December 2019 Newsletter
Reflecting on 2019
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Items to include in this newsletter
Announcement of Cancelation of Get Healthy SMC Community Implementation Funding 2020
Due to rising costs outpacing revenues San Mateo County Health is addressing budget deficit and workforce reductions. As a result our annual Community Implementation Funding Request for Proposals will be canceled for 2020. County Health leadership have a plan in place to support the budget challenges and all programs are doing their part to ensure important safety-net services are maintained. We remain committed to supporting the important community organizations on the ground advancing the community-identified priorities to achieve a healthy, equitable San Mateo County.
Reflections on 2019
It’s hard to imagine that we are in the home stretch of our 2015-2020 Get Healthy SMC Strategic Plan. Five years ago, you helped develop a 10-point vision for healthy, equitable communities and we set out to support you in advancing your priorities. We looked back recently and found that we had contributed to a lot of meaningful outcomes for our communities including 150 policies, plans or resource allocations targeted to preventing disease and improving well-being.
Dynamic Speaker Promotes A Strength-Based Approach to Discipline
Get Healthy SMC, Sequoia Healthcare District, and Peninsula Healthcare District partnered to bring Charlie Appelstein back to San Mateo County for additional parent and staff trainings on December 10th, 11th, 12th. Charlie’s trainings are packed with positive principles and techniques to help educators, professionals and parents develop powerful relationships with the young people they guide.
Forging Ahead with a Stronger Framework
Dear Get Healthy SMC,
It’s hard to imagine that we are in the home stretch of our 2015-2020 Get Healthy SMC Strategic Plan. Five years ago, you told us that being healthy wasn’t just about getting to the gym, having vegetables with lunch, and cutting out soda for kids. You shared your experiences and those of your families and communities that demonstrated that we can’t be healthy in isolation – we need healthy, equitable communities for all.
Student Mental Health
22% of San Mateo County girls and 13% of San Mateo County boys in grades 9 through 11 report having seriously considered suicide in the past 12 months. (Source: California Healthy Kids Survey 2017-18)
Boards and Commissions Vacancies
City of San Bruno Traffic Safety & Parking
Commission: has one open seat for residents of San Bruno
to apply.
The application deadline is January 31, 2020.
Helping Daly City Entrepreneurs Start Smart
Supporting small businesses is a critical part of Get Healthy SMC’s strategy to make neighborhoods healthier. This year, we partnered with Renaissance Mid-Peninsula to deepen business support services in North San Mateo County. Six North County entrepreneurs recently received training in the fundamentals of starting their businesses. Thanks to Renaissance’s training and support, these critical community amenities are off to a healthy start!
Building A Fair Chance Workforce System
A quality job is an important ingredient for health as well as a top need identified in all four communities participating in the Community Collaborative for Children’s Success initiative. Unfortunately, many community members face employment barriers when they return from jail or prison, making it difficult to rebuild their lives. Funders, workforce development agencies, and local governments throughout the Bay Area are working to build a Fair Chance Workforce System that will increase employment for people with criminal records.
Health and Education: Equally Important to Success
The Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) model was developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) to provide a comprehensive framework for supporting student health and academic achievement. This holistic approach to student wellness recognizes that public health and education have equally important roles in ensuring students are equipped for success.
California Schools Continue to Be Underfunded
Children Now recently released the research brief, “Not Enough Adults to Go Around: Underfunded California Schools Provide Less Support for Kids”, highlighting the impacts of chronic underfunding for California schools. The report compares three schools in California, New Jersey, and Illinois with similar demographic populations, yet dramatically different funding amounts.
The Rising Temperatures and Heat Task Force Is On!
Extreme heat events will become more common as climate change intensifies. The cost and the burden of extreme heat events are not shared equally by all residents. Lower income populations who rely more on public transit and are less likely to have access to cooling on their commutes, or have systems in their homes or workplaces to bear the burden of extreme heat events.
Growing Local Preservation of Affordable Housing Ecosystem
The CASA compact, a regional road map to address the affordable housing crisis, used a 3 Ps framework: Production, Preservation, and Protections. We are excited that they borrowed a part of our Get Healthy SMC 5-P framework for healthy housing! The two missing P’s are Participation of impacted populations in decision-making and Placement of housing near needed amenities.
Traffic and Health Equity
Starting July 01, 2020, measuring how many vehicle miles traveled (VMT) a new project will generate will be the new standard for evaluating transportation impacts. It is critically important to understand how to ensure this change will not have a disparate health impact in our communities.
Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Funding Announced!
Safe Routes to School (SRTS) 2019-2020 Update! In the latest round of Safe Routes to School funding, $240,000 was awarded to 17 schools and school districts.
California’s Comprehensive Approach to Addressing Toxic Stress
This month, the state of California launched ACEs Aware, a new initiative focused on identifying, treating and healing harm from ACEs or Adverse Childhood Experiences. The initiative offers training material for medical providers and clinic administrators in screening for ACEs and getting state reimbursement for the cost of screening. It also offers guidelines for incorporating screening results into clinical care, and resources to reduce the impact and prevalence of ACEs and toxic stress.
Implementation Updates
In North Fair Oaks / Redwood City the CCCS implementation workgroup is focusing its attention on the need for families to more easily navigate support services. The workgroup is now connecting with existing efforts to simplify the navigation process to learn more about their work and identify ways they can be supportive or fill a gap. The workgroup will meet again in mid-January to review learnings and plan their approaches for the New Year.