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July 2019 Newsletter
Partnerships for Health Equity

Newsletter

Thank You for Your Participation in the GHSMC Strategy Forum
One hundred community and labor groups, elected and appointed officials, city and county staff, and hospital partners gathered this month to provide their feedback on the priorities for the next five years of Get Healthy SMC’s work. We will be analyzing this input in the coming months and connecting with additional groups to get feedback. Thank you to our colleagues from County Health’s Family Health, Behavioral Health and Recovery Services and the LEAP Institute for serving as facilitators, we could not have had rich conversations without your facilitation skills! As we move forward in this process, we will be sending updates via our newsletter. Stay tuned!

Items to include in this newsletter

Health by Numbers

How Can We Support Our Youth?

49% of Community Collaborative for Children’s Success youth participants said they have never, rarely, or only sometimes talked to a supportive adult about their feelings.

Secure attachment with a supportive adult, inside or outside the family, is one of the top protective factors for developing resilience in children and youth. Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 

Staff Perspective Maeve Johnston

That’s a Wrap: Lessons from the Community Collaborative for Children’s Success Planning Process

Over the last year and a half, four communities in San Mateo County have been hard at work looking for solutions to overcome barriers to youth success. Despite busy schedules and competing priorities, over 1,000 community members showed their investment in young people’s futures by taking surveys, attending night meetings, knocking on doors, talking to neighbors and digging deep with their communities to come together around top priorities.

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Youth Leadership Institute Supports Youth Voices on Healthy, Equitable Communities

In its fourth year of developing local youth to be community leaders on transportation policy, the Youth Leadership Institute has been working with 13 youth leaders from communities in Half Moon Bay and Daly City to continue and expand their leadership. Funded through the Get Healthy SMC Community Implementation Funding, this year’s youth leadership academy is focusing on the intersectionality of transportation and housing.

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Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition Works with Daly City Leaders to Improve Safety

This year, GHSMC is partnering with Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition (SVBC) and Daly City leaders on the city’s rapidly expanding transportation policy work. On the heels of its bicycle and pedestrian master plan, the City is also developing the county’s first Vision Zero Action Plan, a plan to eliminate traffic deaths. The plan will outline how the city will be following through on its commitment to eliminate traffic deaths in the nation’s 7th densest city.

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Community Alliance with Family Farmers Is Feeding Our Most Vulnerable Youth

In partnership with the Community Alliance with Family Farmers’s (CAFF), Second Harvest Food Bank, school district’s food service directors, and the county’s University of California Cooperative Extension, we continue to work on expanding school breakfast in Daly City and South San Francisco schools to decrease hunger and food insecurity.

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Implementing Restorative Justice Practices In Some of the County’s Most vulnerable School Districts

The San Mateo County Office of Education (SMCOE) is continuing to support implementation of Restorative Justice Practices (RJP) in San Mateo County schools with funding provided by Get Healthy SMC. In May, SMCOE supported Pacifica School District to implement Restorative Circles and Conferencing. Pacifica has since organized staff into RJP learning cohorts based on the initial training that was provided by SMCOE.

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Increasing School Connectedness for Healthier Kids

School connectedness happens when students feel that adults and peers in the school care about their learning as well as about them as individuals. It is identified by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention as an important protective factor for young people. Research has shown that young people who feel connected to their school are less likely to engage in many high risk behaviors, including early sexual initiation, alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use, and violence.

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Congratulations Cohort 15!

Congratulations Brandon, David, and Diego on graduating EMS Corps this month! This is the third group of San Mateo County residents participating in the free emergency medical technician training. Local graduates have passed their National EMT Registry and are excited to begin their careers in the field.

Hear from EMS Corps graduates in this short video: https://youtu.be/DB5DWBT5Ouc 

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Contracting for Equity

Inclusive contracting processes can be a critical tool for advancing racial equity in local governments. Jurisdictions around the country build economic opportunity for entrepreneurs of color and community based organizations by deepening outreach when soliciting bids, providing contractors with technical assistance, ensuring prompt payments for smaller contractors, and creating provisions that encourage inclusive sub-sourcing.

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With Homelessness on the Rise, Transformative Approaches Are Needed

San Mateo County’s homelessness population increased by 21% since 2017 with a total number of 1,512 residents experiencing homelessness. While the number of residents living in transitional and emergency shelters remained almost the same, the number of unsheltered residents increased significantly. This increase is mirrored across the Bay Area, and counties like Alameda, who are seeing homeless numbers as high as 8,000 are trying new ways to reduce homelessness.