Weekly InsiderSeptember 30, 2009
The Center for Health and Health Care in Schools Weekly Insider is a web-enhanced newsletter that offers news alerts, grant announcements and general web site updates delivered directly to your email box on a weekly basis. The Center is located at the School of Public Health and Health Services at The George Washington University Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
New Resources
Growing What Works: Lessons Learned from Pennsylvania's Nurse-Family Partnership Initiative, published by Public/Private Ventures (P/PV), is a report that provides key lessons for policymakers and funders interested in bringing proven nurse-family partnership models to a statewide scale.
H1N1 Flu (Swine Flu): Preparedness Tools for Professionals, organized by the Centers for Disease Control, provides resources to help hospital administrators and state and local health officials respond to the H1N1 flu pandemic.
Moving From Evidence to Action: The Safe Start Center Series on Children Exposed to Violence was recently published by The Safe Start Center, a resource center whose goal is to broaden the knowledge of and promote community investment in evidence-based strategies for reducing the impact of children's exposure to violence.
New from the Center
THE CENTER MOVES AHEAD! After several years of planning, on September 1, 2009 Center director Julia Graham Lear handed the Center’s leadership reins over to Olga Acosta Price, who during her 3 1⁄2 years with the Center has served as its deputy director and most recently co-director. Olga has been the director for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation initiative, Caring Across Communities, that is modeling new ways of building school-connected mental health services for immigrant and refugee youth. Julia remains with the Center as its Senior Adviser but is also now serving as Interim Chair for the Department of Prevention and Community Health in the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services. The Center is an affiliate of the department. As always, both Olga and Julia can be reached at 202-466-3396. See Olga's bio below as well as a message from Julia.
---------
Meet the new Center director!
Olga joined the Center in early 2006. She came from the DC Department of Mental Health where she had launched the School Mental Health Program and nurtured its growth over six years. Previously Olga, who was trained as a clinical psychologist at SUNY-Buffalo and the University of Maryland, worked as Associate Director at the Center for School Mental Health Assistance, University of Maryland. She's been a long-term board member and volunteer with the DC Assembly on School-Based Health Care and the Montgomery County Citizen's Review Panel for Children. She is the mother of the best-looking, most
energetic three-year-old in the greater Washington area (that would be Owen) and is the only Center staff member with a reliably neat desk.
---------
Thoughts on new beginnings from Julia:
As school people, we see September as the true beginning of the year. In keeping with our sense of fresh starts, we are announcing an exciting transition at the Center-- moving from our founding years to a new phase of growth and development. It has been a great honor to work with so many of you in your important efforts to make the lives of children and their families better through effective school-connected care. Your commitment to children and to quality school-based services has been an unfailing inspiration for us at the Center. Hence, I can't tear myself away. While I will continue to work with the Center, I am delighted to announce that we have a new leader in Olga Acosta Price. Her imagination and talent will sustain us where we are strong; her fresh perspectives on long-term issues will take us in new and productive directions. Please join Theresa, Brandi, Donna and me in wishing Olga and the Center well on their new journey. Best wishes, Julia.
To view photos and bios of the Center staff, click here.
New Presentations Posted to the Website
The Future is Now: Supporting the Needs of Immigrant and Refugee Children at School. 2009 School Health Interdisciplinary Program Conference, Ellicott City, MD. August 3, 2009.
The presentation summarizes recent immigration trends nationally and in the state of Maryland. It also describes several projects the Center has been working through the RWJF Caring Across Communities initiative. These projects have created a range of services that address both the academic and emotional needs of children and they offer lessons that others can use.
Building Successful School-Health Partnerships: Meeting the Challenges of Working Across Systems. Grantmakers in Health, Washington, DC. May 29, 2009.
While schools and health organizations share a commitment to children's well-being, they have profoundly different organizational structures and operate in very different political environments. The presentation explains how the systems differ and how good partnership practices can overcome differences.
Important Topic
Dental Hygiene
• National Dental Hygiene Month
• CHHCS: Dental Health Resources
• CHHCS: School Based Dental Health
•
MedicineNet.Com: Dental Hygiene
Upcoming Meetings
• Galveston, TX: The Texas AEYC Annual State Conference. September 24-26, 2009. For more information and to register for this event, please click here.
• Indianapolis, IN: 15th Annual Symposium on Juvenile Services. October 11-14, 2009. For more information and to register for this event, please visit: http://www.npjs.org/symposium.html
• Washington, DC: Pediatric Heroes: Champions for Children. October 16, 2009. For more information and to register for this event, please click here.
• San Diego, CA: Step Up High School After School Summit. November 3-5, 2009. For more information and to register for this event, please visit: http://www.afterschoolnetwork.org/step-up
• Cincinnati, OH: Healthy Youth Conference. November 5-7, 2009. For more information and to register for this event, please visit: http://searchconference.org/index.html
• Las Vegas, NV: Leveling the Odds: Using the Child and Adolescent Service Intensity Instrument. December 3-4, 2009. For more information and to register for this event, please visit: www.nacbh.org
Previously Posted Meetings
• Bethesda, MD: National Coalition for Health Professional Education in Genetics. September 23-24, 2009. For more information and to register to this event, please visit: http://www.nchpeg.org/annualmeeting.aspx?sc=Meeting&sub=6
• Webinar: Innovative Solutions in Public Health Preparedness. September 29, 2009 at 12:00-1:00 PM (EDT). For more information and to register for this event, please visit: http://www.naccho.org/events/innovative-solutions-webinar.cfm
• Raleigh, NC: North Carolina Association for the Education of Young Children. October 1-3, 2009. For more information and to register for this event, please visit: http://www.ncaeyc.org/
• Anaheim, CA: School Wellness Conference. October 6-7, 2009. For more information and to register for this event, please visit: http://swc.csba.org/Default.aspx
• Tampa, FL: Celebrating Healthy Teens and Young Families: 30 Years of Making a Difference. October 21-24, 2009. For more information and to register for this event, please visit: http://healthyteenconference.org/default.aspx
• Atlanta, GA: National Environmental Public Health Conference. October 26-28, 2009. For more information and to register for this event, please visit: http://www.team-psa.com/2009nephc/main.asp
Job Opportunities
• The Public Health Institute - Recruitment Specialist (Washington, DC)
• The Alliance for Children and Families and United Neighborhood Centers of America - Policy Analyst (Washington, DC)
• Rosemary Children's Services - Head of Mental Health Services (Pasadena, CA)
• Lawndale Christian Health Center - Bilingual Wellness Coordinator (Chicago, Illinois)
• Burlington Public Schools - School Nurse Substitute (Burlington, VT)
• Killeen Independent School District - School Nurse (Killeen, TX)
Grant Alerts
Scholarship America - Target Field Trip Grants (Deadline: 11/3/09)
The Target Field Trip Grants program is an innovative, no-strings-attached initiative that funds field trips for students nationwide. The program was created so that more students can have the opportunity to learn outside of the classroom.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services -Communities Putting Prevention to Work (Deadline: 12/1/09)
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention are please to announce funding for Communities Putting Prevention to Work, a program aimed at increasing physical activity, improving nutrition, decreasing obesity, and decreasing smoking in U.S. communities.
National Center for Urban School Transformation - Excellence in Urban Education Award (Deadline: 11/16/09)
The purpose of these awards is to: recognize the hard work, dedication, and talent of urban school educators and students; educate the public about the accomplishments and potential of urban schools; provide a concrete benchmark of excellence that motivates reform efforts; and deepen the knowledge base of best practices for promoting urban school transformation.
American Psychiatric Foundation - Typical or Troubled School Mental Health Education Grant (Deadline: 10/30/09)
The Typical or Troubled School Mental Health Education Grant provides funding to implement the Typical or Troubled School Mental Health educational model in communities across the United States. The purpose of this program is to help school personnel raise awareness of mental illness among teens.
Texas Department of State Health Services - Reducing Risk Behaviors by Promoting Positive Youth Development (Texas) (Deadline: 10/16/09)
The purpose of this grant is to fund research projects from institutions and organizations that propose to enhance our understanding of effective positive youth development programs and the mechanisms responsible for positive health and developmental outcomes.
The Baltimore Life - Community Grant (Baltimore, MD) (Deadline: 10/19/09)
For over ten years, the Baltimore Life’s Community Grants Program has helped nonprofit organizations that support services such as family counseling and the upkeep of playgrounds.
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation - Evaluating Innovations in Nursing Education Program (Deadline: 11/24/09)
A program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Evaluating Innovations in Nursing Education, will support evaluations of interventions that expand teaching capacity or promote faculty recruitment and retention in nursing schools. The program aims to increase the number of nursing school graduates by evaluating strategies that address the nurse faculty shortage.
News Alert
Rewriting and Reauthorization of No Child Left Behind Can’t Wait, According to U.S. Secretary of Education
The U.S. Secretary of Education called on education stakeholders to join in rewriting the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), which is a 2002 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. In Secretary Duncan’s call to action, he noted that the NCLB law has many flaws and the next version of the act should create tests that better measure student learning, create programs to improve the performance of existing teachers and school leaders, recruit new effective educators, and ensure that the best educators are serving the children that are the furthest behind.
New Resources
Growing What Works: Lessons Learned from Pennsylvania's Nurse-Family Partnership Initiative, published by Public/Private Ventures (P/PV), is a report that provides key lessons for policymakers and funders interested in bringing proven nurse-family partnership models to a statewide scale, including best practices for selecting implementing agencies; fostering a sense of community among geographically dispersed sites; monitoring program results to promote quality; and engaging local administrators and site leaders. The report draws on P/PV’s experience in Pennsylvania overseeing the replication of Nurse-Family Partnership—one of the largest and most successful expansions of this well regarded home-visiting program.
H1N1 Flu (Swine Flu): Preparedness Tools for Professionals, organized by the Centers for Disease Control, provides resources to help hospital administrators and state and local health officials respond to the H1N1 flu pandemic. This website offers five programs to help health care providers simulate the spread of influenza through a model community and the impact of potential interventions; estimate the surge in demand for hospital-based services during a flu pandemic; and assist in forecasting future demands for specimen testing during a pandemic.
Moving From Evidence to Action: The Safe Start Center Series on Children Exposed to Violence was recently published by The Safe Start Center, a resource center whose goal is to broaden the knowledge of and promote community investment in evidence-based strategies for reducing the impact of children's exposure to violence. The article discusses the response to the urgent need to translate research-based information on treating children’s exposure to violence and disseminate it to practitioners working in different systems and settings. The series provides practical, how-to information and tools that frontline practitioners, managers, and administrators can use to address this critical issue in a coordinated manner.
Job Opportunities
The Public Health Institute - Recruitment Specialist (Washington, DC)
The Public Health Institute (PHI) is a large non-profit public health organization conducting a broad range of public health research, training, and technical assistance programs in California, throughout the nation, and around the world. PHI is seeking a full time Recruitment Specialist for the Global Health Fellows Program (GHFP). GHFP, with offices in Washington, DC and Oakland, CA, is a five year cooperative agreement with the US Agency for International Development (USAID). GHFP is tasked with improving the effectiveness of USAID population, health and nutrition programs by developing and increasing capacity of health professionals. Eligible applicants will have a Bachelor's degree, five years work experience with at least one year international recruitment experience, experience in human resource management and advanced organizational skills. For more information and to apply to this position, please visit: http://www.idealist.org/if/i/en/av/Job/352140-205
The Alliance for Children and Families and United Neighborhood Centers of America - Policy Analyst (Washington, DC)
The Alliance for Children and Families (Alliance) represents over 370 nonprofit organizations across the nation that provide services and economic empowerment to children and families. United Neighborhood Centers of America (UNCA) is a voluntary, nonprofit, national organization with neighborhood-based member-agencies throughout the United States. The joint Alliance/UNCA office is seeking a policy analyst to join their public policy office. Responsibilities include lobbying on behalf of Alliance/UNCA members, preparing legislative and regulatory analyses and coordinating events. Applicants should have a Bachelor's degree and relevant experience. For more information and to apply to this posting, please visit: http://www.idealist.org/if/i/en/av/Job/352061-172
Rosemary Children's Services - Head of Mental Health Services (Pasadena, CA)
Rosemary Children’s Services is one of the oldest West Coast charities that helps boys and girls of all ages who have suffered abuse, neglect and abandonment. The organization has an immediate opening for a Head of Mental Health Services. Job responsibilities include overseeing the day rehabilitation program, offering clinical and mental health services, providing clinical supervision, reviewing clinical notes and acting as a liaison to the agency psychiatrist. Eligible applicants must be a licensed mental health professional, posses five years of supervisory experience, have exceptional communication skills, and be able to carry out agency policies and procedures. For more information and to apply to this posting, please visit: http://www.socialservice.com/jobdetails.cfm?jid=37996&RequestTimeout=500
Lawndale Christian Health Center - Bilingual Wellness Coordinator (Chicago, Illinois)
The Lawndale Christian Health Center is a nonprofit community health center whose mission is to promote faith-based wellness and health care for Lawndale and the neighboring communities. The Center seeks a full-time wellness coordinator whose responsibilities include: providing health and fitness instruction, designing and implementing the wellness program, teaching fitness classes and recruiting fitness instructors. Applicants should have a Bachelor's degree, experience in fitness club management and instruction and a flexible schedule. For more information and to apply to this posting, please visit: http://www.socialservice.com/jobdetails.cfm?jid=37991&RequestTimeout=500
Burlington Public Schools - School Nurse Substitute (Burlington, VT)
Burlington Public Schools is seeking school nurse substitutes for the Burlington School District. Eligible applicants must be either a Registered Nurse or a Licensed Practical Nurse and have current CPR and First Aid certifications. Experience in pediatric nursing is desired. For more information and to apply to this posting, please visit: http://www.schoolspring.com/job.cfm?jid=31373
Killeen Independent School District - School Nurse (Killeen, TX)
The Killeen Independent School District has two openings a for full-time school nurse. The school nurse will be responsible for providing a program for the promotion and maintenance of health and acting as a health advocate and liaison among the school, homes, community agencies and other health personnel. Qualified applicants must have a Bachelor's degree, a Registered Nurse license issued by the State of Texas and three years experience. For more information and to apply to this posting, please visit: http://www.schoolspring.com/super/superview.cfm?jid=847250&ssp=0