Last Updated: October 2022

Author: Tobacco Control Program, Vermont Department of Health

Due to reassignments during the COVID response, the Offices of Local Health (OLH) Chronic Disease Designees were not asked to participate in the review of quarterly reports. These reviews will resume when OLH has capacity. 

 The Vermont Department of Health funds 12 tobacco community coialitions, down from 14 in FY2021 and FY2020. A Tobacco Control Program, per the CDC 2014 Best Practice Guide, aligns state and local initiatives to produce protective measures that over time reduce tobacco initiation and use, support successful tobacco cessation, and limit exposure to secondhand smoke. Community support and involvement at the grassroots level in educating on effective policy and planning interventions can result in creating content neutral advertising laws and smoke-free public and private environments, and at the state level state statutes that limit youth access, exposure and use of tobacco and support all adults in never starting tobacco use or quitting if they do. The program’s technical assistance seeks to enhance and guide the community coalitions' efforts by playing a key role in providing resources that will aid in successful implementation of workplan activities.

The leadership and staff at the Offices of Local Health seek to engage the tobacco community coalitions on how initiatives such as the Department of Health 3-4-50 program can be incorporated into the work being done around addressing risk behaviors and reducing chronic diseases.

The Vermont Department of Health seeks to provide support to community coalitions through:

• Providing best practice guidance and technical assistance
• Giving feedback on community coalition tobacco workplans and quarterly reporting
• Arranging trainings and strategy sessions among the coalitions
• Coordinating site visits with coalitions
• Providing presentation templates, data and other resources for tobacco coalitions at community events and presentations

Together these performance measures focus on whether Vermonters are better off as a result of Health Department's Tobacco Control Program. They do so by looking at the quality and efficiency of these programs and services. This performance measure is important because it measures HOW MUCH the program and its partners are doing in terms of community engagement for tobacco prevention.

• Community grantees: Tobacco-funded grantees create yearly work plans with local point of sale objectives, smoke- and tobacco-free objectives, earned media and several other activities.
• Office of Local Health (OLH) : The Vermont Department of Health operates 12 District Offices located throughout the state. Tobacco-funded grantees collaborate with the office of local health personnel in their service area to provide support for implementation of grantee work plan activities.
• Quarterly workgroup consisting of Attorney General's Office, Department of Liquor and Lottery, Agency of Education and the legal and policy team of the Department of Health. Together we identify and work together on emerging issues, such as new tobacco products, violations, rise in youth use of e-cigarettes among other issues.

According to CDC’s 2014 Best Practice Guide, state and community coalitions are essential partnerships to achieve tobacco control and prevention statewide goals. Research has demonstrated the importance of community support and involvement at the grassroots level in implementing several of the most highly effective policy interventions.

The Vermont Tobacco Control Program in collaboration with the Office of Local Health, provides technical assistance through feedback and input on coalition workplans, quarterly reports and meetings such as trainings with content experts, strategy sessions, and site visits. In the spirit of peer learning, the program has been inviting coalitions to share their growing expertise, successes and challenges with each other.

• The program will continue to support tobacco coalitions with the technical assistance needed on a one-on-one basis through site visits, trainings, networking meetings, and monthly check-ins in collaboration with Office of Local Health staff as available.
• The program will continue to encourage feedback from OLH on community grantees annual workplans, quarterly reports and activities.