USA Executive Board Minutes
January 14, 2009 3:30 PM @
UD Cooperative Extension Office

Attending:  Cindy Genau-UD Cooperative Extension
                    Harry Baetjer, Tower Hill School
                    Yvonne Nass, Parent Education Consulting Services
                    Rosemary Brooks, Sanford School Parent
                    Erica Melman, OPEI
                    Liz Dubravcic, Tatnall Parent, Public Safety
                     Kathy Ward, YMCA Resource Center
                     Linda Brasel, Arcadia University, Building Bridges

Staff Attending:
                     Roberta Gealt, USA Director
                    Mary Perno, USA Project Coordinator

Discussions:
American Lung Association Grant- A draft poster was handed out.  Comments indicated that the picture was more appropriate to middle school youth than high school youth, that it might be misconstrued to be about marijuana rather than cigarettes, and that the text was too long.  Back to the drawing board.

OPEI-TAAG-Letters concerning the awards for this program were purportedly mailed the day prior to the USA meeting, and no other information could be provided.  This mini-grant of $5000 would support Town Hall Meetings on Underage Drinking in multiple school settings, since no Federal funding will be provided for this project this year.

SIG Grant-The state has submitted an application for this grant which would provide over two million dollars per year for five years for prevention in Delaware.  Notification of awards will go out in March.  If Delaware is awarded a SIG, USA will actively participate in developing and implementing a strategic prevention plan for New Castle County outside of Wilmington.

DFC-The application for this DFC grant for $100,000, which provides most of USA’s funding, is due on March 2nd.  This will be your 9 for USA, with a maximum of ten years of support from this source. 

Game Show-The game continues under development. 

Parent Chat-Transition to College-This program is set for Wednesday, March 4th at 6:00 PM at Newark High School.  We have 2 confirmed speakers, so far; Cathy Skelley (UD Residence Life) and Nicole Solomon (UD Wellspring).  We’re waiting to hear from Dennis Harris and Holli Harvey (UD Judicial).  Other suggestions were:

·         Public Safety from UD and maybe another college

·         Admissions Office (Christine Schultz)

·         Greg Miculucci, Newark PD

·         Newark PD Chief

·         UD Police Chief or maybe Skip Homiak from UD

·         Ask Nicole Solomon to bring students with her, as she did last year

·         Ask fraternity or sororities to provide students to respond to parents’ questions

Policy Forum-Scheduled for Tuesday, March 3rd at Buena Vista from 8:40-4:30 PM, this meeting will be co-sponsored by USA and DDATA to bring consensus on policy direction recommendations, based on review of current data on substance use and related consequences in Delaware.  Letters of invitation are being developed and we are working to get the meeting on Jack Markell’s schedule.

Physicians & Pharmacists-A review of the literature in this area has revealed two main points that USA could educate physicians and pharmacists on, as well as others—first, Delaware has an “alcohol exclusion law” which states that if you go into a trauma unit for a drug or alcohol related incident for a drug or alcohol related event, the insurance company is not responsible for covering the costs associated with that event.  One consequence of this is that most ER’s and Trauma Units will not ask if alcohol or drugs were involved.  This makes data concerning alcohol and drug-related events unreliable.  Second, it also prevents the use of a strategy—the Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT)—which has proven to be effective in reducing alcohol use; DUI’s and repeat ER visits in a variety of target populations.  This simple brief procedure—usually consisting of six to ten short questions, followed, if necessary, by a very brief verbal intervention or, if necessary, by a referral to a more in-depth screening for an appropriate level of treatment—can be done in wellness centers as well.  There are now codes to be used for screening and brief interventions for insurers and Medicaid, so that physicians will be reimbursed for their time for this procedure. 

USA Notes- The newest USA Notes was handed out; all of the information in it is true and has been relatively consistent over the years. 

CADCA-Roberta and Mary will be attending the CADCA Conference in Washington, DC the week of February 8th.  We have confirmed appointments with Congressman Castle’s office and Senator Carper’s office.  We are waiting to hear back from Senator Kaufman’s office for an appointment time of 4:30 on Feb. 10th.

 

The next USA Executive Meeting will be on Wed. February 18th at 3:30 PM at Arcadia University.