in Orange County by creating a pipeline of success for children.
On Tuesday, Dec. 16, the group made a step toward that goal by choosing two zones out of six identified within the county to
pilot the program.
Those selected were zone 4, an area located between Interstates 40 and 85 in central Orange County—which includes A.L.
Stanback Middle School and New Hope Elementary—and zone 6, a densely populated area that encompasses downtown
Chapel Hill and Carrboro southwest of N.C. 54.
“The idea is to increase outcomes for children and famili es that are struggling in Orange County,” Meredith McMonigle, Family
Success Alliance project coordinator, said. “There’s not a real deep awareness about the existence of those families in Orang e
County. I think part of that initial priority is just to sta rt that conversation that those communities exist here, and this project is
designed to support those children and families.”
How it started
McMonigle said Family Success Alliance grew out of discussions in spring of 2014 when the county commissioners soug ht to
address the increasing rate of child poverty.
Data provided by the Orange County Health Department shows the percentage of children living in poverty has increased in
both the county and state in recent years. In 2011, 16.8 percent of children were l iving in poverty compared to 9.4 percent in
2001.
McMonigle said looking at successful models across the naiton combating poverty like the Harlem Children’s Zone and the
Promise Neighborhoods, the county set out to initiate its own program–and Family Success Alliance was born.
Health Department Communications Manager Stacy Shelp said six zones were identified as being locations in the county that
had higher rates of poverty.
“The purpose of the Family Success Alliance was, once those zones were identified and then the two selected from the
application process, was to really create a pipeline where kids aren’t falling through the cracks anymore, that’s kind of a c radle
to either college or career success stream for them,” Shelp said. “So it’s going to be an o ngoing, this is going to be a long-term
project for the county.”
McMonigle said another key component is that it’s a collaboration based on research.
“So the health department is the catalyst for getting the project off the ground, but we’re sort of servin g behind the scenes as a
backbone structure to bring together this collaboration,” McMonigle said. “Anybody and any entity that is working to support
children and families we’ll want at the table.”
Creating and choosing the zones
Using data on poverty, zones were identified, including four in the northern part of the county.
“So looking at, for example, the number of children using the Orange County Health Department clinics, the number of kids on
free or reduced lunch, the number of kids on Medicaid, a couple of other data points, pulling that together and seeing which
neighborhoods have the highest concentrations, those indicators,” McMonigle said. “There’s a written application and we spent
September and into October doing community outreach to let folks know that this was an opportunity.”
In the end, six zones were identified.
As the alliance started its public phase, members of the grassroots Initiative on Poverty, an effort involving local churches ,
started taking interest in the project.
“There’s great synergy between these two projects,” McMonigle said. “A number of the people involved in the Initiative on
Poverty have participated in submitting zone applications, became zone champions.”
On Dec. 16, the Family Success Alliance Council—an array of representatives including those from the school systems, local
government, health care, civic and nonprofit groups —voted to choose two of the proposed zones.
McConigle said each of the zones were scored before the meeting, and members of the alliance then hear d presentations from
the zone champions—a person representing an assigned zone.
“I think the applications were due sometime in November, and then the council members basically had a month to grade or
score each application,” she said. “So all of those scores were compiled and presented at the beginning of the Dec. 16 meeting.
Basically it was one round of scoring the applications, then the zones gave their oral presentation, and after that the counc il
members had an opportunity to revise their initial score based on what they learned in the presentation. … The fact is that the
scores didn’t change.”
Zones 4 and 6 were selected—one from each school district—to pilot the program.
“There were six identified, and then two were selected to pilot the project, reco gnizing that we could not start in all six at the
same time,” McMonigle said. “Even though it’s pretty clear that there is a real interest to support each zone over time.”
Where to go from here
McMonigle said the next phase will be looking at the chosen zones even more closely.
Performing a gap analysis, conducting needs assessment and developing a zone identity are all on tap to understand the areas
better.
“We will pull all of that information together, present it to the zones,” McMonigle said. “We’ll have a community meeting in March
and say this is a snapshot of the things happening in the zones.
“So they will bring the priorities to the council, and then it will be working together —the council and community—to set those
priorities and begin, whether it’s specific interventions or policy changes, and that will happen after the April 20 council meeting.”
OC Family Success Alliance Seeks Outreach Volunteers
By Elizabeth Friend
Posted March 10, 2015 at 2:02 pm
This Saturday, volunteers with the Family Success Alliance will visit homes in Chapel Hill and
Carrboro to help assess community needs.
“We’ll be asking folks questions about how well connected they are with their neighbors and
also do they have trouble getting childcare or medical services?” says Orange County Health
Department Program Manager Meredith Stewart. “Generally, what do they think are the
strengths or challenges in their community to children and families being successful?”
The Family Success Alliance is a new initiative designed address issues of child poverty, health
and education through community-specific programs.
“We are doing this as part of a gap analysis for the Family Success Alliance and that gap analysis
is looking at the cradle-to-college or career pipeline for children and families in Orange County,”
says Stewart.
Last week, volunteers visited Zone 4 in Hillsborough. This weekend, the focus will shift to Zone
6, which spans the boarder between Chapel Hill and Carrboro.
“We will be in Western Chapel Hill into Carrboro,” says Stewart. “We’re talking about the
Highway 54-Jones Ferry intersection and around the Northside and Pine Knolls area, that
downtown Chapel Hill and Carrboro residential area.”
But in order to make contact with all the homes in those neighborhoods, Stewart says more help
is needed. If you’d like to help, call Meredith McMonigal at 919-245-2071 919-245-2071.
Volunteers will meet at Carrboro Town Hall at 9 o’clock Saturday morning to go over the survey
and receive red vests and name tags.“We will pair people up into teams of two and give them a
designated area to go out to,” says Stewart.
The survey is also available online in English and in Spanish:
http://orangecountync.gov/health/fsa.asp
The data collected from the outreach effort will be presented back to the community for
discussion at a meeting on April 9 at Carrboro Elementary.
Orange County Looks to Harlem Initiative to Help Kids
in Poverty
By Danny Hooley
Posted April 8, 2015 at 8:32 am
Orange County is taking steps to address the effects of poverty on children, “from cradle to
college” and beyond.
A county initiative called the Family Success Alliance is modeled after the Harlem Children’s
Zone, an acclaimed New York program that works to keep Harlem kids on the track toward
college graduation.
“We were inspired by the work of the Harlem Children’s Zone,” said Meredith Stewart, program
manager of the Orange County Health Department, “because of their focus on picking a specific
geographic area and saying, ‘How do we work with families and children in that geographic area
or zone, to really create changes at scale?’
“So we want to see changes in the community, not just at the individual level, but at the
community level.”
Two out of six local zones being considered were selected as pilot zones for the project.
Wednesday, from 5 until 7, partners from Zone 4 – the area between I-40 and I-85 in central
Orange County – will join members of the FSA for a public meeting at A.L. Stanback Middle
School, at 3700 NC 86 South, in Hillsborough.
They’ll discuss the findings of door-to-door surveys in Zone 4, which includes Stanback and
New Hope Elementary. Fifty-five percent of Zone 4 students receive free or reduced lunch.
“What I might see on a daily level is a parent calling me and telling me they don’t have a place
to live,” said Aviva Scully, a social worker at Stanback Middle School, “or they need help
paying a bill; they’ve had a shutoff notice; they need help with clothing; lots of calls for help
with food.”
A similar meeting will be held Thursday for Zone 6, from 5 until 7 p.m. at Carrboro Elementary
School, at 400 Shelton St. The zone stretches from downtown Chapel Hill southwest to Highway
54, and has the highest number of the county’s children under 18 living in poverty – nearly 900.
Child care, a light dinner and interpreters will be available at both meetings.
FSA to request $90K for two initial programs
Apr. 20, 2015 @ 05:30 PM
Katie Jansen
CARRBORO —
Orange County Health Department staff Monday presented preliminary survey data and the needs that
two communities had decided were their highest priorities.
After two and a half months of collecting data through surveys, the staff found that kindergarten
readiness, childcare and support for families were needs in both pilot communities, Zones 4 and 6. Each
community also had its individual challenges, such as transportation in Zone 4 and lack of affordable
housing in Zone 6.
The staff presented those findings to the advisory council for the Family Success Alliance Health and
recommended that the advisory council approve a request for the remaining $90,000 from Orange
County’s social justice fund.
The money would go toward two initial programs for Zones 4 and 6, said Meredith Stewart, program
manager for the Family Success Alliance.
The first program would focus on meeting a need that was a priority in both communities – kindergarten
readiness. Stewart said the program, to start over the summer, would expand support for incoming
kindergartners. The program would also include a short-term kindergarten prep program for those
students who had never attended preschool. They would be introduced to the structure of a school day as
well as to their teachers.
Stewart said this program would initially roll out in one elementary school in Hillsborough east of I -40
(Zone 4) and one elementary school in Chapel Hill and Carrbor o (Zone 6).
The program would help to establish a cohort of families that the Family Success Alliance could work with
until their students were ready for a college or career.
The kindergarten readiness program would cost $40,000 for each zone and would ser ve 80 to 100
students in each zone, she said.
If this kindergarten readiness plan weren’t feasible, Stewart said that health department staff had
suggested a second option.
The Family Success Alliance would work to build a similar cohort of families, but instead of the
kindergarten readiness program, families would participate in a literacy program. Staff would work with
both parents and students to teach them how to read and work at home together.
This approach would cost about $50,000 to implement in both zones, Stewart said.
The second program would provide “navigators” who live and work in each community. The navigators’
job would be to connect families to different services that are available and to provide “a unified point of
contact and support for zone families,” Stewart said.
The navigators would have a physical location in one of the zone partners’ buildings – for example, a
school or a service provider.
The navigator program’s estimated budget is $10,000 for the remainder of this fiscal year and an
additional $150,000 for fiscal year 2015-16.
Some members of the advisory council seemed hesitant to agree to the recommended kindergarten
readiness program, pointing out that the second literacy training option would leave more funds available
for wraparound support services.
After much debate, the council approved the request for $90,000 from the social justice fund. However,
the council asked staff to find a program that would implement both kindergarten readiness and literacy
training.
The community navigator program will also proceed as suggested.
Work on the programs will begin as early as this summer, and the data collected from the surveys will be
compiled into a comprehensive baseline report that will be made publicly available.
The advisory council’s next meeting is scheduled for June 22.
Health workers complete ‘walk’ to California
Apr. 28, 2015 @ 06:45 PM
Keith Upchurch
DURHAM —
They’ve talked the talk, and now they’ve walked the walk.
Staff members at the Orange County Health Department have reached their goal of walking the distance
to Orange County, California — a week ahead of schedule.
As part of a walking challenge, health workers began tracking their steps on March 1 with a goal of
covering the width of the United States — 2,505 miles.
Initially, they expected to need eight weeks, but they reached the goal Friday.
The purpose of the walk was to improve employee health, build exercise habits among staff and spread
the message about the importance of physical activity, according to Stacy Shelp, public information officer
for the health department.
Participants tracked their daily steps using pedometers and other tools.
Shelp tracked many of her steps in the beach sand at Emerald Isle. Depending on the weather, she
logged between 4,000 and 12,000 steps each day, averaging about 10 miles a week during the
challenge.
“Before the challenge, I probably walked about eight miles a week, but every bit helps,” she said.
Shelp said participants reported feeling better as they stepped up their daily exercise. Many plan to
continue the practice in the future.
The department created an interactive map to document their journey and track their progress. The map
included pins that linked to public health departments along the way.
The Orange County Health Department got calls from as far away as Colorado and California from
groups that heard about the challenge and hope to start similar effor ts.
“Orange County, California’s health department said they may even take up the challenge and walk over
to North Carolina,” Shelp said
Stacy Shelp records one of her steps on the 'trip' to Orange County,
California, this one on the beach at Emerald Isle. (Special to The
Herald-Sun/Stacy Shelp)
Orange County Health Department employee Kathleen Goodhand logged the most s teps on department's staff six of the
seven weeks of the Orange to Orange challenge. She averaged 88,699 steps or 44 miles per week. She's pictured with Jim
Northrup, who went along in a support role. (Special to The Herald -Sun/Courtesy Stacy Shelp)
Grant to aid breast cancer screening
May. 18, 2015 @ 03:22 PM
From staff reports
CHAPEL HILL —
The Orange County Health Department has been awarded a $49,624 community health grant from the
Susan G. Komen North Carolina Triangle to the Coast Affiliate. The funding will be used for “Project
Access-Orange County," a breast cancer screening project of the health department.
The purpose of the Project Access is to increase access to services for low-income, under/uninsured
women who need regular breast cancer screening or have clinical breast exam findings that require
follow-up. Project activities include patient education, examination, referral and follow-up for qualified
participants. Patients will receive a sliding-fee clinical breast exam and breast health education at one of
the two health department clinics (Hillsborough or Chapel Hill) or Piedmont Health Services Carrboro
Community Health Center.
Digital screening mammography and follow-up imaging for asymptomatic routine screening and work-up
of clinical breast findings (such as lumps) are covered for program participants. All participants will be
tracked to ensure a timely continuum of care and support.
Through collaboration/referral from community health care providers/programs, or self-referral, the project
seeks to serve 250 patients in 2015-2016.
Project success will be determined by the number of patients who received screening, timely follow -up
and referral, and patient satisfaction. This project aims to produce community-wide enhancements in
breast health screening for the medically underserved populations of Orange County, including a
significant group of recent immigrants/refugees.
Health Director’s Report
May, 2015
Note: this Health Director’s report is longer than usual because we didn’t have a full meeting in April, just the joint
meeting with the BOCC, so I have twice as much information to share.
Staff
o We have been doing a lot of interviewing and hiring lately:
Since our last meeting, LaToya Strange, Administrative Assistant to the Health Director started.
She is fitting in nicely and all of us are benefiting from her wonderful assistance.
We have also selected Allison Young as the Informatics Manager, replacing Mike Fliss. We
already considered her part of the family because she was working here as an Informatics Fellow
prior to this promotion.
We’ve hired three nurses, a Health Educator and a PA in clinic. We are still
recruiting/interviewing for a couple more nurses.
We have filled our vacant (due to retirement) Soil Scientist position as well.
We’ve also posted our new Dentist and Dental Assistant positions that we expect to hire early
July.
o All these new folks will attend at least one Board of Health meeting in the near future, so you’ll get a
chance to meet them.
Board of Health Priorities
o The Family Success Alliance sent a team of about a dozen people to the Harlem Children’s Zone
Practitioner’s Institute last week. It was a great opportunity to see and better understand the various
components of the pipeline they’ve created over the last 20 years and talk with our group about our
vision for moving forward.
o Last night the BOCC approved allocating $90,000 to our first two FSA interventions: a kindergarten
readiness/family literacy project and Zone Navigators. We are awaiting news from the United Way
about our Outreach and Evaluation funding request we submitted this spring.
o Community Health Assessment planning is on-going. Liska will provide a more updated report about
how Board of Health members can help out and get involved.
o The Manager presented her recommended budget to the BOCC last night. I’ve emailed you the specifics
of what was and was not included in her budget for the Health Department, but I am excited about the
$250,000 in the Health Department’s budget for the Family Success Alliance.
Various
o We currently have 3 individuals being monitored for Ebola symptoms. That brings our count so far to 26
since last fall.
o Last night the BOCC approved our recommended centralized permitting software vendor and authorized
the Manager to approve and execute a contract. This reflects the end of a two-year vetting and
selection process and kicks off our year of implementation. Through it all, staff in Environmental Health
has been engaged, professional and dedicated to finding the best solution for all partners.
o HD staff made it to OC California one week early on their walking trip! We celebrated with fajitas and
popsicles.
o We are still waiting on the ABC Board grant decision for the Alcohol Misuse Prevention Project Manager.
The Town, University and Health Department are committed to making this happen even if not funded,
and are meeting next week to iron out the final details before posting the position.
o I participated in a national strategic planning training review committee for the National Association of
County and City Health Officials (NACCHO). This involved 6 weeks of intense review and weekly
conference calls, but it was a great learning experience to see how others do strategic planning.
o April was also the Health Director’s Legal Conference. This is always my favorite annual conference to
attend and I always learn new things.
o Speaking of learning new things, we finally pulled off the statewide FrameWorks training for Health
Directors and their communications lead. This training lasted all day and focused on social determinants
of health. It was another amazing opportunity to really challenge our assumptions about how
effectively we communicate our public health messages.
o Other items that kept me busy this month were:
Serving as a member of the 3 person Orange County Personnel Hearing Board (where an
employee can appeal the county’s decision to terminate them)
Multiple meetings with leadership in Raleigh at the Division of Public Health, Department of
Health and Human Services and elected members in the General Assembly. The Association of
Local Health Directors (of which I am currently President-elect) is working hard to ensure
Medicaid reform has a strong preventive and population health focus. We are also advocating
for the best public health-related budget we can get.
Serving as the statewide Co-Chair of the Practice Based Research Network where we are
planning for our part in the fall’s NCPHA educational conference.
Serving on other boards such as the statewide Care Share Board of Directors, the NC Association
of County Commissioners’ Health and Human Services Steering Committee and the Adolescent
Pregnancy Prevention Council of North Carolina.
Serving on the National Research Advisory Group for NACCHO.