2023-2024 NC SHIP Community Council Scorecard

Structure of the NC SHIP Community Council

The NC SHIP Community Council provides oversight on policy initiatives for the 21 HNC 2030 indicators throughout the decade (2020-2030):  

• Convenes annually in July.
• Comprised of 18 working groups (two clusters of similar HNC 2030 indicators and 16 stand-alone indicators).
• Each working group has a minimum of three co-leads.
• Co-leads must include at least one DHHS representative, one or more community advocates, and one or more partnering agency, institution, or non-DHHS representatives.
• All designated co-leads constitute the NC SHIP Community Council.

Calendar of Events

• October 2023: First work group meetings held.
• September 2023: Co-leaders review priorities and plan for work group meetings. 
• August 2023: Co-Leader Process Review Meetings
• July 12, 2023: NC SHIP Community Council Annual Meeting
• May to June 2023: Co-Leader Listening Sessions
• August 2022 to June 2023: Work group meetings held, priorities identified, and action planning began.
• July 19, 2022: Inaugural NC SHIP Community Council Annual Meeting 
• July 2022:  NC SHIP Community Council Program Manager hired.
• June 7, 2022: DHHS co-leads review the proposed policy initiatives in the 2022 NC SHIP in preparation for the annual NC SHIP Community Council meeting.
• May 2022: NC DHHS designated co-leads leads for each indicator.

The NC SHIP Community Council met on July 12, 2023, to:

• Share the journey from Healthy North Carolina 2030 (HNC 2030) to now.
• Provide an opportunity for co-leaders and work group members to reflect on their experiences over the past year.
• Recognize the NC SHIP Community Council as a Social Sector Hero. 
• Launch the Year of Action. 
• Invite new members to join and current members to continue. 
• (Slides from the meeting are available at: https://schs.dph.ncdhhs.gov/units/ldas/hnc.htm)

HNC 2030 Priorities

Healthy North Carolina (HNC 2030) provides the foundation for the NC State Health Improvement Plan.  Using the Robert Wood Johnson-County Health Ranking's Population Health Framework,  planners apportioned the number and type of indicators used in the model. 

The quality of our life and how long we live is dependent upon four types of factors: 

• Health Behaviors (about 40%),
• Clinical Care (about 20%),
• Physical Envionment (about 10%), and
• Social and Economic factors (about 40%).

HNC 2030 addresses 21 wicked problems based upon the above allocation:

• 6 Indicators for Health Behaviors
• 4 Indicators for Clinicare Care
• 3 Indicators for Physical Environment
• 6 Indicators for Social and Economic 
• 2 Overarching Indicators

This Scorecard tracks priorities specific to the 21 headline indicators highlighted in HNC 2030 and the NC State Health Improvement Plan.

Healthy People 2030 Priorities

Healthy People 2030 is our nation's plan that focuses on eight global outcome measures that impact overall health and well-being. In addition to the global measures, there are 355 core objectives that have 10 year targets.

Healthy North Carolina 2030 tracks 21 indicators with 10 year targets. NC's 21 indicators are aligned with Healthy People 2030, with two exceptions that were of specific interest to North Carolinians (Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption and Short-term School Suspensions),

Learn more at: https://health.gov/healthypeople 

2023-2024 Meeting Schedules

There are 18 work groups across the 21 indicators. Meeting schedules are included as available under each work group below. To join a work group completed the NC SHIP Community Council Interest Form. For more information on how to attend the work group meetings, contact Ashley Rink, Program Manager, NC SHIP Community Council, at ashley.rink@dhhs.nc.gov.

New Members

New members to the NC SHIP Community Council (which includes the work groups) should recieve the following as part of their orientation. If the following has not been received, contact Ashley Rink, ashley.rink@dhhs.nc.gov.

• Community Council 101 (Slide Deck and/or Live Orientation; includes review of work group's priorities and action plans)
• Invite to NC SHIP Community Council Teams Channel (Access to additional meeting notes, slide decks, action plans, and contact list)
• Calendar invites to work group meetings

Included below are links frequently referred to by the Community Council.

• Healthy North Carolina 2030 (HNC 2030) and NC SHIP
• NC SHIP Full Report (2023) 
• 2023-2024 NC SHIP Community Council Scorecard

Frequently Used Acronyms

AAP: American Academy of Pediatrics

ACC: Accountable Care Community

ACEs: Adverse Childhood Experiences

ACOG: American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists

BRFSS: Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System

CDC: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

CNW: certified nurse midwife

CSPAC: Comprehensive Suicide Prevention Advisory Council

EBCI: Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians

FHLI: The Foundation for Health Leadership & Innovation

FPL: Federal Poverty Level

HIV: Human Immunodeficiency Virus

HNC: Healthy North Carolina

HPV: human papillomavirus

IUD: intrauterine device

KEA: Kindergarten Entry Assessment

LARC: long-acting reversible contraceptives

LE: life expectancy

LEA: Local Education Agency

LGBTQ: lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer

MSM: men who have sex with men

NC AHEC: NC Area Health Education Centers

NC DHHS or NCDHHS: North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services

NC DPH: North Carolina Division of Public Health

NC DPI: North Carolina Department of Public Instruction

NC EDSS: North Carolina Electronic Disease Surveillance System

NC SEAAC: North Carolina State Excessive Alcohol Advisory Committee (NCSEAAC)

NCHA: North Carolina Healthcare Association

NCIOM: North Carolina Institute of Medicine

OPDAAC: North Carolina Opioid and Prescription Drug Abuse Advisory Committee

PA: physician assistant

PHEC: Perinatal Health Equity Collective

PHSP: Perinatal Health Strategic Plan

PrEP: pre-exposure prophylaxis

SBIRT: Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment

SDOH: Social determinants of health

SHA: State Health Assessment

SHIP: State Health Improvement Plan

SNAP/EBT: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program/Electronic Benefits Transfer

SSB: sugar-sweetened beverage

STI: sexually transmitted infection

SUD: substance use disorder

VA: Veterans Affairs

YRBS: Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance

Co-Leaders and Members

Joining a Work Group: To join a work group or work groups, please complete the NC SHIP Community Council Interest Form. For additional information about the NC SHIP Community Council, contact Ashley Rink, NCSHIP Community Partnership Manager, at ashley.rink@dhhs.nc.gov.

Priorities

Priorities are the policies and/or programs identified by the work group to take action on over the course of the next year.

Priority Development Agenda

The Priority Development Agenda is a list of policies and/or programs the work group considers important for future consideration and is not taking action on during this next year.

Potential reasons why a priority would be added to the priority development agenda:

• Lack of resources (Specify the type of resources, such as materials, money/funding, staff, and/or other assets)
• Lack of political support and/or viability
• Other: Describe the reason the priority is not currently feasible and/or is being added to the priority development agenda.

Action Plan

The purpose of a work group's action plan is to describe what the work group plans to act on until June 2024 to advance the identified priorities. The timeframes for the work group’s action plans may extend past June 2024 to 2030. The indicators identified in Healthy North Carolina 2030 are in place until 2030. Action plans are fluid and will be updated throughout the year.

While work groups can use the format that works best for them for action planning, the recommendation is that at minimum the following be included for the action plan for each priority.

• What will be done?
• How will it be done?
  • (For example, describe how the action step or strategy will be implemented.)
• Who will be involved in implementing the action step or strategy?
  • (For example, partners and/or who will be doing this.)
• When will it take place?
  • (For example, what time period.)
• How will success be measured?
  • (For example, how much did we do, how well did we do, and/or is anyone better off.)

Meeting Schedule

Work group meeting schedules vary and may be monthly, bi-monthly, or quarterly depending on the work group. Refer to each indicator and work group for current meeting schedules. 

Meeting Notes

Notes from work group meetings throughout the year will be available in the section for Meeting Notes.

Readings/Listenings

The Readings/Listenings include websites, articles, videos, and other relevant resources from the indicator pages in the 2023 NC SHIP report. 

Related Statewide Plans

Related plans include and are not limited to the following:

2021-2025 N.C. Falls Prevention Coalition Action Plan    

2021-2025 North Carolina Suicide Prevention Action Plan  

2022 Update- Dementia-Capable North Carolina: A Strategic Plan for Addressing Alzheimer's Disease & Related Dementia

2022-2026 Perinatal Health Strategic Plan 

NC Ending HIV: A Plan to End HIV Together Community-by-Community Hand-in-Hand 

North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Strategic Housing Plan 

North Carolina Opioid and Substance Use Action Plan

North Carolina’s Olmstead Plan   

North Carolina’s Plan to Address Overweight and Obesity    

Co-Leaders and Members

Co-Leaders:

Work Group Members:

Updated 3/21/2024

Priorities

2023-2024 Priorities

• Create and expand legislation and advocate with employers to provide paid family medical leave, earned paid sick leave, kin care, and safe days for all caregivers 
• Expand access to higher educational opportunities
• Expand Medicaid eligibility
• Expand the availability and amount of childcare subsidies to reflect the cost of care more adequately. 
• Support people with disabilities and those in recovery, veterans, and reentry populations to live their lives as fully included members of the community implementing key employment initiatives like CIE and Employment First.
• Support early college while in high school — pipeline programs

Priority Development Agenda

2022 Proposed Policy Initiatives

The following are the proposed policy initiatives from the 2022 NC SHIP report.

Poverty:

• Create and expand legislation and advocate with employers to provide paid family medical leave, earned paid sick leave, kin care, and safe days for all caregivers
• Ease negative impact of “benefits cliffs” caused by reductions in benefits, by lengthening phase-out periods
• Eliminate taxation on sanitary products including menstrual supplies, diapers, and breastfeeding supplies
• Expand Medicaid eligibility
• Expand the availability and amount of childcare subsidies to reflect the cost of care more adequately
• Raise the minimum wage to $15.00 per hour
• Restore the North Carolina Earned Income Tax Credit
• Support “early college while in high school” programs, such as REaCH and SEarCH

Unemployment:

• Create and expand legislation and advocate with employers to provide paid family medical leave, earned paid sick leave, kin care, and safe days for all caregivers
• Expand access to higher educational opportunities
• Expand Medicaid eligibility
• Expand transit options in rural and low-income communities
• Improve access to personal finance credit scores
• Expand the availability and amount of childcare subsidies to reflect the cost of care more adequately
• Increase access to broadband internet
• Pass fair chance hiring policies for county and local employees, and work with employers to adopt fair chance hiring policies for themselves
• Shift funding from industrial recruitment to support small businesses and social enterprises
• Support people with disabilities and those in recovery, veterans, and reentry populations to live their lives as fully included members of the community by implementing key employment initiatives like Competitive Integrated Employment and Employment First

Action Plan

Meeting Schedule

2023-2024 Poverty & Unemployment Work Group Meeting Schedule:

• Friday, October 13, 2023, from 2:00 to 3:00 pm, Microsoft Teams
• Friday, November 17, 2023, from 2:00 to 3:00 pm, Microsoft Teams
• Friday, December 15, 2023, from 2:00 to 3:00 pm, Microsoft Teams
• Thursday, January 25, 2024, from 3:00 to 4:00 pm, Microsoft Teams
• Tuesday, February 13, 2024, from 1:00 to 2:00 pm, Microsoft Teams
• Tuesday, March 12, 2024, from 1:00 to 2:00 pm, Microsoft Teams
• Tuesday, May 14, 2024, from 1:00 to 2:00 pm, Microsoft Teams
• Tuesday,  June 11, 2024, from 1:00 to 2:00 pm, Microsoft Teams

Meeting Notes

Tuesday, May 14, 2024, from 1:00 to 2:00 pm, Microsoft Teams- Work Group Meeting

Attendees: Fenaba Addo, Sue Lynn Ledford, Jessica Maas, Nakiya Smith, Staff: Ashley Rink

• Categories and Priorities
  • The co-leaders, Fenaba Addo and Nakiya Smith, reviewed the categories and priorities discussed at the previous meeting.
  • The group reviewed the updates and discussed additional revisions. The priority categories included: 
    • Digital Equity
    • Educational Access and Support
    • Healthcare Equity
    • Familial Support
    • Transitional Support

Tuesday, March 12, 2024, from 1:00 to 2:00 pm, Microsoft Teams- Work Group Meeting

Attendees: Fenaba Addo, Diannee Carden, Sue Lynn Ledford, Trudy Logan, Jessica Maas, Nakiya Smith, Staff: Ashley Rink

• Updates
  • The co-leaders completed the Mid-Year Progress Review for the work group to assess the group’s progress. So far, the work group has highlighted policy priorities and added additional priorities at the previous work group meeting.
  • The next steps are to attach action items for the priorities discussed.
• 2023-2024 Priorities
  • The priorities the group had previously identified and discussed were:
    • Create and expand legislation and advocate with employers to provide paid family medical leave, earned paid sick leave, kin care, and safe days for all caregivers
    • Expand access to higher educational opportunities
    • Expand Medicaid eligibility
    • Expand the availability and amount of childcare subsidies to reflect the cost of care
    • Support people with disabilities and those in recovery, veterans, and reentry populations to live their lives as fully included members of the community implementing key employment initiatives like CIE and Employment First
    • Support early college while in high school — pipeline programs
    • Support education, awareness, and outreach for services for people who are in poverty, unemployed, and/or are unhoused (added)
    • Increase access to broadband internet (discussed potentially adding)
  • The 2023 NC SHIP report indicator pages are available at https://schs.dph.ncdhhs.gov/units/ldas/docs/1-PovertyIndicator2023NCSHIP.pdf and https://schs.dph.ncdhhs.gov/units/ldas/docs/2-UnemploymentIndicator2023NCSHIP.pdf.
• Digital equity
  • At the previous work group meeting the group had discussed adding increasing access to broadband internet as a priority. The importance of digital equity and inclusivity, including platforms for internet connectivity for rural areas was discussed.
  • The White House had an Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) that will be ending. Additional information is available at https://www.whitehouse.gov/getinternet/.
• Repository of resources
  • There is a need for coordination across NCDHHS for efforts addressing poverty and unemployment, including housing and employment programs for veterans and formerly incarcerated populations.
  • The group discussed a need for interlinking resources and programs that are currently available at the state level regarding employment, NCID, Medicaid. There could be a more streamlined process between those departments.
  • Additional questions for consideration:
    • What kind of support could be provided to community-based organizations?
    • How could this group be a resource to them?
  • An action that was discussed was developing a repository of resources.
• Paid Family Leave
  • The bills shared at the previous meeting are not up for consideration during the General Assembly’s Short Session.
  • An action discussed was preparing advocates to be ready for the next time a bill is put forth; using advocacy to get those bills on the docket.
• Priority Action Items
  • The group discussed the following priority action items and potentially what the group could accomplish together for the year.
    • Repository of resources to include Digital Equity.
    • Integration of poverty points in NC DHHS.
    • Advocating for Family Leave bills.
• Next Steps
  • Fenaba, Nakiya, and Yas will consolidate the current priorities. Overarching areas discussed included the following. The consolidated priorities will be shared back with the work group prior to the next meeting.
    • Digital Equity
    • Paid Family Medical Leave
    • Medicaid
    • Education
  • Additional information will be shared with work group members to add and provide feedback on action items and/or next steps the group could take for the updated priorities.

Tuesday, February 13, 2024, from 1:00 to 2:00 pm, Microsoft Teams- Work Group Meeting

Attendees: Fenaba Addo, Hope Bryant, Sue Lynn Ledford, Jessica Maas, Yas Shepard, Staff: Ashley Rink

• Updates: The following updates were shared during the meeting.
  • Yas Shepard:
  • There is a public facing data dashboard for Medicaid Expansion that includes enrollment by race, ethnicity, age, and other metrics. The Medicaid Expansion Dashboard is available at https://medicaid.ncdhhs.gov/reports/medicaid-expansion-dashboard. Working with them to find data on income levels for those being enrolled at the state and/or local level.
  • There is not any legislation in the General Assembly’s Short Session on paid parental leave. The proposed bills related to paid parental leave are still available for review at https://www.ncleg.gov/Legislation/Bills/ByKeyword/2023/All. To view those bills, search “Paid.”
  • NCDHHS Veteran’s Services does provide support for employment services and education. Additional information is available at https://www.ncdhhs.gov/assistance/veterans-services.
  • Hope Bryant:
    • Contacted the Director of Accessibility Services of her local community college. She is working with her on data at the local level and how to access the data statewide. They are still working on the grant for employment for those with disabilities.
    • Will continue to work on getting data for the local communities and the state community colleges.
  • Jessica Maas:
  • Community health worker employment is varied across the state; some community health workers are employed by providers, health plans, and health departments. The certification program is in place. Currently, fourteen community colleges offer certification training.
  • Sue Lynn Ledford:
    • The NCCARE360 portal can be utilized across the state for referrals and referral tracking.
    • Impact Health in western North Carolina is part of the Healthy Opportunities Pilot. As part of the pilot, they can work with their Medicaid clients that have health and safety issues, including food, housing repair and remediation of homes, transportation, safety/ violence, etc. They have covered about 1,300 clients in western North Carolina since March 2023. Healthy Opportunities Pilots: https://www.ncdhhs.gov/about/department-initiatives/healthy-opportunities/healthy-opportunities-pilots
    • Impact Health- Network Leads: https://impacthealth.org/who-we-are/our-team/
    • The Healthy Opportunities Pilot (HOP) will be expanding to a statewide system- What are the projected number of beneficiaries the HOP expansion would impact?
    • There are opportunities to review numbers around Numbers around housing remediation, supplemental food boxes, transportation, etc.; there are a lot of tracking within the Healthy Opportunities Pilots that could lend voice to what the issues of poverty and unemployment are.
    • From the lens of poverty, HOP is a mechanism for families that have been hopeless and unable to address their needs to begin to address their needs.
    • NCWorks provides employment assistance through reentry programs for people involved in the justice system. The state is expanding reentry services.
    • NCDHHS Expands Investment in Reentry Services for People Involved in the Justice System: https://www.ncdhhs.gov/news/press-releases/2024/02/12/ncdhhs-expands-investment-reentry-services-people-involved-justice-system
• Additional Discussion:
  • There is flexibility in the work group’s focus related to poverty and unemployment. The group has been reviewing programs and policies to move the needle on poverty and unemployment.
  • The group initially reviewed policies from Healthy North Carolina 2030 and narrowed the list to focus on Medicaid Expansion, paid family leave, reentry, and unhoused populations.
  • The group continues to make connections with stakeholders to track how those programs and policies are impacting poverty and unemployment across the state.
  • Previously there was a policy in the list related to broadband that was not prioritized. The group discussed potentially adding, “Increase access to broadband internet,” as a priority. Housing is another issue in rural and urban areas. Stabilizing drivers of health, such as affordable for housing needs, broadband, and healthcare, etc.
• Next Steps:
  • Yas- Confirm if contact is still working with HOP. Explore HOP data.
  • Sue Lynn- Share HOP contacts; will sharing that contact information with Yas.
  • All- Consider:
    • What is the next actionable thing the group could do?
    • What is moving the needle for families being served?
  • All- Share if you have a conflict with the next meeting that is scheduled for Tuesday, March 12, 2024, from 1:00 to 2:00 pm via Microsoft Teams.

Thursday, January 25, 2024, 3:00 to 4:00 pm, Microsoft Teams- Work Group Meeting

Attendees: Yas Shepard, Fenaba Addo, Hope Bryant, Diannee Carden-Glenn, Jessica Maas, Melanie Osborne; Staff: Ashley Rink

• Welcome and Introductions
  • Yas Shepard and Fenaba Addo welcomed everyone and asked for introductions.
  • The co-leaders for the work group are Yas Shepard, Fenaba Addo, and Nakiya Smith.
• Priority Review
  • The work group reviewed the priorities the group had identified previously.
    1. Create and expand legislation and advocate with employers to provide paid family medical leave, earned paid sick leave, kin care, and safe days for all caregivers
    2. Expand access to higher educational opportunities
    3. Expand Medicaid eligibility
    4. Expand the availability and amount of childcare subsidies to reflect the cost of care
    5. Support people with disabilities and those in recovery, veterans, and reentry populations to live their lives as fully included members of the community implementing key employment initiatives like CIE and Employment First
    6. Support early college while in high school — pipeline programs
    7. Support education, awareness, and outreach for services for people who are in poverty, unemployed, and/or are unhoused (added)
  • The group has made some progress on data available related to the priorities and track progress to address poverty and unemployment. The priorities are not prioritized over the others.
  • #3 With Medicaid, some of the data is not tracked at a state level about poverty and unemployment and is not readily accessible.
  • #3: There has been a focus on finding data to assess whether poverty and unemployment has been or not been improving.
  • #5: Hope Bryant- Her local community college has written a grant to support individuals with disabilities and connect them with jobs. There should be data from the colleges. Bring additional information to the next meeting.
  • #1: With the growing work group, there are more opportunities to explore different avenues to support this work.
  • #5: There are not enough social workers in the prisons to prepare for reentry. There are some pilots to encourage linkage with MCOs and may need additional support.
  • #5: Efforts to increase and encourage use of the NCCare360 system.
  • #5:  NC Serves- veterans services of the Carolinas, Veterans Bridge Home- link to resources, huge advocate; ABCCM.
    • https://nc.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=def612b7025b44eaa1e0d7af43f4702b
    • https://veteransbridgehome.org/
    • https://www.abccm-vsc.org/
  • Have DSS offices been tracking the number of people are unemployed? Does Medicaid have that data about employment/ income level?
  • Hope- Connect to services.
  • #1: Is there any legislation being drafted? Where do things stand related to this kind of legislation?- Yas- can ask Matt Gross. Parental and family leave- Build Back Better efforts, any current movement?
  • Changes will have to be made related to Medicaid, related to behavioral health.
  • Bills related to paid parental leave- https://www.ncleg.gov/Legislation/Bills/ByKeyword/2023/All
  • NC is among the worst states for working parents, study finds. Here’s why (yahoo.com)
  • Support and buy-in related to parental leave policies.
  • Work with people in poverty and are unemployment- be advocate for those people to educate those people that don’t qualify for Medicaid
    • Support education, awareness, and outreach for services for people who are in poverty, unemployed, and/or are unhoused
• Next Steps:
  • All- Consider data and partners related to each of the priorities in preparation for the February meeting.
  • All- Review the proposed bills related to paid parental leave.
  • Ashley- Send out Doodle Poll for February. (Not 3:00 pm)- Monthly recurrence
  • Yas- Will resend the link to parental bills.
  • Yas- Ask Matt Gross about bills related to parental leave in the short session.
  • Yas- Will reshare priorities with the group.

Friday, December 15, 2023, from 2:00 to 3:00 pm, Microsoft Teams- Work Group Meeting

Attendees: Yas Shepard and Volker Frank; Staff: Hannah McDiarmid and Ashley Rink

• Notes:
  • Yas Shepard shared updates from her discussions with Nakiya Smith on parental leave and the General Assembly. Attached is additional information about the modifications from June 2023.
  • Yas has contacted Medicaid about poverty and unemployment data they may have available. They are rolling out a data dashboard. She is also contacting Honey Estrada with the North Carolina Community Health Worker Association about if there has been or will be expansion of community health workers hired by health plans with the changes to Medicaid.
  • A Doodle Poll will be shared in early January 2024 to assist with setting the new meeting schedule.
  • Continue to consider others to invite to join the work group.
  • The work group’s current priorities are included below. The co-leaders (Yas, Nakiya, and Fenaba) have been reviewing the priorities using an equity lens They also wanted to choose policies that could connect with agencies, groups, and people that could provide data.
    • Create and expand legislation and advocate with employers to provide paid family medical leave, earned paid sick leave, kin care, and safe days for all caregivers
    • Expand access to higher educational opportunities
    • Expand Medicaid eligibility
    • Expand the availability and amount of childcare subsidies to reflect the cost of care.
    • Support people with disabilities and those in recovery, veterans, and reentry populations to live their lives as fully included members of the community implementing key employment initiatives like CIE and Employment First.
    • Support early college while in high school — pipeline programs
  • There is potential momentum and opportunities around employment with Medicaid Expansion and with leave policies. The group will continue discussions at the next work group meeting.
  • The next steps are to continue to learn about the priorities regarding policies at the state level and the landscape and then to develop action plans as a work group for the priorities.

Friday, November 17, 2023, from 2:00 to 3:00 pm, Microsoft Teams- Work Group Meeting

Attendees: Fenaba Addo and Yas Shepard; Staff: Ashley Rink

• Notes:
  • Discussed the following next steps related to the identified priorities and how to find out where there are bottlenecks and missing pieces related to how the priority areas are impacting unemployment and poverty.
  • Priority: Create and expand legislation and advocate with employers to provide paid family medical leave, earned paid sick leave, kin care, and safe days for all caregivers 
    • Identify what is currently in place or progress related to paid family medical leave. 
    • Review family leave policies for public institutions and state government.
      • Yas to contact OSHR.
      • Fenaba to reach out to human resources for UNC. 
  • Priority: Expand Medicaid eligibility
    • Learn about current initiatives related to Medicaid Expansion. 
    • Explore how Medicaid Expansion will directly and indirectly impact poverty. 
      • Data may be available through the Care Share Alliance, Justice Center, Department of Commerce, Census tract, etc.
      • Yas to contact Medicaid about related data that may be available.

Friday, October 13, 2023, from 2:00 to 3:00 pm, Microsoft Teams- Work Group Meeting

Attendees: Fenaba Addo and Yas Shepard; Staff: Hannah McDiarmid and Ashley Rink

• Notes:
  • Discussed which policies to work on this year; first and foremost, the work group wanted to look at policies using an equity lens and examine policies to address closing the gap. Additional considerations included choosing policies that could easily connect with agencies, groups, and people that could provide data. The identified priorities for 2023-2024 are:

1. Create and expand legislation and advocate with employers to provide paid family medical leave, earned paid sick leave, kin care, and safe days for all caregivers 
2. Expand access to higher educational opportunities
3. Expand Medicaid eligibility
4. Expand the availability and amount of childcare subsidies to reflect the cost of care more adequately. 
5. Support people with disabilities and those in recovery, veterans, and reentry populations to live their lives as fully included members of the community implementing key employment initiatives like CIE and Employment First.
6. Support early college while in high school — pipeline programs

• Planned to meet on November 17, 2023, in the afternoon; the time is to be confirmed. 

Readings/Listenings

• Assessing the Impact of COVID-19 on Low-income Households and Communities in North Carolina, The North Carolina Community Action Association (NCCAA), (March 2021): https://www.womenadvancenc.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/assessing-the-impact-of-covid-19-final.pdf
• The ARC of Justice: From Here to Equality (2021), Duke Sanford School of Public Policy Ways and Means Podcast Series. https://waysandmeansshow.org/2021/02/24/new-season-arc-justice/

Co-Leaders and Members

Work Group Members:

Updated 7/3/2024

Priorities

2023-2024 Priorities:

• Disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline, beginning with early childhood programs by reducing the use of school suspensions and expulsions and increasing the use of counseling services and community-based programs and initiatives.
• Increase racial, ethnic, gender, and disability status diversity among school and childcare leadership and staff and the institutions that train them.

Action Plan

Meeting Schedule

2023-2024 Short-Term Suspensions Work Group Meeting Schedule:

• Friday, October 27, 2023, from 11:00 to 12:00 pm, Microsoft Teams
• Friday, December 8, 2023, from 10:00 to 11:00 am, Microsoft Teams
• Friday, February 16, 2024, from 10:00 to 11:00 am, Microsoft Teams
• Friday, April 12, 2024, from 10:00 to 11:00 am, Microsoft Teams
• Friday, June 14, 2024, from 10:00 to 11:00 am, Microsoft Teams

Meeting Notes

Friday, June 14, 2024, 10:00 to 11:00 am, Microsoft Teams- Work Group Meeting

Attendees: Diane Coffey, Rev. Paul Robeson Ford, Alesha Garcia, Hayley Lampkin-Blyth, Gerri Mattson, Valerie McMillan, Peggy D. Nicholson, Carlton Powell, Peter Rawitsch, Andrina Scott (DPH Intern), Jacquie Simmons; Staff: Ashley Rink

• Welcome and Agenda Overview
  • Rev. Paul Robeson Ford welcomed the group. Work group members were asked to introduce themselves and share how they were feeling about the work of reducing exclusionary discipline as another school year ends.
• Grounding and Level Setting
  • The NC SHIP Community Council grew from Healthy North Carolina 2030. The 2023-2024 Community Council, including the Short-Term Suspensions Work Group reviewed the previous policy priorities, moved to action, and connected and collaborated with other partners.  
  • The 2024 NC SHIP Community Council Annual Meeting will be on Wednesday, July 10, 2024, from 10:00 to 12:00 pm on Microsoft Teams. Contact Ashley Rink if a calendar invite has not been received. The agenda will be shared closer to the meeting. The Annual Meeting will be an opportunity to hear highlights across the Community Council and share more about what is next for 2024-2025.
• Expanding Work Group and Going Forward
  • Valerie Mcmillian shared the NC Coalition for Inclusion, Not Expulsions is a statewide group that has been in existence for two years. Their primary focus is on the youngest learners, children three and four years old specifically because expulsions and exclusionary practices are happening in early childhood settings across North Carolina. These are disproportionately happening with black children, specifically boys in early childhood settings.
  • The NC Coalition for Inclusion, Not Expulsions has five different task force groups, including public awareness, research of data, resources and support for early childhood programs. public policy and infrastructure systems change,
  • Collectively the Coalition is looking at eradicating this issue and the early childhood settings for the earliest learners across the state of North Carolina.
  • Rev. Ford, Peter Rawitsch, and Veronica McLaurin-Brown shared at the NC Coalition for Inclusion, Not Expulsions’ June 11th meeting about the need for collective impact work and the tremendous work done in New Hanover County.
  • By intentionally connecting, collaborating, and aligning their activities, those working in the suspension and exclusionary discipline space can leverage their collective voice.
• Progress Updates
  • Love Our Children NC- Revising Short-Term Suspension Policy 4351 in New Hanover County
    • Peter Rawitsch shared there is still debate over serious infractions of the code of conduct and minor infractions for 5-, 6-, and 7-year-olds. They can only be suspended for serious infractions, which would include guns, drugs and violent assaults.
    • Before the policy changed there were only 3 serious infractions. The data from the previous two years shows there were 83 serious infractions with most related to serious fights or hitting an adult in the school.
    • There are unanswered questions about the implementation of the policy and how the behaviors are being coded. Peter and Veronica have reached out to their superintendent for a meeting over the summer about this.
  • EJA (Education Justice Alliance)- Potential legislation update
    • Letha Muhammad, the Co-Executive Director for the Education Justice Alliance, shared at April work group meeting that an administrator with Representative Marcia Morey had reached out about potential legislation or language that could be added to existing legislation for the Short Session.
    • The product of the information shared was House Bill 1027, which includes revising the suspension and parental notices policy. This bill has been filed. The key provisions of the bill include a full definition of short term, intermediate, and long-term suspension, reasonable efforts to notify parents when exclusionary decisions are made, and the requirement for all suspension data on early childhood suspensions to be reported to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction annually.
    • An email from Letha Muhammad was shared following the meeting with work group members with a call to action to contact their legislators and encourage them to support House Bill 1027. 
    • Rev. Ford shared House Bill 207 has been amended now addresses student discipline specifically related to the appeal processes for short-term suspensions, which is considered 10 days or less in terms state statute, and also an expungement process for the short-term suspension. This bill advances parts of key provisions House Bill 1027. There has been conversation with legislators about including a provision the prohibits kindergarten through third grade suspensions.
  • Policy Campaign Subcommittee
    • The Policy Campaign Subcommittee is working to build a policy campaign template that can be shared throughout the state. Members of the subcommittee include Diane Coffey, Matthew Ellinwood, Rev. Paul Robeson Ford, Alesha Garcia, Fernando Martinez, Gerri Mattson, Dawn Meskil, Graham Palmer, and Peter Rawitsch.
    • The Subcommittee had their first meeting on May 30th.  Updates from that meeting are available here. The Subcommittee identified the need for a one-pager to make the case for ending lower elementary suspensions in each district. The group identified a few potential counties that may be ready to work on these issues.
    • The group will also consider how to raise funds to support the districts as the toolkit is shared.
    • Their next meeting will be on Thursday, June 20th from 2:00 to 3:00 pm on Microsoft Teams. Alesha Garcia will present on the Center for Safer Schools and opportunities for influence.
    • Additional Updates
      • Rev. Ford shared beginning next year in Forsyth County Schools there will be no more kindergarten to third grade suspensions, except in severe circumstances.
      • Peter Rawitsch shared Every Child NC's Advocacy Day is on Tuesday, June 25th in Raleigh to talk to legislators about H1027 and other education bills. Rsvp here.
• Closing
  • Rev. Paul Robeson Ford and Letha Muhammad will continue as co-leaders for the 2024-2025 Short-Term  Suspensions Work Group.
  • The next meeting date will be on Friday, August 9, 2024, from 10:00 to 11:00 am on Microsoft Teams.

Friday, April 12, 2024, 10:00 to 11:00 am, Microsoft Teams- Work Group Meeting

Attendees: Will Boone, Matthew Ellinwood, Rev. Paul Robeson Ford, Gerri Mattson, Fernando Martinez, Letha Muhammad, Peggy D. Nicholson, Peter Rawitsch, Val Young; Staff: Ashley Rink

• Welcome and Agenda Overview
  • Letha Muhammad welcomed the group. Work group members were asked to introduce themselves.
• Grounding and Level Setting
  • An overview of the North Carolina State Health Improvement Plan (NC SHIP) Community Council was provided. Health Indicator 3: Short-Term Suspensions is one of the 21 indicators identified in Healthy North Carolina 2030 (HNC 2030).
  • The purpose of the 2023-2024 NC SHIP Community Council is to prioritize, act, and connect to advance the HNC 2030 population indicators.
  • The Short-Term Suspensions Work Group identified the following priorities for 2023-2024:
    • Disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline, beginning with early childhood programs by reducing the use of school suspensions and expulsions and increasing the use of counseling services and community-based programs and initiatives
    • Increase racial, ethnic, gender, and disability status diversity among school and childcare leadership and staff and the institutions that train them
• Expanding Work Group and Going Forward
  • Rev. Paul Robeson Ford shared expanding the work group increases the connection and opportunities for collaboration throughout the state on school discipline issues, especially at the elementary school level.
  • Letha Muhmmad shared additional background leading to the expansion of the Short-Term Suspensions Work Group. Many years ago, there were working groups at the state level looking at school discipline as an issue in North Carolina. The Every Child NC Coalition was starting to have conversation about exclusionary discipline practices and their connection to gross underfunding of public schools.
  • The Short-Term Suspensions Work Group could evolve into a real community led effort to ensure that we in exclusionary discipline practices in North Carolina. Working groups are fluid and there is an opportunity to join forces and efforts. New people have been invited to join the work group as part of this expansion.
• Progress Updates
  • Rev. Ford acknowledged within the meeting there were people:
    • who had worked on successfully moving forward campaigns to end K-3 suspensions under very inhospitable political circumstances,
    • who are working with North Carolina state legislators to draft legislation to end Pre-K-3 suspensions,
    • who are focused on researching the impacts of exclusionary discipline on young children, and/or
    • who may not be actively engaged in one of those three areas that are connected to this work and are passionate about it.
  • The approach for establishing a statewide level policy to end Pre-K through third grade suspensions will need to be district by district and community by community, considering the current political realities.
  • Love Our Children- Revising Short-Term Suspension Policy 4351 in New Hanover County
    • Love Our children down in New Hanover County over the course of 13 months successfully completed a campaign to secure support from the New Hanover County School Board to pass policy 4351 to end K through three suspensions, with exceptions for extreme circumstances.
    • Peter Rawitsch shared Love Our Children has been monitoring the school districts K-2 out of suspension data by looking at the number of students that have been suspended and how the suspensions were coded.
      • During the 2018-2019 school year, there were over 300 K-2 out of school suspensions and in 2022-2023 there were 71. Of the 71, only 13 were coded as serious suspensions were coded as serious offenses, such as weapons, assaults, fights, and threats. The other 58 out of school suspensions were coded as minor offenses in violation of the new policy. After an internal audit of some of those suspensions by reading the principals’ narratives it was determined they were in fact serious offenses. The district assured for this school year they would talk to the elementary school principals to make sure they were using the correct coding.
      • For the 2023-2024 school year, from August to February, there were 62 suspensions with only 13 coded as serious offenses. The other 49 were coded as minor offenses; the district’s audit found they were all justified and may or may not be recoded.
      • There is a need to address the difference between serious and minor offenses and to look closer at the coding systems or a better option for making in school suspension with a licensed teacher a last resort for 5-, 6-, and 7-year-olds to continue to stay in school and learn and thrive.
    • Peter also shared an update that Love Our Children’s current ask of the school district is to allow parents to receive a phone call from an elementary school principal before a determination is made to suspend a 5-, 6-, and 7-year-old. The current policy is written that a parent or other representative may not participate in the pre suspension process.
    • It took Love Our Children twelve months for the New Hanover County Policy Committee to put it on their agenda.
    • At the next policy meeting, they will look again at the suspension policy, and will have an opportunity to address the fact that the policy is written for older students, not younger students.
  • Peggy Nicholson shared through a grant from Duke, a faculty member at their Policy School that has expertise in analyzing education data the state collects is going through K-2 suspension data for each district.
    • The data and information will provide insight into statewide disparities, suspension rates for the K-2 age group, and each district.
    • A community report will be developed that includes research on what other states are doing on the issue of limiting early grade suspension, what local districts are doing on this issue, and recommendations for next steps on this work. EJA and their parent researchers are also involved with the development of this report.
    • The report will tentatively be released in fall 2024. The goals are to raise awareness more broadly among communities and policymakers about this issue and then make recommendations at different levels to advance change at the district and state levels.
  • EJA (Education Justice Alliance)- Potential legislation update
    • Letha Muhmmad shared an administrator with Representative Marcia Morey reached out about potential legislation or language that could be added to existing legislation for the Short Session in April 2024.
    • EJA shared suggestions and model language for North Carolina lawmakers. Potential places for legislation movement included:
    • school districts not having to have an appeal process for parents to use for suspensions,
    • issues in early childcare suspension data collection and lack of a uniform way that data is collected across the state, whether in private or public early childcare settings, and
    • elimination of using suspensions and expulsions in the Pre-K through second or third grade.
• Policy Campaign Template
  • The policy campaign template and toolkit should include alternatives for suspensions and ways to support communities in identifying supports they may have available for teachers, practitioners, and administrators for their systems infrastructure to sustainably implement the policy. Considerations for opportunities to experiment with alternative learning spaces to better serve the interests of students should also be included, such as peace rooms and others.
  • Recommendations were for future subcommittees on policy and data.
  • The next steps were to form a subcommittee to take some of the materials from Love Our Children, the work in Forsyth County, and other spaces to build a policy campaign template that can be shared throughout the state. Those interested in joining this subcommittee should email Ashley Rink.
• Closing
  • The next meeting will be on Friday, June 14, 2024, from 10:00 to 11:00 am on Microsoft Teams.

Friday, February 16, 2024, 10:00 to 11:00 am, Microsoft Teams- Work Group Meeting

Attendees: Rev. Paul Robeson Ford, Kelvin Bullock, Devonya Govan-Hunt, Hayley Lampkin-Blyth, Gerri Mattson, Veronica McLaurin-Brown , Dawn Mendonca Meskil, Amy B. Petersen, Karita Pimentel, Carlton Powell, Peter Rawitsch, Jerry J. Wilson, Val Young; Staff: Ashley Rink; Others: Katie Andress

• Welcome and Agenda Overview
  • Rev. Paul Robeson Ford welcomed the group. Work group members were asked to introduce themselves and share one word on how they were feeling.
• Case Study: Love Our Children in New Hanover County- K-3 Suspensions Campaign
  • Veronica McLaurin-Brown and Peter Rawitsch shared the strategies Love Our Children utilized to end suspensions for young students in New Hanover County.
  • At the March 2021 meeting of the New Hanover Board of Education, members from the New Hanover County NAACP Parents Council presented a petition with 400 signatures calling for the end of K-5 suspensions. At that time the Board of Education voted 7 to 0 to keep the policy as it was written and add a sentence stating suspensions would only be used as a last resort. Following the March 2021 Board meeting Love Our Children began and started advocating for the end of out of school suspensions for their youngest learners. 
  • Love Our Children utilized research to support their proposal acknowledging that suspensions do not work and that there are effective alternatives to suspensions. Suspended students experience more academic failure and grade retention and are as much as 10 times more likely to drop out of high school and are more likely to end up in the juvenile justice system.
  • Their campaign strategies for mobilizing the community and gaining support for ending out-of-school suspensions for 4, 5, 6, and 7-year-old children included:
    • Educating the public as their primary strategy,
    • Organizing neighborhoods and engaging parents to attend School Board meetings,
    • Participating in community events, such as Pride Day at the Arboretum and back to school bookbag events,
    • Partnering with other organizations, such as Sokoto House, Speak Ya Peace, and a local black church,
    • Hosting two community forums in partnership with Sokoto House,
    • Distributing postcards to community members in partnership with a local minister,
    • Using poetry with Speak Ya Peace to speak about out-of-school suspensions,
    • Posting videos of the school board meetings on their YouTube Channel,
    • Engaging young parents through their Facebook page,
    • Using store, lawn, and car signs to encourage signing their petition,
    • Using digital billboards,
    • Encouraging an online letter writing campaign to their Board of Education,
    • Holding a press conference,
    • Engaging their local TV news station and newspaper,
    • Identifying key phrases and concepts for their team members to use when communicating with the media, including TV news, newspapers, and radio interviews,
    • Providing an opportunity to sign the petition online on their website, and
    • Having community organizations sign a resolution to help spotlight and publicize their support for ending out of school suspensions.
  • At the February 2021 meeting of the New Hanover Board of Education, the Board voted three to four for the proposal. In the following months, a Board member that had voted against the proposal made a motion for a new vote and the three remaining Board members flipped their votes and voted 7 to 0 in favor of the proposal. Overall, it took thirteen months for the proposal to be approved.
  • The link to the Love Our Children music video is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBBtJy5XrdQ.
• Emerging Work in Forsyth County
  • Rev. Paul Robeson Ford shared how in Forsyth County they are organizing institutional partners by:
    • Identifying key institutional stakeholders,
    • Establishing and sustaining communication, and
    • Understanding the policy making process in Forsyth County with the full School Board as the last stop and learning about the internal policy committees led by district staff and how those committees operate.
• Shifting/ Expanding Work Group Structure
  • Rev. Paul Robeson Ford and Letha Muhammad have discussed the possibility expanding this work group by pulling in other people working in similar areas, so this group can become a reactivated school discipline group to ensure all the insights and resources are involved.
  • Ashley Rink shared across the Community Council there are other groups that have aligned with existing groups to leverage resources and members to move their work forward. There are opportunities for this work group to grow and consider different directions the group can go in.
  • Outside of the Community Council, this group could continue as a community-based group that has a central space and platform to work on issues surrounding the reduction and end of exclusionary discipline.
  • Work group members are asked to consider their thoughts on this expanding the work group.
• Closing
  • The following meeting dates were set by those present.
    • Friday, April 12, 2024, from 10:00 to 11:00 am, Microsoft Teams
    • Friday, June 14, 2024, from 10:00 to 11:00 am, Microsoft Teams

Friday, December 8, 2023, 10:00 to 11:00 am, Microsoft Teams- Work Group Meeting

Attendees:  Rev. Paul Robeson Ford; Hayley Lampkin-Blyth; Veronica McLaurin-Brown; Gerri Mattson; Peggy D. Nicholson; Amy B. Petersen; Carlton Powell; Peter Rawitsch; Val Young; Staff: Ashley Rink; Others: Katie Andress

• Welcome and Agenda Overview
  • Rev. Paul Robeson Ford welcomed the group. Rev. Ford shared Letha Muhammad and one of the presenters was under the weather and were unable to attend the meeting.
  • The grounding question was, “What burning question do you have in your heart, mind, and spirit about the work of this group as you enter this meeting today?” A summary of responses is included below.
    • How do we push forward?
    • What is the policy agenda for the group?
    • What are we going to do with the information being gathered?
    • What is the outcome and the product? What are we going to do with the product?
    • Who are the decision makers within DHHS/ affect change and what is the level of influence?
    • How can we assist in our roles in supporting the work?
    • How do we as an organization get policy paths that support the health, welfare, and education of our youth?
    • How do we make the standard of care for the health and wellbeing of black and brown children in early care and classroom settings?
    • How do we educate policymakers and increase enough awareness about the fact that suspensions and expulsions are happening in childcare settings?
    • Where are the pressure points with decision makers that we can influence and promote policy that loves all of our black and brown children?
• Determine/ Consensus on 2023-2024 Priority or Priorities
  • In 2022-2023, the Short-Term Suspensions Work Group identified the following priorities.
    • Disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline, beginning with early childhood programs by reducing the use of school suspensions and expulsions and increasing the use of counseling services and community-based programs and initiatives
    • Increase racial, ethnic, gender, and disability status diversity among school and childcare leadership and staff and the institutions that train them
  • Rev. Ford reviewed this year would be the year of action and the policy agenda for this year are the two above policies. This work group will work on implementing actions that will disrupt the school to prison pipeline and increase racial, ethnic, gender, and disability status diversity among school and childcare leadership. One of the root cause issues of the school to prison pipeline is the lack of culturally affirming environments and inability to engage in a way that creates a deep sense of belonging.
  • The work group will move forward with implementing actions that will advance these policies. There has been great work around the state to disrupt the school to prison pipeline with a focus on ending kindergarten to third grade suspensions.
  • Rev. Ford proposed learning from the experiences and challenges Love Our Children experienced in New Hanover County. These learnings could be used to establish a template for how to do similar work in local school districts around the state. Products could include a template of action, toolkit, and webinar content for other communities around the state, including school districts and school boards.
  • Love Our Children North Carolina secured a policy in New Hanover County to end suspensions for K-3 students, with exceptions for weapons and serious threats of violence. Similar work is being done in Forsyth County.
  • An analysis is needed of where K-3 suspension policies stand in each of the county school districts in North Carolina.
  • Due to the political climate at the state level, change can be focused on the work local communities can do locally. This would be taking a grassroots approach to adoption of a policy at the state level to ban suspensions for K-3, with the exceptions for weapons and other extreme circumstances.
  • Work group members present at the meeting were in favor of the approach Rev. Ford proposed.
  • Regarding the question, “how can I help,” the work group has connections to a wide base of networks that information, materials, and toolkit can be shared through. There will be opportunities to organize the work in the group’s various circles.  Funding requests may come in terms of resources to help facilitate this work.
  • Work group members can share resources and information through the Microsoft Teams Channel.
  • A question was asked about if there was an opportunity to expand the suspension and expulsion policies to include Pre-K. In New Hanover because of the conversation with Head Start the policy’s focus narrowed to five-, six-, and seven-year-olds and when the policy was written it took care of everybody under the age of eight. The Head Start Program has federal funding requirements that they may not receive out of school suspensions.
  • The North Carolina Division of Child Development and Early Education is the regulatory body for childcare facilities and the NC Pre-K program and in their roles, there is a section on preventing suspensions and expulsions. The rule set is available in their Early Childhood Suspension and Expulsion Policy.
• Closing
  • At the next work group meeting, Veronica McLaurin-Brown and Peter Rawitsch will share a case study and presentation on the work by Love Our Children in New Hanover County. Rev. Paul Ford will share about the emerging work being done in Forsyth County.
  • The group tentatively scheduled the next work group meeting for Friday, February 2, from 10:00 to 11:00 am via Microsoft Teams. Work group members not in attendance will be contacted to confirm their availability. A calendar invite to hold the meeting date was sent to work group members. 
  • The meeting was closed with the question, “How are you feeling leaving this space?”
    • Inspired, energized, and motivated to have everyone focusing on a targeted outcome that is doable and has already been accomplished in some areas.
    • Hopeful. Good and looking forward to the work in the new year.
    • The work ahead is challenging, implementing all these things across the state will be hard, and are up for the challenge.
    • Happy to know we have a path going forward.
    • Excited to have this vision and interaction.
    • Feel fellowship among people who are like minded and are part of team through this climb.
    • Glad there are willing workers to do something special that should be a given for our children.

Friday, October 27, 2023, 11:00 to 12:00 pm, Microsoft Teams- Work Group Meeting

Attendees:  Will Boone, Reighlah Collins, Rev. Paul Robeson Ford, Hayley Lampkin-Blyth, Gerri Mattson, Veronica McLaurin-Brown, Letha Muhammad, Peggy D. Nicholson, Amy B. Petersen, Peter Rawitsch, Val Young; Staff: Hannah McDiarmid and Ashley Rink

• Welcome and Agenda Overview
  • The Co-Leaders, Letha Muhammad, Paul Ford, and Gerri Mattson welcomed the work group and thanked them for their involvement. 
  • The purpose of the meeting was to provide grounding and leveling setting for the Year of Action, review indicator and priorities, and identify next steps for work group.
  • Work group members present introduced themselves and shared what concerns about young people brought them to the work of this group.
• Grounding and Level Setting
  • The following were reviewed: group agreements, common language, Indicator 3: Short-Term Suspensions, Year of Action asks, roles and expectations, and timeline. Refer to the slides for information on these topics.
  • The 2023 NC SHIP report is available at https://schs.dph.ncdhhs.gov/units/ldas/docs/NCSHIP-2023-101723.pdf. The pages for Indicator 3: Short-Term Suspensions are available at https://schs.dph.ncdhhs.gov/units/ldas/docs/3-ShortTermSuspensions-SHIP2023-101723.pdf.
  • Discussed ability to influence legislators to change statutes related to out of school suspensions or exclusionary discipline. Discussion included the following:
    • Last year was the first year of the current structure for the NC SHIP Community Council. After the work groups identified their priorities, the priorities were shared with Division of Public Health leadership for review.
    • House Bill 188 was introduced during this legislative session; https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UHjmkfRuVkiQFbk2n59qvjL9_o_sEWHc/view. The work is connected to legislative realities at the state level.
    • The recommendations will be shared through the NC SHIP to the appropriate people at the state level, acknowledging that does not mean they will act on them.
    • There is an opportunity to leverage the work being done locally to end suspensions for kindergarten to third grade students for statewide campaigns.
• Priority Review
  • The 2022-2023 Short-Term Suspensions Work Group identified the following priorities:
    • Disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline, beginning with early childhood programs by reducing the use of school suspensions and expulsions and increasing the use of counseling services and community-based programs and initiatives
    • Increase racial, ethnic, gender, and disability status diversity among school and childcare leadership and staff and the institutions that train them
  • Discussion related to each of the priorities is included below each priority. Disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline, beginning with early childhood programs by reducing the use of school suspensions and expulsions and increasing the use of counseling services and community-based programs and initiatives
    • Consider if the group is willing to provide the intensity and extensiveness to advocate and support the ending and reduction of school suspensions.
    • Data is not available for exclusionary discipline practices in private childcare settings. A recommendation could be about how to capture data in private settings.
    • There may be opportunities to leverage investments in NC Pre-Ks for available data.
    • There is data on public school suspensions and expulsions available for kindergarten to third grade students that could be used to look back on early childcare settings.
  • Increase racial, ethnic, gender, and disability status diversity among school and childcare leadership and staff and the institutions that train them
    • Culturally affirming environments are important for children in schools for consensus and connection. The classification of disciplinary practices is subjective as to what constitutes disruptive behaviors.
    • This priority has many moving parts and is long-term as well as politically controlled. Different approaches and strategies are needed to achieve this priority.
    • The group should consider where the group has the possibility to influence or not.
    • There may be an opportunity to connect with the Dudley Flood Center about the Governor’s DRIVE Task Force. An action item could be to support and amplify the work happening at Dudley Flood Center through the DRIVE Task Force.
• Action Steps
  • At the next work group meeting, the group will:
    • Plan to decide as a work group which priorities the group will focus on going forward for action planning.
    • Set work group meeting schedule for 2024.
  • Work group members are encouraged to share any additional information and/or resources about how to make the priorities actionable. This information can be shared with the co-leaders.
• Closing
  • The group scheduled the next work group meeting for Friday, December 8, 2023, from 10:00 to 11:00 am via Microsoft Teams.

Readings/Listenings

• Dudley Flood Center for Educational Equity and Opportunity. (October 2023). Dudley Flood Center to take up work of the governor’s DRIVE Task Force. https://floodcenter.org/2023/dudley-flood-center-to-take-up-work-of-the-governors-drive-task-force/
• North Carolina General Assembly. (April 2023). House Bill 188- Standards of Student Conduct. https://www.ncleg.gov/BillLookUp/2023/H188

• EducationNC. (August 2022). Pre-K suspensions and expulsions can have dire effects- but we don’t know how common they are. https://www.ednc.org/pre-k-suspensions-expulsions-dire-effects-how-common/
• Governor’s DRIVE Task Force: https://governor.nc.gov/issues/education/drive-task-force
• North Carolina Department of Instruction. (2023). Educational Equity and Significant Disproportionality. https://www.dpi.nc.gov/districts-schools/classroom-resources/exceptional-children/educational-equity-and-significant-disproportionality
• North Carolina Department of Instruction. (2023). NC Social and Emotional Learning: https://www.dpi.nc.gov/districts-schools/districts-schools-support/nc-social-and-emotional-learning
• The Education Trust. (July 2022). Educator Diversity State Profile: North Carolina. https://edtrust.org/resource/educator-diversity-state-profile-north-carolina/
• The National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations. (2023). https://challengingbehavior.org

Co-Leaders and Members

Updated 3/21/2024

Priorities

2022-2023 Priorities:

• Ensure access to behavioral health treatment, adequate medical care, and stable housing for those returning from incarceration
• Expand existing or create community Medication Assisted Treatment programs for people with substance use disorder detained in prisons and jails or transitioning to and from prison
• Improve access to treatment for substance use disorders, physical illnesses, and mental illnesses
• Improve resources and legislation pertaining to jails and prisons to reduce harmful impact of incarceration and foster successful reintegration into the community
• Increase access to multisystemic therapy for juvenile offenders
• Invest in public health alternatives to traditional law enforcement and sentencing, particularly for behavioral health issues

Priority Development Agenda

Action Plan

Meeting Schedule

2024 Incarceration Work Group Meeting Schedule

• Wednesday, February 21, 2024, from 9:00 to 10:00 am, Microsoft Teams (Cancelled; to be rescheduled.)

Meeting Notes

Readings/Listenings

• Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. (2021). Using Federal Relief Funds to Invest in Non-Police Approaches to Public Safety. https://www.cbpp.org/research/state-budget-and-tax/using-federal-relief-funds-to-invest-in-non-police-approaches-to
• County Health Rankings & Roadmaps. (2018). Multisystemic Therapy (MST) for juvenile offenders, https://www.countyhealthrankings.org/take-action-to-improve-health/what-works-for-health/strategies/multisystemic-therapy-mst-for-juvenile-offenders
• Kang-Brown, J., Montagnet, C., and Heiss, J. (2021, January). People in jail and prisons. https://www.vera.org/downloads/publications/people-in-jail-and-prison-in-2020.pdf
• North Carolina Department of Justice. (2021, December). North Carolina task force for racial equity in criminal justice: End of year report 2021. https://ncdoj.gov/trec/reports/
• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (n.d.). Evidence-based practice resource center. People in the criminal justice system. https://www.samhsa.gov/resource-search/ebp
• Vera Institute of Justice. Ending mass incarceration. https://www.vera.org/downloads/pdfdownloads/state-incarceration-trends-north-carolina.pdf

Co-Leaders and Members

Updated 3/21/2024

Priorities

2023-2024 Priorities:

• Improve data available on trauma and ACES at the local level.

• Increase funding for and embed community-rooted, culturally-affirming family and community support programs into existing initiatives.

Action Plan

Meeting Schedule

2023-2024 Adverse Childhood Experiences Meeting Schedule:

• Monday, November 27, 2023, from 3:00 to 4:00 pm, Microsoft Teams
• Monday, January 29, 2024, from 3:00 to 4:00 pm, Microsoft Teams
• Monday, February 26, 2024, from 3:00 to 4:00 pm, Microsoft Teams
• Monday, April 29, 2024, from 3:00 to 4:00 pm, Microsoft Teams
• Monday, May 20, 2024, from 3:00 to 4:00 pm, Microsoft Teams

Meeting Notes

Monday, May 20, 2024, from 3:00 to 4:00 pm, Microsoft Teams- Work Group Meeting

Attendees: Madison Allen, Wanda Boone, Ingrid Bou-Saada, Mebane Boyd, Terri Grant, Sharon Hirsch, Micha James, Stacie Kinlaw, Gerri Mattson, Juan Ortiz, Portia Pope, Melea Rose Waters; Staff: Ashley Rink

• Welcome and Agenda Overview
  • Wanda Boone welcomed everyone and asked everyone to introduce themselves and share how they felt on a scale of 1 to 5.
  • Sharon Hirsch reviewed the priority focus for the meeting was, “Increase funding for and embed community-rooted, culturally-affirming family and community support programs into existing initiatives.” The presentations on the NCDHHS Community and Partner Engagement Guide and Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust’s Investment in Preventing ACEs and Building Resilience were two examples of how this can be done. 
• NCDHHS Community and Partner Engagement Guide
  • Portia Pope, Deputy Director, Office of Health Equity and Community Engagement and Juan Ortiz, Cultural Competency Program Manager with the Office of Health Equity, Health Equity Portfolio, Office of the Secretary with the NC Department of Health and Human Services, provided an overview of the NCDHHS Community and Partner Engagement Guide (CPE). 
  • NCDHHS is making a conscious, concerted, intentional effort to involve communities and partners in their policies, procedures, and initiatives.
  • The NCDHHS Partner Engagement Inventory lists all relevant external partners engaged with the Divisions/ Offices and includes an abstract version visible for communities to access.
  • The Equitable Outreach and Engagement Continuum was highlighted and is available on page 9 of the CPE. The continuum is not linear. The below infographic is being translated into other languages.
  • The following questions were asked about the guide:
    • Who is the main intended audience for this guide?
      • The guide can be used within NCDHHS and outside of NCDHHS. The guide is an on approach for equitable community and partner engagement that is transparent in scope.
    • How does an agency get listed on the NCDHHS' services and partnerships roster?  What are the criteria?
      • External groups the Division engages with regularly (monthly or quarterly) that advise/inform your programmatic and policy work as a division.
      • Partnerships which are state or legislatively required.
      • Groups that are your top priorities for engagement.
    • Is there an assessment tool to determine at what level is an effort on the spectrum of outreach to engagement? Are there measures you have created or another tool we can use?
      • NCDHHS uses a variety of tools such as the Health Equity Impact Assessment among others.
    • Additional questions can be submitted through an inquiry form on the DHHS CPE website.
• Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust’s Investment in Preventing ACEs and Building Resilience
  • Madison Allen, Senior Program Officer, Health Improvement in North Carolina with Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust, shared about their Healthy Places North Carolina Initiative that was a 10-year, $100 million dollar commitment. Refer to the slide deck titled, “5.20.24 ACES Workgroup Meeting KBR”.
  • The last group of counties to join this work were in the southeastern part of North Carolina in Bladen, Robeson, and Columbus counties. The investments were intended to support networks and build the capacity of local residents to lead the work.
  • Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) rose to the top in this region of the state partly due to 75% of residents within that tri-county region living in poverty and the devastation of natural disasters. 
  • The goal was to address childhood trauma for children from neighborhoods with low-incomes.
  • Many partners within the region have worked to build the capacity of families and to build the capacity of prevention partners to deeply understand and advocate for the prevention of child abuse and neglect in this region. There have been diverse partnerships with non-traditional partners in the region.
  • The Tri-County Regional Community Prevention Action Plan includes additional information about the plan of action within the region.
  • The work in Bladen, Robeson, and Columbus counties is reflective of Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust’s intentional strategy of systems change. Their grantmaking strategy starts with capacity building.
  • The following questions were asked about the presentation:
    • How do we engage with state partners and legislators about the importance of doing this kind of work?
      • With the Healthy Places North Carolina work ending, there is opportunity for flexibility to extend and think about this work more regionally beyond the 10 counties named for the Healthy Places Initiative.
      • There are opportunities to learn from other counties around the state about resilience work. Some state agencies are bringing people together to move other initiatives forward.
      • Smart Start is working internally to fund systems change work and have measurable outcomes to justify the work to the state legislature. There are opportunities to explore how to fund this work sustainably on an ongoing basis.
• Identify Next Steps and Adjourn
  • The next work group meeting date has not been determined. The next work group meeting will focus back on the data priority.
    • NC Child will be invited to share about the Kids Count data.
    • Meghan Shanahan will be invited to provide any updates on the Essentials for Childhood grant and surveillance system work.

Monday, April 29, 2024, from 3:00 to 4:00 pm, Microsoft Teams- Work Group Meeting

Attendees: Emily Newman Beaver, Wanda Boone, Jessica Bousquette, Mebane Boyd, Tracey Fuchs, Terri Grant, Sharon Hirsch, Micha James, Stacie Kinlaw, Gerri Mattson, Sara McCartney, Vantoinette Savage, Trina Stephens, Ivana Susic; Staff: Hannah Mcdiarmid

• Welcome and Agenda Overview
  • Wanda Boone welcomed everyone and reviewed the meeting agenda.
  • The Adverse Childhood Experience (ACEs) Work Group’s 2023-2024 priorities are to:
    • Improve data available on trauma and ACES at the local level
    • Increase funding for and embed community-rooted, culturally-affirming family and community support programs into existing initiatives
• Essentials for Childhood Updates
  • North Carolina has been an Essentials for Childhood state for ten years. The Essentials for Childhood Task Force is being reconvened within the next few months to update on the progress that has been made over the past ten years and make recommendations for the future.
  • Ivana Susic, Research Specialist with the North Carolina Institute of Medicine, is the project manager for Essentials for Childhood, and shared the following updates:
    • Part of the CDC requirement and overall goal of this grant is to create an effective ACEs and PCEs (positive childhood experiences) surveillance structure to analyze, collect, and use ACEs data to inform evidence-based prevention strategy implementation. This will be accomplished by:
      • Convening a data work group to identify appropriate data sources to include in the system, administrative and social determinants of health, integrating it data sources into a surveillance system that tracks ACEs as a state and county level, and disaggregating data by demographic characteristics when appropriate.
      • Identifying a storage location for the surveillance system that allows access by community members. The data work group will decide the best way to design the public facing interface.
      • Creating a data dissemination plan to share the surveillance system with state and local organizations.
  • Implementation will tentatively begin during year three of the five-year grant; this will be dependent on the data work group and the design of the public facing interface.
  • Suggestions for data parameters can be shared with Ivana to share with the project evaluator.
  • There is an opportunity for the ACEs Work Group to identify internally someone to serve as a liaison to the data work group to keep communication open between the two groups. After that person is identified, Ivana can introduce them to the evaluator for connection to the data work group.
    • Next steps are to Identify an ACEs Work Group member to serve as a liaison with the Essentials for Childhood data work group.
• Building Healthy & Resilient Communities
  • Mebane Boyd, Resilient Communities Officer with Smart Start and the North Carolina Partnership for Children, provided an overview of the data project and dashboard.
    • The dashboard was funded in part by a grant from NCDHHS.
    • The Resilient Communities Initiative takes into consideration the four realms of ACEs:
      • Adverse Childhood Experiences
      • Adverse Community Experiences
      • Adverse Climate Experiences
      • Atrocious Cultural Experiences
    • The Smart Start Community Indicators dashboard includes long term indicators from all five of the CDC’s Social Determinants of Health. Communities also wanted real time/ process indicators, data about what is happening now at the coalition level, including relationships, organizational culture, representation, etc.
    • The indicator wish list included data the Community Advisory Council and their State Advisory Council wished they could measure and include in the dashboard; good data for those indicators was not available, such as connection to social supports.
    • On the dashboard the Smart Start Community Indicators and Healthy & Resilient Communities metrics can be viewed together or separately. Some of the data is available on the map at the county and/or census tract level. The glossary includes the data source and year the data was collected. The data is updated annually.
    • There is not currently a centralized reporting system for child abuse and neglect. The most recent data is from 2019.
• Identify Next Steps and Adjourn
  • The next work group meeting will be on Monday, May 20, 2024, from 3:00 to 4:00 pm via Microsoft Teams.
    • This meeting will focus on the priority, “Increase funding for and embed community-rooted, culturally-affirming family and community support programs into existing initiatives.”
  • The June work group meeting will focus back on the data priority.
    • NC Child will be invited to share about the Kids Count data.
    • An evaluator will be invited to provide any updates on the Essentials for Childhood grant and surveillance system work.

Monday, February 26, 2024, from 3:00 to 4:00 pm, Microsoft Teams- Work Group Meeting

Attendees: Wanda Boone, Jess Bousquette, Mebane Boyd, Terri Grant, Sharon Hirsch, Micha James, Trishana Jones, Sue Lynn Ledford, Gerri Mattson, Sara McCartney, Melissa W. Radcliff, Melea Rose Waters; Staff: Ashley Rink

• Welcome and Agenda Overview
  • Sharon Hirsch welcomed everyone and reviewed the meeting agenda.
• Review of Jamboard and Themes
  • Sharon Hirsch reviewed the themes previously discussed related to the second priority, “Increase funding for and embed community-rooted, culturally affirming family and community support programs into existing initiatives.”
    • Need to understand better where community-based coalitions and organizations are and how they define themselves.
    • Drafting a policy for inclusion of local voice in statewide initiatives related to ACEs and resilience.
    • Need to rethink who was an expert, whether experts are the state level people, researchers, and/or families and communities at the local level the experts.
    • Need for more money to go to local communities for this work.
    • Need to understand what community means.
  • NCDHHS (North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services) released a Community and Partner Engagement Guide.
    • The NCDHHS Health Equity Framework is included on page 3 and community is defined on page 5 of the guide.
    • For additional information, refer to https://www.ncdhhs.gov/about/department-initiatives/community-and-partner-engagement.
• Funding for community-rooted, culturally affirming family and community support programs
  • The work group discussed the following questions.
    • What does community mean?
      • community is geographically accessible
      • Those who have experienced service/within systems
      • People most impacted are LEADING
      • Self-identified group based on identity, shared history, shared language or place
    • What does the community need to participate?
      • Paying those who have lived experience so that they can participate and share their experience.
      • stipends for families to participate - meals, childcare
      • Openness to new solutions
      • Training people who are vulnerable/ impacted by systems to learn about ACEs, collective impact, community empowerment -- with stipends.  Then share with peers
      • Space and time for creativity and innovation - with less bureaucracy and oversight.
      • Build trust by empowering community members to participate/take lead.
      • Less technical language in meetings
      • A clear path of participation. If the community participates, how will their information be used, how will results  be shared, what are goals, how is success defined
      • Resources that advertise the opportunities across demographics
      • Longer term funding for planning, engagement, implementation and evaluation so can be creative with tracking milestones and progress.
      • Include opportunities and time for youth to participate
      • Acknowledgement of many ways of "knowing" something. We don't all need degrees to understand ACEs
      • Identification of barriers to funding from government funders
      • Identified barriers to participation and then address them
      • easily accessible for the community to participate
      • Familiar or known individuals that are trusted. CHWs for example
      • Less burdensome reporting
      • Including people with lived experiences
      • clear expectations -- what the community can expect from participating and what the group that is asking for their participation is expected to do
      • perhaps Public Health, DSS, Nonprofits, Community Action agencies
      • Less restrictions on things that can be funded
      • Consistency, transparency from State/funders
      • Humble, help one another, less concern with turf - even among community-led organizations
• Identify Next Steps and Adjourn
  • An evaluator with UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, will be invited to attend the next work group meeting that focuses on the second priority to share an update about the surveillance grant.
  • For the next steps, work group members are asked to continue to add responses to the Jamboard. The co-leaders will meet to synthesize the responses prior to the next meeting.
  • The next work group meeting will be on Monday, March 25, 2024, from 3:00 to 4:00 pm via Microsoft Teams. This meeting will focus on the priority, “Improve data available on trauma and ACES at the local level.”

Monday, January 29, 2024, from 3:00 to 4:00 pm, Microsoft Teams- Work Group Meeting

Attendees: Wanda Boone, Brian Boyd, Mebane Boyd, Ellen Carroll, Daniel Gitterman, Sharon Hirsch, Micha James, Catherine Joyner, Stacie Kinlaw, Sue Lynn Ledford, Gerri Mattson, Sara McCartney, Ivey Parks, Nancy Rosales, Trina Stephens, Melea Rose Waters; Staff: Hannah McDiarmid and Ashley Rink

• Welcome and Agenda Overview
  • Wanda Boone welcomed everyone and reviewed the meeting agenda.
• Review of Jamboard and Themes
  • Sharon Hirsch shared that going forward the group would focus on a different priority every other month. The focus of this meeting was on the data priority, “Improve data available on trauma and ACEs at the local level.”
  • The group reviewed the following themes from the previous meeting on November 27, 2023, related to the priority on data at the local level.
    • Focus on protective factors.
    • Data about all four levels of ACEs
    • Other committees are working on similar efforts.
    • There are opportunities around mapping on funding.
    • Commitment to share data.
    • To convene at the local level.
    • Telling the stories around the data to move from awareness to action.
    • Other partners to engage at the state and local level.
    • Importance of collaboration and establishing trust.
    • The state does collect data on child protective services (CPS) reports; the data is available, but not timely. CPS data is available by county and race and is available through UNC’s School of Social Work.
• Identifying statewide data needs
  • The work group discussed the following questions. 
    • Who do we know that is measuring this data locally?
    • How do we define and measure Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)?
    • How do we define and measure Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs)?
• Identify Next Steps and Adjourn
  • For the next steps, work group members are asked to continue to add responses to the Jamboard. The co-leaders will meet to synthesize the responses prior to the next meeting.
  • The next work group meeting will be on Monday, February 26 , 2024, from 3:00 to 4:00 pm via Microsoft Teams. This meeting will focus on the priority, “Increase funding for and embed community-rooted, culturally affirming family and community support programs into existing initiatives.”

Monday, November 27, 2023, from 3:00 to 4:00 pm, Microsoft Teams- Work Group Meeting

Attendees:  Wanda Boone, Jess Bousquette, Ellen Carroll, Terri Grant, Micha James, Sharon Hirsch, Gerri Mattson, Melissa Radcliff, Trina Stephens, Melea Rose Waters; Staff: Ashley Rink

• Welcome and Agenda Overview
  • Sharon Hirsch welcomed everyone and reviewed the meeting agenda.
• Clarifying our role and charge
  • Wanda Boone reviewed the targets and baselines for Adverse Childhood Experiences from Healthy North Carolina 2030.
  • The charge is to consider how the work group could advance the priorities related to advocacy, implementation, etc.
• Identifying action steps to advance our two priorities
  • The work group reviewed the planning survey results, discussed themes from the results, and where there were opportunities. The planning survey included the following questions. Refer to Jamboard for additional information. 
    • What do you recommend as next steps to advance this priority, "Improve data available on trauma and ACEs at the local level"?
    • What do you recommend as next steps to advance this priority, "Increase funding for and embed community-rooted, culturally affirming family and community support programs into existing initiatives"?
    • What strengths do you and your organization bring to this work group?
    • What work is your organization interested in doing to help advance these priority areas?
    • What do you think are the most impactful things we could do in the next year?
    • Who else should be invited to participate in this work?
• Identify Next Steps and Adjourn
  • The next work group meeting will be on Monday, January 29, 2024, from 3:00 to 4:00 pm via Microsoft Teams.

Readings/Listenings

• Building Better Childhoods Toolkit: https://buildingbetterchildhoods.org/
• Building Healthy & Resilient Communities Across North Carolina: One Community at a Time: https://indd.adobe.com/view/f9cca8b9-d326-4666-99d0-afe7ea06bd73
• Community-Rooted Organizations : Enhanced Accountability and Capacity Building for Community Development: https://metropolitiques.eu/Community-Rooted-Organizations-Enhanced-Accountability-and-Capacity-Building.html
• Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA): Background and Funding: https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/R42838.pdf
• Healthy & Resilient Communities Dashboard: https://www.smartstart.org/healthy-resilient-communities-dashboard-launched/
• Smart Start Community Indicators: https://ncsmartstart.shinyapps.io/community_indicators/

Co-Leaders and Members

Updated 4/9/2024

Priorities

2023-2024 Priority:

• Expand awareness of training and professional development resources related to early literacy.

Priority Development Agenda

• Increase access to evidence-based home-visiting, parent education, and early literacy programs.
• Expand statewide access to NC Pre-K, 4-, and 5-star early learning programs and other high-quality early childhood programs.
• Increase funding to public schools and early learning programs that serve those children with the highest barriers to success, including children from low-income families and people of color.

Action Plan

Questions about Early Literacy Training Added to Smart Start/NC Partnership for Children Survey:

• The following questions are about training and professional development related to early literacy. Training and professional development provide opportunities for learning using informal and formal training designed to enhance knowledge, skills, and abilities in early literacy.
• Training and professional development can include classes or coursework taken at a community college or university. Training is usually designed to deliver a very specific body of knowledge or to teach a specific skill (such as early literacy).
• Professional development is the continued learning that is designed to happen throughout an individual’s career. Professional development includes, but is not limited to: setting goals, conducting research, participating in skill-based training, attending informal/formal conferences, collaboration, career advancement and performance evaluation.
• (Definition of professional development adapted from NC DHHS site:  https://ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov/Provider/Training-and-Professional-Development)
• Questions:
  • What early literacy training and professional development programs are offered in your community, and where (county and city)?
  • Who are the audiences for the early literacy training and professional development offered in your community? 
  • What are the needs or gaps in early literacy training and professional development in your community?
  • Are there efforts to offer early literacy education training and professional development that aligns to the Science of Reading? (Yes, No, Not Sure)

Meeting Schedule

2023-2024 Third Grade Reading Proficiency Work Group Meeting Schedule

• Thursday, October 26, 2023, 11:00 to 12:00 pm, Microsoft Teams
• Tuesday, November 28, 2023, 10:00 to 11:00 am, Microsoft Teams
• Tuesday, January 23, 2024, 10:00 to 11:00 am, Microsoft Teams
• Tuesday, February 27, 2024, 10:00 to 11:00 am, Microsoft Teams
• Tuesday, March 26, 2024, 10:00 to 11:00 am, Microsoft Teams
• Tuesday, April 23, 2024, 10:00 to 11:00 am, Microsoft Teams
• Tuesday, May 28, 2024, 10:00 to 11:00 am, Microsoft Teams
• Tuesday, June 25, 2024, 10:00 to 11:00 am, Microsoft Teams

Meeting Notes

Tuesday, May 28, 2024, 10:00 to 11:00 am, Microsoft Teams- Work Group Meeting

Attendees: Daphne Alsiyao, Angela Burch-Octetree, Heather Gray, Mary Mathew, Gerri Mattson, Amber Pierce, Theresa Roedersheimer, Kristi Snuggs, Dan Tetreault, Corretta R. Walker; Staff: Ashley Rink

• Welcome and Agenda Overview
  • Gerri Mattson welcomed everyone to the meeting and asked for introductions.
• Grounding and Level Setting
  • The work group’s 2023-2024 priority is to, “Expand awareness of training and professional development resources related to early literacy.”
  • At the work group meeting in April, the work group decided to focus on mapping current efforts regarding training and professional development related to literacy.
  • Following the April meeting, the work group developed the below questions for the survey for Smart Start Executive Directors to assess training and professional development opportunities related to early literacy.
    • What early literacy training and professional development programs are offered in your community, and where (county and city)?
    • Who are the audiences for the early literacy training and professional development offered in your community?
    • What are the needs or gaps in early literacy training and professional development in your community?"
    • Are there efforts to offer early literacy education training and professional development that aligns to the Science of Reading? Yes, No, Not Sure
  • Daphne Alsiyao shared their survey would be going out to Smart Start Executive Directors on May 28, 2024. The survey results will be shared back with the work group. Refer to the document titled “Smart Start- NC_SHIP_Literacy_Questionnaire.”
• Action Planning Questions
  • The group discussed developing a separate survey with the early literacy training and professional development questions from the Smart Start survey to share with other groups.
    • Groups discussed to share the survey with included GLR (Grade Level Reading), CCR&R Network (Child Care Resource & Referral), the library listserv, and Home Visiting Consortium.
    • Work group members are asked to add the names of groups/ organizations they share the survey with to a tracking spreadsheet.
  • The audience for the training and professional development opportunities being asked about in the survey were early learning and family support professionals serving infants and children from birth to five years of age.
  • Questions were added to the survey about who (which organization) was offering the program and if the cost was known if it could be shared. An optional question was added for those completing the survey to share their contact information.
  • The survey will be open for two to three weeks.
  • The group discussed mapping organizations and programs offering early literacy training and professional development.
  • Gerri Mattson thanked everyone for their current efforts related to the mapping efforts.
• Next Steps for Work Group
  • The Third Grade Reading Proficiency Work Group will be continuing as part of the 2024-2025 NC SHIP Community Council. More information about what is next for the Community Council and the work group will be shared at the 2024 Annual Meeting on Wednesday, July 10, 2024, from 10:00 to 12:00 pm on Microsoft Teams.
    • Contact Ashley Rink if a calendar invitation for this meeting has not been received.
  • The next steps from the meeting were for work group members to:
    • Review the draft survey. (A shareable link to the survey will be sent once finalized.)
    • Share the survey with other groups/organizations once finalized. Add groups/organizations the survey is shared with to the tracking spreadsheet.
    • Think about continuing to serve as a work group member for this work group.
    • Consider if you are willing to serve as a co-leader for this work group for the next year.
  • At the June work group meeting, the group will discuss how the data will be used and mapped. The group will also discuss the next meeting dates and next steps.
• Closing
  • The next work group meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, June 25, 2024, from 10:00 to 11:00 am on Microsoft Teams.

Tuesday, April 23, 2024, 10:00 to 11:00 am, Microsoft Teams- Work Group Meeting

Attendees: Daphne Alsiyao, Jessica Lowery Clark, Mary Mathew, Gerri Mattson, Amber Pierce, Kristi Snuggs, Daniel Tetreault; Staff: Ashley Rink

• Welcome and Agenda Overview
  • Gerri Mattson welcomed everyone to the meeting and reviewed the agenda.
• Grounding and Level Setting
  • At the work group meeting in March, the work group decided to focus on one priority and one related action.
    • Priority: Expand awareness of training and professional development resources related to early literacy.
    • Action: Map current efforts regarding training and professional development related to literacy
  • The group began discussing questions that should be addressed before the group begins mapping. Questions raised were around the purpose and benefit of mapping, the intended use of this resource, and ways to not make the resource maps overwhelming.
• Action Planning Questions
  • The group discussed the following questions:
    • Who is the target audience for mapping?
      • Family support professionals (including home visitors, home-based educators, etc.)
      • Early educators in formal childcare settings
      • Agencies that support the above professionals
    • What do we mean by training and professional development?
      • Early literacy training (formal and/or informal trainings)
    • What are we doing with this map (what is the purpose/ benefit)?
      • Identify strengths, gaps, and best practices in different sectors/ groups.
        • Celebrate what we already have.
        • Determine what practices align with SoR (Science of Reading) based instruction?
      • Build awareness of resources that are available.
        • Focus on what are we using here in NC now (Not a national search of best practice trainings)
      • Move towards funding and policy that supports more opportunities for better literacy training.
    • What training and resources are available from Smart Start and Children’s Resource Centers across the state at the local level?
      • Early Literacy Coordinators Network and/or Peer Network be asked for examples of training and professional development they utilize.
      • A survey with the following questions is being sent to Smart Start Executive Directors within the next couple of weeks.
        • What sources of free books are you able to access in your community?
        • Have you ever participated in any of the following literacy programs in your community?
          • List of literacy programs available in your community that are funded by Smart Start
          • List of literacy programs available in your community that are not funded by Smart Start
  • Daphne Alsiyao (Family Support Manager, Smart Start) shared an opportunity to add questions to the above survey related to early literacy training.
  • Kristi Snuggs (President, Child Care Services Association) shared the survey could also be shared with the providers they work with.
  • The group began brainstorming around potential survey questions.
    • Target audience, age groups (0-8?), science of reading, early literacy focused training or part of larger training, how training is administered, length of time, location of training (regional or statewide)
    • If facilitated, who delivers the training.
    • Cost
    • Early literacy focused staff
    • Alignment to the SoR  (Science of Reading) is important.
• Next Steps for Work Group
  • The next steps are for work group members to provide recommendations for early literacy training questions that could be added to the Smart Start Survey. The group decided to collaborate on the questions over a shared document. Additional information will be shared in the follow-up email.
• Closing
  • The next work group meetings are scheduled for:
    • Tuesday, May 28, 2024, 10:00 to 11:00 am
    • Tuesday, June 25, 2024, 10:00 to 11:00 am

Tuesday, March 26, 2024, 10:00 to 11:00 am, Microsoft Teams- Work Group Meeting

Attendees: Daphne Alsiyao, Angela Burch-Octetree, Jessica Lowery Clark, Heather Gray, Micere Keels, Mary Mathew, Amber Pierce, Kristi Snuggs, Staff: Ashley Rink

• Welcome and Agenda Overview
  • Mary Mathew and Ashley Rink welcomed everyone to the meeting and reviewed the agenda.
• Grounding and Level Setting
  • The two priorities the Third Grade Reading Proficiency Work Group identified as their priorities for 2023-2024 for action planning are:
    • Expand awareness of training and professional development resources related to early literacy.
    • Increase access to evidence-based home-visiting, parent education, and early literacy programs.
  • Expectations moving forward.
  • The expectations for the work group moving forward are to identify actions they can take to address the identified priorities. The action plans developed by the work group are for the work group.
  • The number of actions taken to address the priorities and the number of priorities the group develops action plans for is up to the work group. Part of the action planning discussion should include considerations related to capacity to complete action steps and what the group can feasibly do.
  • While this iteration of the Community Council ends in June 2024, the work group of the group can continue, and recommendations can be made for next steps based on the work group’s progress on the actions they worked on.
• Priority 1: Expand awareness of training and professional development resources related to early literacy.
  • Review action planning notes.
    • The action planning notes from the previous work group meeting were reviewed.
    • Work group members were asked to continue to update their organization’s programs and resources in the action planning notes.
    • A target audience column was added to show what audience each organization serves to help identify gaps.
  • Review Action Ranking Survey responses. After the previous work group meeting, members were asked to identify which actions were their first and second choices for addressing the priority related to training and professional development.
    • 1st Choice: Map current efforts regarding training and professional development related to literacy.
    • 2nd Choice: Build awareness about how each sector and system is supporting early literacy and how collaboration can happen between efforts to reach families.
  • Next steps for action planning.
    • The work group members present were in favor of focusing on one action for action planning related to the training and professional development priority, “Map current efforts regarding training and professional development related to literacy.”
    • Discussion on how to proceed with action planning highlighted the need for clarification and additional discussion related to the following.
      • Clarifying the benefits of mapping and what would be the most beneficial for the target audience or audiences.
      • Highlighting key resources and recognizing that there are numerous resources available for educators and that the issue is not availability of resources, it is capacity and time to use existing resources. Educators do not have the capacity to learn and utilize the resources available.
      • Mapping resources may be harmful if the map is intended to be a tool to tell people what to do. If the mapping is more about curating a list of what IS already happening out there, not giving a list of things to do, such as which resources are available to each target audience or focused population.
      • Considering how to create a map that is not overwhelming and highlights key and/or top resources.
      • Recognizing the target audience identified impacts the direction and what is needed.
      • Deciding if the group is mapping trainings, programs, and curriculums and/or mapping organizations such as key stakeholders across the state and counties that are supporting training and professional development related to literacy.
      • Understanding there is a gap in knowledge about resources for those outside of the traditional ECE world.
      • Starting with identifying what training and resources are available from Smart Start and Children’s Resource Centers across the state at the local level.
      • Identifying who has mapped resources and done this well.
      • Using what the group finds out in the mapping process to guide where there are opportunities primed to scale different things in different communities.
      • Recognizing there are already ongoing evaluations of LETRS.
• Priority 2: Increase access to evidence-based home-visiting, parent education, and early literacy programs
  • The work group members present were in favor of focusing on the training and professional development priority for action planning based on capacity for this year. This priority will be moved to the work group’s priority development agenda.
    • The Home Visiting and Parenting Education System (HVPE) developed an action plan. The group has paused but the work is continuing in different ways.
• Next Steps for Work Group
  • In preparation for the next work group meeting, work group members were asked to:
    • Add ideas for questions the group needs to consider and answer for action planning related to mapping current efforts regarding training and professional development related to literacy.
  • A document with the questions shared during the meeting will be shared with the work group.
  • Work Group members can also add their thoughts and responses to the questions included as well.
• Closing
  • The next work group meetings are scheduled for:
    • Tuesday, April 23, 2024, 10:00 to 11:00 am
    • Tuesday, May 28, 2024, 10:00 to 11:00 am
    • Tuesday, June 25, 2024, 10:00 to 11:00 am

Tuesday, February 27, 2024, 10:00 to 11:00 am, Microsoft Teams- Work Group Meeting

Attendees: Daphne Alsiyao, Heather Gray (plus intern), Micere Keels, Mary Mathew, Gerri Mattson, Esharan Monroe-Johnson, Amber Pierce, Kristi Snuggs, Dan Tetreault, Corretta R. Walker, Paula Wilkins; Staff: Ashley Rink

• Welcome and Agenda Overview
  • Gerri Mattson welcomed everyone and reviewed the agenda. The icebreaker question was what people did related to and/or to celebrate to Read Across America Day.
• Grounding and Level Setting
  • The group reviewed responses from previous discussions on the Jamboard for priority, “Training and professional development related to literacy.”
• Discussion and Action Planning
  • The group began discussing the following questions related to the priority, “Training and professional development related to literacy.”
    • How could the priority be more specific?
    • Who is the target audience?
    • What are realistic actions? What are tangible action steps?
    • What are the gaps and how could they be addressed? What could the group do to address the gap or gaps?
    • Who and/or what agency could take ownership?
  • Refer to document titled 2024-02-27 Jamboard- Priority 1- Third Grade Reading Proficiency Work Group for the responses.
• Next Steps for Work Group
  • In preparation for the next work group meeting, work group members were asked to:
    • Review the  action planning notes. These notes include the responses to the discussion questions on the Jamboard.
    • Update their organization’s programs and resources in the  action planning notes as needed.
      • The responses from the Jamboard have been added to this list already.
    • Complete the Action Ranking Survey.
      • The purpose of this survey is to assist with identifying one or two actions the Third Grade Reading Proficiency Work Group can work on to address the priority on training and professional development related to literacy in the short-term.
• Closing
  • The next work group meetings are scheduled for:
    • Tuesday, April 23, 2024, 10:00 to 11:00 am
    • Tuesday, May 28, 2024, 10:00 to 11:00 am
    • Tuesday, June 25, 2024, 10:00 to 11:00 am

Tuesday, January 23, 2024, 10:00 to 11:00 am, Microsoft Teams- Work Group Meeting

Attendees: Angela Burch-Octetree, Coretta Walker, Micere Keels, Gerri Mattson, Jessica Lowery Clark, Heather Gray, Mary Mathew, Kristi Snuggs, Dan Tetreault; Staff: Ashley Rink

• Welcome and Agenda Overview
  • Gerri Mattson welcomed everyone and reviewed the agenda. The icebreaker question was what people did or did not like about the cold.  
• Grounding and Level Setting
  • At the previous work group meeting, the group had identified the following priorities for this year.
    • Training and professional development related to literacy.
    • Increase access to evidence-based home-visiting, parent education, and early literacy programs.
  • The purpose of the meeting was to provide grounding and leveling setting for the Year of Action, discuss priorities and action planning questions, and identify next steps for the work group.
  • Group agreements, common language, Indicator 6: Third Grade Reading Proficiency, and the Year of Action asks, roles and expectations, and timeline were reviewed. Refer to the slides for additional information on these topics.
• Discussion of 2023-2024 Priorities
  • The group began discussing the following questions related to the priorities.
  • Which priority would the group like to start with to make more specific?
    • The group decided to start discussing the priority on training and professional development related to literacy.
    • The group discussed having a dual approach for training and professional development related to literacy for teachers and families, including family, friend, and neighbor care providers and families with children not in any type of care.
    • The group agreed to focus on the early years (birth to 3)/ Pre-K age group.
    • The group acknowledged that there are still gaps with 4- to 5-year-olds.
  • What do you and your organization bring related to the priority or priorities?
    • Ready Ready: Currently piloting A2i in 10 Pre-K classrooms in our Head Start provider. https://www.learningovations.com/a2i. Meck Pre-K is also piloting A2i in 30 classrooms this year.
    • Ready Ready: Piloting Raising A Reader and Motheread/Fatheread
    • NC DPI: Literacy at Home: Digital Children's Reading Initiative https://www.dpi.nc.gov/students-families/parents-corner/literacy-home-digital-childrens-reading-initiative
    • NC DPI: Have ongoing support for educators as they receive LETRS (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling) training. The training has been provided to all NC Pre-K teachers, site administrators, and other public school Pre-K teachers.
    • Book Harvest: Book Babies: https://www.bookharvest.org/book-babies
    • Guilford County: Resource use to support families with children ages 0 to 5- The Guilford Basics- https://guilfordbasics.org
    • Reach Out and Read: Health care providers are working to reach the younger age group.
  • Who are the other players?
    • Family voice- NCECF (North Carolina Early Childhood Foundation) completed a parent voice report a couple years ago around their thoughts related to barriers and supports for reading- Not About Me Without Me. https://buildthefoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/ncecf_reports-parents-121017-digital.pdf
    • Providers
    • NC Partnership for children
    • Book Babies parent
  • What is available related to the priority?
    • LETRS (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling)
    • Mentoring
    • Science of reading related resources
    • Basics
    • Raising a Reader
    • Local libraries have lots of resources (digital and in person) that often goes underutilized.
• Next Steps for Work Group
  • All work group members were asked to add responses to the discussion questions related to the two priorities to the Jamboard.
    • Which priority would the group like to start with to make more specific?
    • What do you and your organization bring related to the priority or priorities?
    • Who are the other players?
    • What is available related to the priority?
    • What are realistic actions?
    • What are the gaps and how could they be addressed?
• Closing
• The next work group meeting is scheduled for:
• Tuesday, February 27, 2024, 10:00 to 11:00 am

Tuesday, November 28, 2023, 10:00 to 11:00 am, Microsoft Teams- Work Group Meeting

Attendees: Angela Burch-Octetree, Mary Mathew, Gerri Mattson, Amber Pierce, Dan Tetreault; Staff: Ashley Rink

• Welcome and Agenda Overview
  • Gerri Mattson welcomed everyone and asked them to share their memories of their kindergarten experience.
• Grounding and Level Setting
  • The purpose of the meeting was to provide grounding and leveling setting for the Year of Action, discuss priorities and engaging partners working on third grade reading proficiency, and identify next steps for work group.
  • Group agreements, common language, Indicator 6: Third Grade Reading Proficiency, and the Year of Action asks, roles and expectations, and timeline were reviewed.  Refer to the slides for additional information on these topics.
  • Gerri Mattson shared examples of actions from the Adverse Childhood Experiences and Short-Term Suspensions work groups related to their priorities. Examples of actions included mapping available resources, educating funders about adverse and positive childhood experiences, and exploring how to expand policies about removing suspensions for kindergarten to third graders.
  • Actions and action plans can vary and depend on the identified priorities.
• Discussion of Priorities
  • The 2022-2023 priority was: Reinforce the talent pipeline for early educators for children from birth through third grade by increasing compensation through dedicated funding, ensuring pay parity, and sustaining investments in training and professional development. The action taken included participation in an advocacy day with the Early Education Coalition and other partners at the legislature.
  • The following priorities rose to the top in 2022-2023 that were not prioritized included:
    • Increase access to evidence-based home-visiting, parent education, and early literacy programs
    • Expand statewide access to NC Pre-K, 4-, and 5-star early learning programs and other high-quality early childhood programs
    • Increase funding to public schools and early learning programs that serve those children with the highest barriers to success, including children from low-income families and people of color
  • Updates and discussion related to the priority from 2022-2023 included the following. (Priority: Reinforce the talent pipeline for early educators for children from birth through third grade by increasing compensation through dedicated funding, ensuring pay parity, and sustaining investments in training and professional development.
    • The work group needs to learn about work happening within this space with early care and education providers to help understand where to best narrow this priority.
    • The priority should focus on training and professional development related to literacy for the area the group chooses to focus on.
    • This priority should be narrowed down and be more specific in some way, such as with NC Pre-K or another area.
    • This priority was still important and relevant,
  • The group discussed the following related to the three additional priorities that rose to the top the previous year.
    • All were important.
    • All the priorities would need to be narrowed to one direction if they were prioritized, such as choosing one, home-visiting, parent education, early literacy programs, etc.
    • Consider other initiatives happening throughout the state related to these areas.
    • Focus on training and professional development across the areas in the priorities.
    • Consider how to infuse best practices on early literacy in professional development.
    • Consider what the continuum of training and professional development from birth looks like and help people understand how to support language development.
    • Funders love the idea of working together more efficiently across the sectors. This could lead to increased funding by breaking down silos. A focus could be on cross-sector professional development and training related to early literacy.
    • An understanding of the gaps in services across the state is needed to determine whether the priorities should include increasing and/or expanding; including what areas need more energy behind them.
  • The two priorities of focus for additional discussion are:
    • Training and professional development related to literacy
    • Increase access to evidence-based home-visiting, parent education, and early literacy programs (cross-sector; find out where the action is)
• Discussion about Engaging Partners Working on Third Grade Reading Proficiency  
  • The North Carolina Early Education Coalition is operating under a co-directorship with Angela Burch-Octetree and Susan Butler-Staub.
  • Lisa Finaldi with the NC Early Childhood Foundation was asked to share the opportunity to participate with this work group with the thirteen communities involved in the North Carolina Campaign for Grade-Level Reading. Mary will connect with Lisa about her joining the work group and share what the Campaign communities are prioritizing around grade level reading.
  • The group discussed engaging Read Charlotte about their efforts around children’s literacy.
  • Work group members were asked to continue to invite others to participate.
• Next Steps for Work Group
  • Action steps identified during the meeting included the following.
    • Gerri Mattson will contact Michelle Ries about an update from the breakout session during NCIOM’s Annual Meeting and who is leading the work discussed.
    • Mary Mathew will connect with Lisa Finaldi about her joining the work group and share what the Campaign communities are prioritizing around grade level reading.
    • Gerri Mattson will reach out to work group members about the next steps related to the priority areas and the agenda for the next meeting.
    • All work group members are asked to continue to invite others to join the group.
    • Continue to narrow the priorities.
• Closing
  • The next work group meetings were scheduled for:
    • Tuesday, January 23, 2023, 10:00 to 11:00 am, Microsoft Teams
    • Tuesday, February 27, 2023, 10:00 to 11:00 am, Microsoft Teams

Thursday, October 26, 2023, 11:00 to 12:00 pm, Microsoft Teams- Work Group Meeting

Attendees: Jessica Lowery Clark, Muffy Grant, Mary Mathew, Gerri Mattson, Amber Pierce, and Dan Tetreault; Staff: Ashley Rink

• Welcome and Agenda Overview
  • The purpose of the meeting was to provide grounding and leveling setting for the Year of Action, review indicator and priorities and identify next steps for work group.
  • Work group members present introduced themselves and shared their favorite genre of books to read.
• Grounding and Level Setting
  • Group agreements, common language, Indicator 6: Third Grade Reading Proficiency, Year of Action asks, roles and expectations, and timeline were reviewed. 
  • The 2023 NC SHIP report has been released.
  • Gerri Mattson is continuing as the DHHS Co-Lead for this work group. Mary Mathew and Jessica Lowery Clark have stepped down as the Community and Organization Co-Leads for this year. Both of those co-leader positions are open. 
• Priority Review
  • The work group determines the number of priorities the work group will take action on/ develop action plans for the next year. Priority review includes consideration of if the priorities are clearly stated, are actionable, are resourced, and if the priority will continue to be a priority. 
  • The 2022-2023 Third Grade Reading Proficiency Work Group identified the following priority:
    • Reinforce the talent pipeline for early educators for children from birth through third grade by increasing compensation through dedicated funding, ensuring pay parity, and sustaining investments in training and professional development
• Next Steps for Work Group Discussion
  • Across the NC SHIP Community Council there are 18 work groups; of the 18 work groups 14 were newly formed last year and 4 were existing groups that aligned and/or their priorities were incorporated with the NC SHIP. 
  • The group began discussing what the work group would look like for this year, including if the work group would continue as the Third Grade Reading Proficiency Work Group or align with another existing group. If the work group decided to align with another existing group, that group would be approached to have a conversation about if they were willing to align with the current priority or if their priorities would or could be incorporated into the NC SHIP related to third grade reading proficiency.
  • Other groups with similar focus and priority areas related to third grade reading proficiency discussed and other considerations included:
    • NC Campaign for Third Grade Level Reading
    • Reach Out and Read
    • EarlyWell Initiative
    • Think Babies NC
    • County grade level reading groups, such as Ready Ready,  Read Charlotte, WAKE Up and Read. There are efforts to align those groups across the state with the national grade level reading initiatives.
    • Alignment with other groups may vary based on the priority identified. The policy fit depends on if the policy work is around third grade reading/early literacy or work force. Work is being done across the state in both areas. Childcare continues to impact early literacy. Another priority that was considered last year was around home visiting, there are other groups focusing on this.
    • The NC Early Childhood Foundation has developed a policy and practice crosswalk of related other state-level initiatives. They are also hosting a fellowship/ community of practice around the science of reading.
• Closing
  • The group discussed intentionally inviting others to join the Third Grade Reading Proficiency Work Group. The recommendation was for work group members to commit to inviting at least one agency and to brainstorm about who some of those agencies and/or individuals could be. Additional recommendations were to include more perspectives from across the state, such as rural and other communities.
  • The next steps identified included:
    • Complete the Doodle Poll to assist with scheduling the next work group meeting.
    • Commit to reaching out to at least 1 agency to ask for recommendations for someone from their agency to be involved with this work group.
    • Add the information for agencies and/or individuals being contacted about being involved with the Third Grade Reading Proficiency Work Group to the shared document.

Readings/Listenings

• Child Care for NC: United for Change: https://childcarefornc.org/
• Early childhood caucus shares priorities, including $300 million childcare request: https://www.ednc.org/2023-03-09-nc-early-childhood-caucus-shares-priorities-300-million-child-care-teacher-pay-subsidy/
• General Assembly of NC- House Bill 483- Auto Subsidy Eligibility/Childcare Teacher/Pilot: https://www.ncleg.gov/Sessions/2023/Bills/House/PDF/H483v0.pdf
• Pathways Action Framework: FINAL_NCECF_report-pathways-actionframework_digital-spreads-020519.pdf (https://buildthefoundation.org/)

Co-Leaders and Members

Work Group Members:

Updated on 3/21/2024

Priorities

2023-2024 Priorities:

• Planning healthier communities with access to key destinations (e.g. schools, medical facilities, food sources, parks, retail, work).

Priority Development Agenda

• Increase, promote, improve, and maintain the number of safe and well-lit sidewalks, bike trails and lanes, walking trails, and greenways to improve connectivity and accessibility.
• Planning healthier communities and places by prioritizing transportation systems and services.

Action Plan

Meeting Schedule

2023-2024 Access to Exercise Opportunities Work Group Meeting Schedule:

• Tuesday, October 24, 2023, from 12:00 to 2:00 pm, Microsoft Teams
• Tuesday, December 19, 2023, from 1:00 to 3:00 pm, Microsoft Teams
• Tuesday, February 27, 2024, from 2:00 to 4:00 pm, Microsoft Teams
• Tuesday, April 9, 2024, from 2:00 to 4:00 pm, Microsoft Teams
• Tuesday, June 11, 2024, from 2:00 to 4:00 pm, Microsoft Teams

Meeting Notes

Tuesday, June 11, 2024, from 1:00 to 3:00 pm, Microsoft Teams- Work Group Meeting

Attendees: Pam Cook, Sabrina Golling, Katie Harmon, Kelly Kavanaugh, Rachel Pohlman, Dianne Thomas; Staff: Ashley Rink

• Welcome and Agenda Overview
  • Rachel Pohlman welcomed everyone and asked for introductions and to share their favorite summer outdoor place.
• Review Meeting Notes from April 9, 2024
  • The work group had identified the following priority and action step.
    • Priority: Planning healthier communities with access to key destinations (e.g. schools, medical facilities, food sources, parks, retail, work)
      • Action Step: Create a list or directory of organizations/ individuals that are invested in statewide recreation and physical activity to “map” our network assets.
• Action Planning
  • The group discussed the following questions related to action step, “Create a list or directory of organizations/ individuals that are invested in statewide recreation and physical activity to “map” our network assets.”
  • What are the goals for creating this list?
    • The goal of the inventory list is to identify statewide organizations involved in recreation and physical activity work. After those organizations are identified, the goal would shift to fostering collaboration and networking to build capacity.
    • The group discussed involving additional statewide organizations in the work group to contribute insights into tools and better ways to drive people to resources and communicate what is available.
    • Past engagement with planners and recreation partners during the Healthy North Carolina 2030 development process was noted (refer to page 10 for a list of people involved in that process).
  • What are the parameters for the content? (Audience, accessibility, etc.)
    • The inventory list will be an internal document for the work group for now.
    • The work group can use the inventory list to understand how to better connect, share resources, and drive people to those resources to create coordination among land use, destinations, and access to exercise opportunities.
  • What is the best format? (What essential information and links should be included?)
    • The group decided since this will be an internal document that it would be best captured in a spreadsheet.
    • For each organization, the name, website, points of contact, what they do, and resources they provide. Categories of resources provided would include data, education, funding, infrastructure resources, planning, policy training/ toolkits, and space for other additional options.
    • The work group does have access to communications and graphic design resources if or when needed.
  • What are other examples?
    • A resource list of NC Food and Nutrition Resource Programs was shared as an example.
  • Who are partners and organizations that should be included in the inventory?
    • Potential organizations were discussed.
    • The inventory list will include about 20 organizations.
  • How will this be updated?
    • This inventory list would be updated annually via survey.
    • The NCSHIP Community Partnership Manager could assist in updating the list.
• Closing
  • For next steps, work group members are asked to add to the inventory list spreadsheet.
  • The NC SHIP Community Council Annual Meeting will be on Wednesday, July 10, 2024, from 10:00 to 12:00 pm on Microsoft Teams.
  • The next Access to Exercise Opportunities Work Group meeting has not been scheduled yet.

Tuesday, April 9, 2024, from 1:00 to 3:00 pm, Microsoft Teams- Work Group Meeting

Attendees: Alice Ammerman, Pam Cook, Sabrina Golling, Kelly Kavanaugh, Rachel Pohlman, Alex Rotenberry; Staff: Ashley Rink

• Welcome and Agenda Overview
  • Rachel Pohlman welcomed everyone.
• Review Meeting Notes from February 27, 2024
  • At the work group meeting on February 27, 2024, the group updated the priorities as follows:
    • (Priority 1) Increase, promote, improve, and maintain the number of safe and well-lit sidewalks, bike trails and lanes, walking trails, and greenways to improve connectivity and accessibility.
    • (Priority 2) Planning healthier communities with access to key destinations (e.g. schools, medical facilities, food sources, parks, retail, work).
    • (Priority 3) Planning healthier communities and places by prioritizing transportation systems and services.
• The following action steps were highlighted from the discussions at the previous meeting:
  • (Priority 1) Promote use of sidewalks, bike trails and lanes, walking trails, and greenways
  • (Priority 1) Create a 101 workshop to help communities identify the first step for adding sidewalks, bike trails and lanes, walking trails, and greenways.
  • (Priority 3) Create a one-pager for funding options to share with communities related to transportation systems and services.
• Action Planning
  • The results of the Action Step Strategy Survey were reviewed; 5 work group members completed the survey.
  • The group discussed concerns about low meeting attendance and work group member engagement.
  • The meeting agenda shifted from identifying action steps to member engagement. The group discussed:
    • Resharing roles and responsibilities.
    • Developing description of the work group and what is the mission of the work group.
    • Identifying action steps/ strategies may be a driver of engagement.
    • Communicating what the group has decided to work on.
    • Wanting the meetings to be meaningful for group members that are attending meetings.
    • Options for moving forward; resharing the survey and understanding who is going to be doing all the work.
    • Choosing an action step/ strategy and then intentionally determining who to engage.
  • The group decided to move forward with the action step below related to the following priority:
    • Priority: Planning healthier communities with access to key destinations (e.g. schools, medical facilities, food sources, parks, retail, work)
      • Action Step: Create a list or directory of organizations/ individuals that are invested in statewide recreation and physical activity to “map” our network assets.
  • The group discussed identifying organizations creating or improving recreation sites could include, land use, parks, cultural and natural resources, Cooperative Extensions, Active Routes to School, county, city, government, non-profits, and others, and not limiting to programs.
  • The list/ directory will provide a list of engaged partners invested in statewide recreation and physical activity.
  • Rachel shared as an example a resource guide that was created in both web and PDF versions.
• Closing
  • The next work group meeting is on Tuesday, June 11, 2024, from 2:00 to 4:00 pm on Microsoft Teams.

Tuesday, February 27, 2024, from 1:00 to 3:00 pm, Microsoft Teams- Work Group Meeting

Attendees: Alice Ammerman, Pam Cook, Sabrina Golling, Kelly Kavanaugh, Leah Mayo, Rachel Pohlman, Alex Rotenberry, Tish Singletary, Dianne Thomas; Staff: Ashley Rink

• Welcome and Agenda Overview
  • Rachel Pohlman welcomed everyone and asked for introductions.
• Review Meeting Notes from December 19, 2023
  • At the work group meeting on December 19, 2023, the group worked on refining the wording of the priorities. The group felt the third priority was encompassed in the first two priorities. The remainder of the meeting was spent on action planning for the first priority included below and considering what was realistic and needed to be fine-tuned.
    • Increase, promote, improve, and maintain the number of safe and well-lit sidewalks, bike trails and lanes, walking trails, and greenways to improve connectivity and accessibility.
    • Planning healthier communities and places through transportation options that connect key destinations (e.g. schools, medical facilities, food sources, parks, retail).
• Review Homework Suggestions
  • The homework for work group members from the last meeting was to:
    • Review action plan suggestions.
    • Invite work group members.
• Action Planning
  • The group decided to approach action planning during the meeting by splitting time to focus on the priorities as one big group.
  • The group started action planning with the second priority, “Planning healthier communities and places through transportation options that connect key destinations (e.g. schools, medical facilities, food sources, parks, retail).”
  • The group discussed land use design was in the planning sector and transportation services was a separate sector and that there is a difference between transportation infrastructure and transportation services. There was an overlap with the strategies and that approaches would be different depending on whether the group was referring to destinations or transportation systems and services.
  • Based on the discussion, the group supported separating the second priority into the following two priorities with one focusing on key destinations and the other focusing on transportation systems and services.
    • (Priority 2) Planning healthier communities with access to key destinations (e.g. schools, medical facilities, food sources, parks, retail, work).
    • (Priority 3) Planning healthier communities and places by prioritizing transportation systems and services.
  • The group started discussing action planning for priority 3, then moved to priority 2, and ended with priority 1. Refer to the action planning document for strategies and related information added during the meeting. 
• Closing
  • The next work group meeting dates will be on:
    • Tuesday, April 9, 2024, from 2:00 to 4:00 pm, Microsoft Teams
    • Tuesday, June 11, 2024, from 2:00 to 4:00 pm, Microsoft Teams
  • The next steps related to the priorities and action planning in the order of discussion included:
    • (Priority 3) Planning healthier communities and places by prioritizing transportation systems and services.
      • Vote anonymously on level of support for the work group moving forward with strategy of creating a one-pager for funding options to share with communities related to transportation systems and services.
        • Voting be on a scale of 1 (against it), 3 (could live with it, not excited about it), to 5 (excited and onboard with it).
      • If the group agrees to moving forward with this strategy, then we would create a document to collect  and organize the information and after that work with a graphic designer to make it accessible for people.
    • (Priority 2) Planning healthier communities with access to key destinations (e.g. schools, medical facilities, food sources, parks, retail, work)
      • Invite land use planners.
    • (Priority 1) Increase, promote, improve, and maintain the number of safe and well-lit sidewalks, bike trails and lanes, walking trails, and greenways to improve connectivity and accessibility.
      • Vote on which action step/strategy the work group wants to move forward for this priority.
        • Create a 101 workshop to help communities identify the first step for adding sidewalks, bike trails and lanes, walking trails, and greenways.
        • Promote use of sidewalks, bike trails and lanes, walking trails, and greenways
      • After determining which action step to move forward on, then start gathering information and who is not at the table that needs to be in that conversation.

Tuesday, December 19, 2023, from 1:00 to 3:00 pm, Microsoft Teams- Work Group Meeting

Attendees: Alice Ammerman, Sabrina Golling, Kelly Kavanaugh, Leah Mayo, Michelle Nance, Rachel Pohlman, Alex Rotenberry, Tish Singletary; Staff: Hannah McDiarmid and Ashley Rink

• Welcome and Agenda Overview
  • Rachel Pohlman welcomed everyone and asked for introductions.
• Review Meeting Notes from October 24, 2023
  • Rachel Pohlman provided a high-level overview of the work group meeting on October 24, 2023. The purpose of the work group for this year was to review the priorities and identify how to move forward with the priorities identified. The work group began action planning at the previous meeting.
• Review Homework Suggestions
  • The homework from the previous meeting included:
    • Suggestions for refining wording of priorities and action plan items
    • Suggestions for who needs to be invited to work group meeting
  • Suggestions for refining the wording of priorities were discussed. The discussion included:
    • Inclusion of planning products that are more tangible and can be quantified.
    • Acknowledging who has control to make changes and influence changes.
    • Being specific such as more than safety in general, saying increases in four-way stops, average speed limits, etc. If the priority is general, there could be specific action steps that are measurable and tangible.
    • The funding sources for increasing are different than those to promote, improve, and maintain the number of safe and well-lit sidewalks, bike trails and lanes, walking trails, and greenways to improve connectivity and accessibility.
    • Education and encouragement were not included in the priority as they are more the method than the objective and would be measuring the policy, systems, or environmental changes.
    • Recommended keeping the language for active mobility versus alternative transportation consistent with other state plans and groups, such as the Bike/Ped Work Group under the Governor’s Highway.
    • The first priority’s focus is more about land use planning and the second priority’s focus is on transportation. Considerations for land use planning should reflect equity and social determinants of health. In rural communities there may be no destinations; when improving connectivity there must be something to connect to and acknowledging those connections support healthful living.
• Clarify Second Priority
  • Those present were in favor of adopting the new wording for the second priority:  
    • Planning healthier communities and places through transportation options that connect key destinations (e.g. schools, medical facilities, food sources, parks, retail)
• Discuss Optional Third Priority
  • At the previous work group meeting, the group discussed potentially adding a third priority, “Increase opportunities for physical activity through the natural and built environment supported through multimodal mobility options.”     
  • Those present were agreement of not adding the third priority because it was redundant of the first two priorities.
• Action Planning
  • At the previous work group meeting, the group focused on the first priority (Increase, promote, improve, and maintain the number of safe and well-lit sidewalks, bike trails and lanes, walking trails, and greenways to improve connectivity and accessibility) about connectivity and having walkways and trails.
  • The action plans are where the group can include some of those very specific measures and measures that would be addressing social determinants of health and equity. The action plans are for the work group and implementing, directing recommendations, and/or connecting with others doing the work is up to the work group. The action plans should include what the group is working on and resources, connecting and/or obtaining, could be included as action steps.
  • The group discussed action planning for the second priority (Planning healthier communities and places through transportation options that connect key destinations (e.g. schools, medical facilities, food sources, parks, retail)) and added action steps to the action planning document. Additional information shared by work group members for future consideration is included after the action plans.
  • The next step for the action plans is for work group members is to review the action steps and consider what is missing, realistic, and/or should be fine-tuned.  
• Suggestions for who needs to be invited to work group meeting
  • Another homework assignment from the previous meeting was to consider who was missing from the work group. The group reviewed and added to the document, Who Needs to be Invited to Work Group Meetings.
  • Work group members are asked to invite others to join the work group. Sample language for work group members to use for inviting work group members will be shared.
• Closing
  • The group discussed potential dates for the next work group meetings and potentially changing the meeting times from 1:00 to 3:00 pm to 2:00 to 4:00 pm. A Doodle Poll will be sent to the work group to determine the next meeting dates and times.
  • The next steps for the work group are to :
    • Complete Doodle Poll for next work group meetings in February, April, and June 2024.
    • Review action plan suggestions.
    • Invite work group members.

Tuesday, October 24, 2023, from 12:00 to 2:00 pm, Microsoft Teams- Work Group Meeting

Attendees: Alice Ammerman, Pamela Cook, Sabrina Golling, Katie Harmon, Irene Ivie, Kelly Kavanaugh, Leah Mayo, Rachel Pohlman, Alex Rotenberry, Tish Singletary; Staff: Hannah McDiarmid and Ashley Rink

• Welcome and Agenda Overview
  • Rachel Pohlman welcomed everyone and asked for introductions. The icebreaker question was what their fall activity was.
• Grounding and Level Setting
  • The purpose of the meeting was to provide grounding and level setting, review the priorities identified this past year, and identify how to move forward with the priorities identified. Group agreements, common language, the Year of Action asks, roles and expectations, and timeline were also reviewed.  
  • The 2023 NC SHIP report is now available. The pages for Indicator 7: Access to Exercise Opportunities are also available in a standalone document.
  • The headline indicator is the percent of people with access to exercise opportunities; for the result statement the term physical activity opportunities was used to be more inclusive.
• Priority Review
  • The purpose of the priority review was to determine if the priorities were clearly stated, were actionable, were resourced, and if they would continue to be a priority.
  • The 2022-2023 Priorities from the 2023 NC SHIP report were:
    • Increase, promote, improve, and maintain the number of safe and well-lit sidewalks, bike trails and lanes, walking trails, and greenways to improve connectivity and accessibility
    • Promote, sustain, and expand multimodal transportation options to increase access to places for physical activity
• Action Planning
  • The short and long-term strategies discussed during previous asset mapping were reviewed and are available on the 2022 NC SHIP Scorecard.
  • The work group began action planning during the meeting. 
  • The work group discussed potentially adding the following as an additional priority.
    • Increase opportunities for physical activity through the natural and built environment supported through multimodal mobility options
• Closing
  • The next steps for the work group are to :
    • Complete a Doodle Poll for a work group meeting date in December.
    • Share suggestions to refine the wording for priorities.
    • Share suggestions to fill in action plan items.
    • Consider and share who needs to be invited to these meetings. (Some groups that are not represented include aging, differing abilities, and the Department of Public Instruction (DPI).)

Readings/Listenings

• America Walks- How to Conduct a Walk Audit in Your Community: https://americawalks.org/how-to-conduct-a-walk-audit-in-your-community-quick-video-guide-for-assessing-your-neighborhood-walkability/
• CDC Active People Healthy Nation: https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/activepeoplehealthynation/index.html
• CDC Moving Matters Communication Campaign: https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/activepeoplehealthynation/moving-matters.html
• CDC Priority Strategy: Increasing Physical Activity Through Community Design: https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/community-strategies/activity-friendly-routes-to-everyday-destinations.html
• ChangeLab Solutions - The Planner’s Playbook: a community-centered approach to improving health and equity: https://www.changelabsolutions.org/product/planners-playbook
• Connect Beyond- A Regional Mobility Initiative: https://www.connect-beyond.com/
• Creating Active Community Environments in South Carolina: A Grassroots Guide: https://scdhec.gov/sites/default/files/Library/CR-012013.pdf
• Eat Smart, Move More North Carolina. 2020. North Carolina’s Plan to Address Overweight and Obesity. www.eatsmartmovemorenc.com
• Move More Walk Now: Engage Your Community: https://movemorewalknownc.com/engage-your-community/
• North Carolina Department of Transportation- Complete Streets Policy: https://www.ncdot.gov/divisions/integrated-mobility/multimodal-planning/
• North Carolina Department of Transportation- Integrated Mobility Division: https://www.ncdot.gov/divisions/integrated-mobility

Co-Leaders and Members

Updated 3/21/2024

Priorities

2023-2024 Priorities:

• Enhance how children and families access programs supporting their well-being, including SNAP, WIC, CACFP, school and summer nutrition programs, Medicaid, and NCCARE360 through better data and analysis, infrastructure, and integration.
• Provide financial incentives such as “Double Up Food Bucks” and Produce Prescriptions for SNAP/ FNS recipients for purchasing fresh fruit and vegetables from grocery stores and farmers markets AND Support farmers markets and enable Electronic Benefit Transfer payment at farmers markets.
• Collaborate with community partners to provide nutritious and culturally responsive options at food banks and pantries and soup kitchens.

Priority Development Agenda

• Continue, expand, and institutionalize the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) online purchasing pilot.
• Support equitable, food-oriented development that drives economic growth in low-income and historically marginalized communities.
• Support regional food hubs connecting local farmers, growers, producers, and ranchers with expanded market opportunities and the community to improved access to local, nutritious food
• Implement competitive pricing for healthy foods.
• Support, promote, and encourage participation in the School Breakfast and National School Lunch Programs.

Action Plan

Meeting Schedule

2023-2024 Limited Access to Healthy Foods Work Group Meeting Schedule:

• Tuesday, November 7, 2023, from 12:00 to 1:30 pm, Zoom
• Tuesday, January 30, 2024, from 1:00 to 2:30 pm, Zoom
• Tuesday, March 19, 2024, from 1:00 to 2:30 pm, Zoom
• Tuesday, May 21, 2024, from 1:00 to 2:30 pm, Zoom

Meeting Notes

Tuesday, May 21, 2023, from 12:00 to 1:30 pm, Zoom

Attendance: Alice S. Ammerman, Miles Atkins, Morgan Cooper, Jessica Maas, Gayle Simmons, Tish Singletary, Karen Stanley, Konnie Khánh Tran, Jannice Verne; Staff: Hannah McDiarmid

• Welcome and Agenda Overview
  • Alice Ammerman welcomed everyone and asked for introductions. The icebreaker question was sharing stories or facts about cicadas.
• Grounding and Level Setting
  • The purpose of the meeting was to provide updates related to the Limited Access to Healthy Foods Work Group’s 2023-2024 priorities.
    • Enhance how children and families access programs supporting their well-being, including SNAP, WIC, CACFP, school and summer nutrition programs, Medicaid, and NCCARE360 through better data and analysis, infrastructure, and integration
    • Provide financial incentives such as “Double Up Food Bucks” and Produce Prescriptions for SNAP/ FNS recipients for purchasing fresh fruit and vegetables from grocery stores and farmers markets AND Support farmers markets and enable Electronic Benefit Transfer payment at farmers markets
    • Collaborate with community partners to provide nutritious and culturally responsive options at food banks and pantries and soup kitchens
• Action Planning
  • The following updates and discussions were related to the priority, “Provide financial incentives such as “Double Up Food Bucks” and Produce Prescriptions for SNAP/ FNS recipients for purchasing fresh fruit and vegetables from grocery stores and farmers markets AND Support farmers markets and enable Electronic Benefit Transfer payment at farmers markets.”
    • The North Carolina Local Food Council Community Health Work Group Double Up NC (DUNC) identified the following action items.
      • Define Double Up NC (DUNC)  (‘Nutrition Incentives’) such as the mode (voucher/prescription), market (retail, grocery, FM, etc.), items eligible (F/V, dairy, meat?), etc.
      • Conduct a landscape assessment of Nutrition Incentive programs in North Carolina.
      • List of potential sustainable funding opportunities for Nutrition Incentives (such as GusNIP, NC Dep/State budget).
      • Secure and fund a manager to lead a statewide Double Up NC (DUNC) campaign and promotion.
      • Create guidance on how to implement DUNC for new programs/markets/organizations.
    • The group discussed potential partners that may be interested in advocating for and/or supporting the Double Up NC program. Suggestions included:
      • Healthy Opportunities Pilot stakeholders
      • Prepaid Health Plans (PHPs)
      • BlueCross BlueShield Foundation
      • North Carolina Alliance for Health may know of which organizations have been involved in prior efforts and are able to advocate.
      • NC DHHS can educate, they cannot advocate.
    • Next steps related to this priority are to:
      • Find out where the North Carolina Local Food Council Community Health Work Group is with the conducting a landscape assessment of nutrition incentive programs in North Carolina.
      • Look into what options might be available to support the landscape assessment. (Tish, Konnie, and Karen)
      • Find out where the North Carolina Local Food Council Community Health Work Group is with the manager position.
      • Find out who might be able to sign on and develop a list of people who would support these efforts.
  • The following updates and discussions were related to the priority, “Enhance how children and families access programs supporting their well-being, including SNAP, WIC, CACFP, school and summer nutrition programs, Medicaid, and NCCARE360 through better data and analysis, infrastructure, and integration.”
    • There are challenges with getting more referrals than an organization has capacity for and then rejecting those referrals because of their limited capacity.
    • The current Healthy Communities program funding does allow health departments to work on NCCARE360 and address this. Health departments are experiencing similar challenges with capacity.
    • Care managers are typically nurses paid by the health plan or PHP to coordinate clinical care for a Medicaid member and enroll them in the Healthy Opportunities Pilot (HOP) services. Case managers support specific services, such as food and nutrition, housing, etc.
    • Andrew Harrell, Communications and Program Specialist with the Carolina Hunger Initiative and No Kid Hungry NC at the Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, provided updates on School Meals for All NC.
      • The School Meals for All NC coalition is working for every child in every public school in North Carolina should have access to breakfast and lunch at school at no cost to their families. They are working to have this added to another bill during the General Assembly’s short session. 
      • The goal is for the legislature to make this a recurring part of the state budget, extra funding adding on to the federal funding to make sure meals can get to all children, regardless of background.
  • The community eligibility provision is a federal option for schools, which means if they have enough children in their school who are automatically qualified for free school meals, they'll give them a multiplier and reimburse them extra on the assumption that they have more children in that school who would benefit from it.
    • The following updates and discussions were related to the priority, “Collaborate with community partners to provide nutritious and culturally responsive options at food banks and pantries and soup kitchens.”
      • Jannice Verne shared the Diaper Bank of NC has a program called the Essentials Hub that brings a van into public housing communities in Durham and Wilmington to bring them to services as families were having a hard time physically getting to the services. They also partner with food banks and food programs. They regularly engage other partners to contribute to the overall health and well-being of families.
      • There may be opportunities for education about food banks and pantries and the food they distribute. Food banks tend to purchase a lot of the food they distribute.
• Closing
  • The next meeting dates and next steps will be shared later.

Tuesday, March 19, 2023, from 12:00 to 1:30 pm, Zoom

Attendees: Alice S. Ammerman, Gideon Adams, Miles Atkins, Jennifer Bedrosian, Diane Beth, Pam Cook, Morgan Cooper, Dawn Daly-Mack, Jessica Maas, Sharon Nelson, Andrea Price-Stogsdill, Michelle Schaefer-Old, Ayana Simon, Tish Singletary, Karen Stanley, Abbie Szymanski, Konnie Khánh Tran; Staff: Hannah McDiarmid and Ashley Rink

• Welcome and Agenda Overview
  • Alice Ammerman welcomed everyone and asked for introductions. The icebreaker question was what musical instrument people would like to be good at that they are not currently good at.
• Grounding and Level Setting
  • The purpose of the meeting was to provide updates related to the Limited Access to Healthy Foods Work Group’s 2023-2024 priorities.
    • Enhance how children and families access programs supporting their well-being, including SNAP, WIC, CACFP, school and summer nutrition programs, Medicaid, and NCCARE360 through better data and analysis, infrastructure, and integration
    • Provide financial incentives such as “Double Up Food Bucks” and Produce Prescriptions for SNAP/ FNS recipients for purchasing fresh fruit and vegetables from grocery stores and farmers markets AND Support farmers markets and enable Electronic Benefit Transfer payment at farmers markets
    • Collaborate with community partners to provide nutritious and culturally responsive options at food banks and pantries and soup kitchens
• Action Planning
  • The following updates were shared related to the priority, “Enhance how children and families access programs supporting their well-being, including SNAP, WIC, CACFP, school and summer nutrition programs, Medicaid, and NCCARE360 through better data and analysis, infrastructure, and integration:
  • Overview of Healthy Opportunities Pilots
    • The Program Managers for the Healthy Opportunities Pilots (HOP) are Andrea Price-Stogsdill, who primarily works with health plans and care managers, and Maria Ramirez Perez, primarily works with the network leads, human service organizations (HSOs), NCCARE360 and the data.
    • HOP focuses on housing, food, transportation and interpersonal safety and toxic stress. The goal of HOP is to improve health outcomes for Medicaid members, promote health equity within the community, and then reduce costs of the North Carolina Medicaid program.
    • The program includes paying for 29 evidence-based services, which will address member health and reduce some costs. Part of the funding includes building up local community organizations and infrastructure; part of the infrastructure is the network leads who oversee the human service organizations and work to ensure there are not gaps in services.
    • Services included by HOP related to food include food and nutrition access case management, evidence-based group nutrition class, Diabetes Prevention Program, fruit and vegetable prescription, healthy food box (pick-up or delivered), healthy meal (pick-up or delivered), and  Medically Tailored Home Delivered Meal.
    • The state solicited feedback from stakeholders to help design the pilots and implement them in the best way. The state maintains consistent engagement with pilot entities, through ongoing calls and communications with care management entities. The process is continually being improved.
    • There is current planning around the expansion of HOP; the statewide approach has not been released at this time.
    • Challenges with getting people the food they need through HOP, are largely related to invoicing overall. HOP was a new workflow for HSOs, shifting from a reimbursement model rather than a grant-based model or a claims-based process. Internally, they are exploring how to have better coordination across different types of food nutrition supports that are available in the state. There are also opportunities to better use data about food insecurity and if needs are being met and the development of food guidance.
  • Overview of NCCARE360
    • NCCARE360 is a statewide resource and referral platform that allows stakeholders to connect individuals with community resources. It connects community-based organizations or HSOs with social service agencies and allows the care managers to be able to provide closed loop referrals.
    • The referral process was described as follows:
      • The care manager meets with the member, assesses the member’s food or other needs.
      • If the member attests that they are food insecure through attestation, and they meet those other criteria, then the care manager would talk to them more about what type of food service would best meet their needs, whether it is a home delivered meal, a food box, or fruit and vegetable prescription card, or some combination.
      • The referrals are made within NCCARE360 and the health plan either authorizes it or not; once it is authorized it goes directly to the HSO the care manager selected.
      • The care manager can check back later to confirm that the loop was closed.
      • Through NCCARE360, the care managers can determine if the HSOs are in the member’s area and if they are currently accepting referrals.
    • Organizations have voiced the need for the NCCARE360 platform to be integrated into their existing referral platforms.
    • When onboarding community groups use plain language to describe the referral website. NCCARE360 could be pitched as a resource for community-based organizations and other resources in their area and could be a mechanism to connect members with more targeted resources.
    • A question was asked about the ability for partners to be able to see a report of all the partners included that are supporting food and nutrition services, for example by supporting direct food access, to determine those that are missing. That information could be shared at the next meeting.
• Action Recommendations
  • The work group discussed the following recommendations for actions to support this priority:
    • Improve coordination with other food benefit programs.
    • Encourage organizations to join the NCCARE360 platform.
    • Encourage funding to create an interface for system interoperability enhancements.
    • Coordinate efforts between health departments and NCCARE360 to be able to onboard local community-based organizations.
    • Communicate the benefits for organizations to be included in NCCARE360.
• Closing
  • The next work group meeting will be on Tuesday, May 21, 2024, from 1:00 to 2:30 pm, on Zoom.

Tuesday, January 30, 2023, from 12:00 to 1:30 pm, Zoom

Attendees: Alice S. Ammerman, Gideon Adams, Tracey Bates, Jennifer Bedrosian, Diane Beth, Morgan Cooper, Dawn Daly-Mack, Mamie Harris, Amanda S. Hege, Mia K. (Last name unknown), Jessica Maas, Jayne L. McBurney, Courtney Ramsey-Coleman, Lisa Riggsbee, Gayle Simmons, Karen Stanley, Konnie Khánh Tran; Staff: Ashley Rink

• Welcome and Agenda Overview
  • Alice Ammerman welcomed everyone and asked for introductions. The icebreaker question was what their favorite winter activity helps them stay healthy (physically, mentally, or spiritually).
• Grounding and Level Setting
  • The meeting notes from the work group meeting on November 7, 2023, were reviewed.
  • The 2022-2023 priorities were reviewed. The co-leaders recommended the priorities highlighted in yellow be the work group’s focus for the year.
    • (#1) Enhance how children and families access programs supporting their well-being, including SNAP, WIC, CACFP, Medicaid, and NCCARE360 through better data and analysis, infrastructure, and integration
    • (#2) Provide financial incentives such as “Double Up Food Bucks” and Produce Prescriptions for SNAP/ FNS recipients for purchasing fresh fruit and vegetables from grocery stores and farmers markets
    • (#3) Continue, expand, and institutionalize the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) online purchasing pilot
    • (#4) Support equitable, food-oriented development that drives economic growth in low-income and historically marginalized communities
    • (#5) Support regional food hubs connecting local farmers, growers, producers, and ranchers with expanded market opportunities and the community to improved access to local, nutritious food
    • (#6) Implement competitive pricing for healthy foods
    • (#7) Collaborate with community partners to provide nutritious and culturally responsive options at food banks and pantries and soup kitchens
    • (#8) Support farmers markets and enable Electronic Benefit Transfer payment at farmers markets
    • (#9) Support, promote, and encourage participation in the School Breakfast and National School Lunch Programs
• Identify Top 3 to 4 Priorities:
  • The top three priorities highlighted above were discussed with the following rationale for being the work group’s current priorities.
    • #1 Enhance how children and families access programs supporting their well-being, including SNAP, WIC, CACFP, Medicaid, and NCCARE360 through better data and analysis, infrastructure, and integration
      • Rationale: There is momentum here with the State Action Plan and Healthy Opportunities expanding statewide (timing TBD).
      • Goals included: closing gaps in referrals to NCCARE 360 with data and learning more about barriers; expanding the focus to include seniors and children; supporting HOP expansion.
    • #2 Provide financial incentives such as “Double Up Food Bucks” and Produce Prescriptions for SNAP/ FNS recipients for purchasing fresh fruit and vegetables from grocery stores and farmers markets
      • Rationale: There is momentum here with the Fresh Food Bucks for NC budget request for 2024- the work with NC Farmers Market Network.
    • #7 Collaborate with community partners to provide nutritious and culturally responsive options at food banks and pantries and soup kitchens
      • Rationale: There is momentum here with the work already happening at the food banks and Nourishing Carolinas.
  • The co-leaders reviewed the following rationale for the other priorities that were not chosen.
    • #3: At the state level there are not dedicated staff working on this. May be difficult for this group to move forward.
    • #4: Recommend prioritizing weaving equity and supporting wealth-building and economic development opportunities for historically marginalized folks in all the priorities. 
    • #5: There are resources available in the food hub space, NC Food Hub Collaborative, Eastern Food Hub Collaborative. Food Safety questions can possibly be directed to these groups and extension. Keep on the radar as HOP statewide develops.
    • #6: Unsure if DHHS has the capacity to revamp this program. Keep on the radar. Interest in learning more about Dollar General.
    • #8: Combine with #2 priority.
    • #9: School Meals for all NC is doing great work here along with others listed in notes. Keep on the radar so that folks in this group can share their resources for program promotion.
  • The work group members present were in favor of the following priorities and next steps. Revisions are included below in red. Refer to the slide deck for action planning questions.
    • (#1) Enhance how children and families access programs supporting their well-being, including SNAP, WIC, CACFP, school and summer nutrition programs, Medicaid, and NCCARE360 through better data and analysis, infrastructure, and integration
      • Next Steps:
        • Invite Unite Us to attend next meeting to discuss barriers and where they are with onboarding specific programs.
    • (#2) Provide financial incentives such as “Double Up Food Bucks” and Produce Prescriptions for SNAP/ FNS recipients for purchasing fresh fruit and vegetables from grocery stores and farmers markets AND incorporating: (#8) Support farmers markets and enable Electronic Benefit Transfer payment at farmers markets
      • Discussed what was the role of the groups that want to support this, such as NC Food Council, Farmers Market Network, etc.
      • Next Steps:
        • Identify roles and responsibilities for groups that want to support this priority.
        • March Meeting- Amanda Hege provide an update on these efforts.
    • (#7) Collaborate with community partners to provide nutritious and culturally responsive options at food banks and pantries and soup kitchens
      • Duke is putting together an event connecting local growers with markets.
        • Contact Unite Us about where they are with getting these specific programs onboarded to NCCARE360. Have conversations about barriers.
• Action Planning
  • The timeframes for the work group’s action plans may extend past June 2024 to 2030. The indicators identified in Healthy North Carolina 2030 are in place until 2030.
  • The NCDHHS State Action Plan for Nutrition Security includes more specifics and metrics related to nutrition programs.
  • At the next meeting on March 19th, the work group will be:
    • Moving through each top priority listed,
    • Identifying goals and points of clarification, and
    • Deciding what action this group can take to support this work. 
  • Additional information will be shared regarding action planning. The co-leaders welcome any advance thinking and recommendations for action planning.
  • The co-leaders thanked everyone for their participation and continued involvement.
• Closing
  • The next work group meetings will be as follows.
    • Tuesday, March 19, 2024, from 1:00 to 2:30 pm, Zoom
    • Tuesday, May 21, 2024, from 1:00 to 2:30 pm, Zoom

Tuesday, November 7, 2023, from 12:00 to 1:30 pm, Zoom

Attendees: Alice S. Ammerman, Tracey Bates, Jennifer Bedrosian, Diane Beth, Sara Clement, Pam Cook, Morgan Cooper, Maggie Funkhouser, JéWana Grier-McEachin, Amanda S. Hege, Jan Jones, Jayne L. McBurney, Allison Nelson, Courtney Ramsey-Coleman, Gayle Simmons, Tish Singletary, Karen Stanley, Julie Sunderman, Crystal E. Taylor, Konnie Khánh Tran; Staff: Ashley Rink

• Welcome and Agenda Overview
  • Alice Ammerman welcomed everyone and asked for introductions. The icebreaker question was what their favorite Thanksgiving dish was.
• Grounding and Level Setting
  • The purpose of the meeting was to provide grounding and level setting, and review the priorities identified this past year.
    • Group agreements, common language, Indicator 8: Limited Access to Healthy Foods, and the Year of Action asks, roles and expectations, and timeline were reviewed.  Refer to the slides for additional information on these topics.
• Priority Review
  • The 2022-2023 priorities from the 2023 NC SHIP report were:
    • Enhance how children and families access programs supporting their well-being, including SNAP, WIC, CACFP, Medicaid, and NCCARE360 through better data and analysis, infrastructure, and integration
    • Provide financial incentives such as “Double Up Food Bucks” and Produce Prescriptions for SNAP/ FNS recipients for purchasing fresh fruit and vegetables from grocery stores and farmers markets
    • Continue, expand, and institutionalize the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) online purchasing pilot
    • Support equitable, food-oriented development that drives economic growth in low-income and historically marginalized communities
    • Support regional food hubs connecting local farmers, growers, producers, and ranchers with expanded market opportunities and the community to improved access to local, nutritious food
    • Implement competitive pricing for healthy foods
    • Collaborate with community partners to provide nutritious options at food banks and pantries and soup kitchens
    • Support farmers markets and enable Electronic Benefit Transfer payment at farmers markets
    • Support, promote, and encourage participation in the School Breakfast and National School Lunch Programs
  • Updates and discussion on each of the 2022-2023 priorities included the following. The priorities are highlighted in yellow.
• Next Steps
  • The co-leaders will meet to discuss the next steps to identify the top 3 to 4 priorities. Additional information will be shared before the next meeting.
  • The co-leaders, Alice Ammerman, Tish Singletary, and Jennifer Bedrosian, thanked everyone for their participation and continued involvement.

Readings/Listenings

• Cape Fear Collective- Food Hardship Index: https://healthycommunitiesnc.org/profile/geo/cape-fear#limited-access-to-healthy-foods
• County Health Rankings & Roadmaps- Competitive pricing for healthy foods (2021): https://www.countyhealthrankings.org/take-action-to-improve-health/what-works-for-health/strategies/competitive-pricing-for-healthy-foods
• County Health Rankings & Roadmaps- Healthy food initiatives in food pantries (2020): https://www.countyhealthrankings.org/take-action-to-improve-health/what-works-for-health/strategies/healthy-food-initiatives-in-food-pantries
• NCDHHS Healthy Opportunities Pilots: https://www.ncdhhs.gov/about/department-initiatives/healthy-opportunities/healthy-opportunities-pilots
• NCDHHS State Action Plan for Nutrition Security: 2023-2024: https://www.ncdhhs.gov/ncdhhs-state-action-plan-nutrition-security-2023-2024
• PolicyLink- Equitable Food Systems Resource Guide (2023): https://www.policylink.org/food-systems/equitable-food-systems-resource-guide
• USDA- SNAP Online Purchasing Pilot: https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/online-purchasing-pilot

Co-Leaders and Members

Co-Leaders:

Work Group Members:

Updated 7/3/2024

Priorities

2023-2024 Priorities:

• Remove legal barriers, institute enabling legislation, and facilitate lending to promote Community Land Trusts and other shared equity models of homeownership
• Support programs designed to increase home ownership for historically disenfranchised communities
• Increase measures and funding to provide tenants with access to mediation, legal representation, and legal education to secure and protect housing
• Simplify and expand the Weatherization Assistance Program, Low-Income Energy Assistance Programs, and other healthy homes and utility assistance programs by affirmatively engaging low-income communities through targeted outreach to help families meet their energy needs

Priority Development Agenda

• Support funding, loans, and other resources for housing providers in agricultural areas to improve safe and healthy home environments for migrant workers

Action Plan

The work group will break into small groups around the following priorities. Work group members are asked to consider  which small group they would like to join for action planning. 

• Group 1:
  • Remove legal barriers, institute enabling legislation, and facilitate lending to promote Community Land Trusts and other shared equity models of homeownership
  • Support programs designed to increase home ownership for historically disenfranchised communities
• Group 2 (2A):
  • Increase measures and funding to provide tenants with access to mediation, legal representation, and legal education to secure and protect housing
• Group 3 (2B):
  • Simplify and expand the Weatherization Assistance Program, Low-Income Energy Assistance Programs, and other healthy homes and utility assistance programs by affirmatively engaging low-income communities through targeted outreach to help families meet their energy needs

Meeting Schedule

2023-2024 Severe Housing Problems Work Group Meeting Schedule:

• Monday, October 16, 2023, from 3:00 to 4:00 pm, Microsoft Teams
• Monday, January 22, 2024, from 3:00 to 4:00 pm via Microsoft Teams
• Monday, March 18, 2024, from 3:00 to 4:00 pm via Microsoft Teams
• Monday, June 17, 2024, from 3:00 to 4:00 pm via Microsoft Teams

Meeting Notes

Monday, June 17, 2024, from 3:00 to 4:00 pm, Microsoft Teams- Work Group Meeting

Attendees: Diannee Carden-Glenn, Ken Edminster, David Glenn, Lea Henry, Sue Lynn Ledford, Stefanie Ledwell, Patricia Macfoy, Karon McKinney, Bill Rowe, Betty Vines, Josh Walker, Stephanie Williams; Staff: Ashley Rink

• Welcome and Agenda Overview
  • Josh Walker everyone and reviewed the agenda.
• Grounding and Level Setting
  • The work group’s 2023-2024 priorities and small groups are:
    • Group 1: Facilitating Homeownership
      • Remove legal barriers, institute enabling legislation, and facilitate lending to promote Community Land Trusts and other shared equity models of homeownership
      • Support programs designed to increase home ownership for historically disenfranchised communities
    • Group 2 (A): Tenant Issues
      • Increase measures and funding to provide tenants with access to mediation, legal representation, and legal education to secure and protect housing
    • Group 3 (2B): Assistance Programs
      • Simplify and expand the Weatherization Assistance Program, Low-Income Energy Assistance Programs, and other healthy homes and utility assistance programs by affirmatively engaging low-income communities through targeted outreach to help families meet their energy needs
  • At the work group’s previous meeting on March 18, 2024, the group began action planning. Refer to the meeting notes for additional information.
• Small Groups
  • The small groups went into breakout sessions to discuss progress updates since the last meeting and identify next steps. The small groups provided the following report outs.
  • Group 1: Facilitating Homeownership
    • Attendees: Lea Henry and Ashley Rink
    • This group was charged with looking at different forms of shared equity homeownership and considering the pros and cons.
    • More information is needed to assess whether homeownership is really about wealth creation. There still may be benefits, however, there is a need to be clear about what that means on both the advocate side and the buyer side. Buyers need to understand the limitations and options for wealth creation.
    • Lea Henry is committed to working on a memo on forms of homeownership and the ways wealth creation has been curtailed through the process. For example, there are often deed restrictions on the property itself, the house can only be sold to another low to moderate income person, and/or two or three deferred down payment assistance programs in the background.
  • Group 2 (A): Tenant Issues
    • Attendees: Diannee Carden-Glenn, Pat Macfoy, Bill Rowe, and Stephanie Williams
    • The group discussed making connections with organizations to help understand and learn more about the resources that are already available with regards to increasing funding and providing tenants with resources information, access to mediation, and legal representation.
    • The next step is to invite to the next meeting someone from Legal Aid, Vaya Health, and Pisgah Legal Services and an attorney from the NC Justice Center to provide additional information.
  • Group 3 (2B): Assistance Programs
    • Attendees: Ken Edminster, David Glenn, Sue Lynn Ledford, Stefanie Ledwell, Karon McKinney, Betty Vines, and Josh Walker
    • The North Carolina Strategic Housing Plan will go live in June. 
    • The Healthy Opportunities Pilot is being expanded to include six months rental assistance. More information will be available once North Carolina’s waiver is renewed.
    • There are no new vouchers available as all the PHAs (Public Housing Agencies) are topped out and waitlists are expanding. The only options are turnover vouchers from when people move or die. Lack of resources is a major issue. The Point-in-Time Count indicates a major issue for women and children (makes up 45% or more of unsheltered people experiencing homelessness). Josh reached out to NC HUD (Housing and Urban Development) Field Rep Lorenzo Claxton.
    • Inclusion Connects update from Betty Vines: Described what is going on in the state to assist individuals with IDD (intellectual and developmental disabilities) in transitioning from institutional settings. Fact finding mostly at this time to get a baseline/ identify current resources since there was no funding associated with the Samantha R consent order.
    • Karon McKinney in Winston Salem: Demonstration project regarding addressing arrears sounds exciting. Discussed PTRC (Piedmont Triad Regional Council) and IDD specific building projects.
    • Stefanie Ledwell: Issues getting landlords to accept vouchers. There are landlord outreach personnel hired by housing authorities to build relationships with landlords.  Reaching out with weatherization funds and other opportunities. County ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds are gone, but City has some left to utilize.
    • Discussed affordability when new ‘big fish’ move into new communities and if this group has any advocacy power. David Glenn shared a story about how Durham County and community was able to integrate a housing plan into it.
• Next Steps and Closing
  • The 2024 NC SHIP Community Council Annual Meeting will be on Wednesday, July 10, 2024, from 10:00 to 12:00 pm on Microsoft Teams. The Annual Meeting will be an opportunity to hear highlights across the Community Council and share more about what is next for 2024-2025.
  • The 2024-2025 Community Council, including the Severe Housing Work Group, will continue to build on this year’s work.
  • Ashley Rink will be sending an email asking if the current Severe Housing Problems Work Group members are willing to continue for 2024-2025.
  • The next Severe Housing Problems Work Group will be on Monday, September 16, 2024, the time is to be determined. A recommendation was for this meeting to be longer to allow for updates and group breakout sessions. A survey will be sent out to poll what times would work best.

Monday, March 18, 2024, from 3:00 to 4:00 pm, Microsoft Teams- Work Group Meeting

Attendees: Darren Brown, Diannee Carden, David Glenn, Lea Henry, Shoneca Kent, Sue Lynn Ledford, Stefanie Ledwell, Pat Macfoy, Karon McKinney, Sarah Montgomery (DHHS intern), Bill Rowe, Kelly Sewell, Bettie Teasley, Betty Vines, Josh Walker; Staff: Ashley Rink

• Welcome and Agenda Overview
  • Lea Henry welcomed everyone and reviewed the agenda.
• Grounding and Level Setting
  • The work group’s 2023-2024 priorities and small groups are:
    • Group 1: Facilitating Homeownership
      • Remove legal barriers, institute enabling legislation, and facilitate lending to promote Community Land Trusts and other shared equity models of homeownership
      • Support programs designed to increase home ownership for historically disenfranchised communities
    • Group 2(A): Tenant Issues
      • Increase measures and funding to provide tenants with access to mediation, legal representation, and legal education to secure and protect housing
    • Group 3 (2B): Assistance Programs
      • Simplify and expand the Weatherization Assistance Program, Low-Income Energy Assistance Programs, and other healthy homes and utility assistance programs by affirmatively engaging low-income communities through targeted outreach to help families meet their energy needs
  • The following priority was moved to the work group’s priority development agenda for future consideration:
  • Support funding, loans, and other resources for housing providers in agricultural areas to improve safe and healthy home environments for migrant workers
• Small Groups
  • The asks for small groups were to discuss the following:
    • Skill sets and interests, including what skill sets and interests members have related to these priorities.
    • Ideas for what the group should be working on for action planning, including what should be included in the action plan.
    • Ideas for additional work group members.
    • The small groups provided the following report outs.
      • Group 1: Facilitating Homeownership
        • The group focused on different shared equity forms of home ownership that are possible, such as land trusts, cooperatives, and multi-unit housing.
        • The group plans to gather information about all the different types of possible types of homeownership, including these shared equity models, their pros and cons, and examples of who has successfully implemented them in North Carolina.
        • This information could be compiled as a tool to provide policy makers to help them understand what may be possible in their community in North Carolina.
        • The group also discussed access to money for rehab for homes. Some loans are available, however, not many lenders are working on those loans.
      • Group 2 (A): Tenant Issues
        • The group discussed engaging with Legal Aid and the Center for Housing, Community Studies (Bruce Rich), Greensboro Housing Coalition, people with legal backgrounds, landlord, someone from the Realtors Association, and a banker and/or someone in finance to consider next steps for the action planning process.
        • Local government could be an additional resource, for example when law enforcement served evictions, they could provide people with resources and information about where they could go for assistance. This is already happening in Charlotte and Durham.
        • Possibility of tapping into ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act Information and Resources) funds.
        • Tapping into resources at law schools to provide information to people.
      • Group 3 (2B): Assistance Programs
        • The group discussed what could be done to ensure more housing resources are getting to more people. This includes supporting expanding the Healthy Opportunities Pilots across the state. A question for the state level is to ask what the chance is of getting vouchers included in Healthy Opportunities for home assistance programs.
        • North Carolina is involved in a services and housing accelerator with HUD. Different housing partners are already working on this.
        • The DHHS Strategic Housing Plan should be launched later this year.
• Next Steps and Closing
  • The next Severe Housing Problems Work Group will be on Monday, June 17, 2024, from 3:00 to 4:00 pm via Microsoft Teams.

Monday, January 22, 2024, from 3:00 to 4:00 pm, Microsoft Teams- Work Group Meeting

Attendees: Melanie Ahlstrand-Osborne, Patrice Brown, Diannee Carden-Glenn, Ken Edminster, Lea Henry, Shoneca Kent, Stefanie Ledwell, Pat Macfoy, Brian O’Donnell, Bill Rowe, Betty Vines, Josh Walker, Vantoinette Savage; Staff: Ashley Rink

• Welcome and Agenda Overview
  • Lea Henry welcomed everyone and reviewed the agenda.
  • The group welcomed Shoneca Kent, the new Director of Housing Equity Programs with the National Institute of Minority Economic Development, and Betty Vines, the new IDD Housing Specialist with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.
• Grounding and Level Setting
  • Define Affordable Housing: The group discussed the following regarding affordable housing:
  • Affordable housing can be as broad as housing being affordable at every income level.
  • Focusing on low to moderate income persons.
  • Using HUD and local government definition: housing that is no more than 30% of people that are 80% or less of area median income (AMI).
  • Including a spectrum of possible solutions and not limiting it to 80% or less of AMI.
  • Concern about people on social security, disability, between jobs, and at the minimum wage level of income.
  • Overlap of severe income issues and ways that overlap with health issues.
  • The group is focused primarily on housing problems for people at 50% or below of area median income and lack of housing across the state at those income levels.
  • At 50% AMI or below, there are limited opportunities for housing ownership and may relate to keeping people in their homes. There are difficulties to scaling efforts for homeownership.
• Review Priorities: The priorities identified at the previous meeting were divided into three small groups to work on different aspects of the severe housing issues.
  • Group 1: Lea Henry
    • Remove legal barriers, institute enabling legislation, and facilitate lending to promote Community Land Trusts and other shared equity models of homeownership
    • Support programs designed to increase home ownership for historically disenfranchised communities
  • Group 2: Josh Walker
    • 2A. Increase measures and funding to provide tenants with access to mediation, legal representation, and legal education to secure and protect housing
    • 2B. Simplify and expand the Weatherization Assistance Program, Low-Income Energy Assistance Programs, and other healthy homes and utility assistance programs by affirmatively engaging low-income communities through targeted outreach to help families meet their energy needs
  • Group 3: Pat Macfoy:
    • Support funding, loans, and other resources for housing providers in agricultural areas to improve safe and healthy home environments for migrant workers
• Small Groups
  • Asks for Small Group:
    • The co-leaders shared they want to make good use of members’ expertise and time and have concrete outputs and outcomes this year.
    • The group could report progress and information in a policy paper at the end of the year that could be shared with the group and the Department of Health and Human Services about what was found and what the group recommends.
  • The group discussed the following as potential action steps (part of the “bucket list” of actions).
    • Group 1: Facilitating Homeownership- Remove legal barriers, institute enabling legislation, and facilitate lending to promote Community Land Trusts and other shared equity models of homeownership AND Support programs designed to increase home ownership for historically disenfranchised communities
      • Explore what are the homeownership mechanisms that would increase homeownership opportunities for low to moderate income people.
    • Group 2A: Tenant Issues- Increase measures and funding to provide tenants with access to mediation, legal representation, and legal education to secure and protect housing
      • Identify what resources are available and how people connect with those resources. (Fair housing 101 + money)
      • Engage Housing Finance Agency regarding what they have done with some of their properties with accessing fair housing and ways to expand that to North Carolina housing as a whole.
      • Review of fair housing across North Carolina, different measures that are in place, funding opportunities, and work could correlate with such as with the Healthy Opportunities Pilot.
    • Group 2B: Assistance Programs- Simplify and expand the Weatherization Assistance Program, Low-Income Energy Assistance Programs, and other healthy homes and utility assistance programs by affirmatively engaging low-income communities through targeted outreach to help families meet their energy needs
      • Identify where the following programs live and how they are funded: Weatherization Assistance Program, Low-Income Energy Assistance Programs, and other healthy homes and utility assistance programs.
      • Create a comprehensive list of what assistance programs are available and are not available.
      • Identify opportunities to increase the number of approved contractors.
      • (Lea Henry would be happy to provide input.)
    • Group 3: Migrant Workers- Support funding, loans, and other resources for housing providers in agricultural areas to improve safe and healthy home environments for migrant workers
      • Understand and identify the largest problems and needs for migrant workers related to housing.
      • Find and engage others who specialize in farmworker/ migrant worker housing issues.
      • Identify someone to co-lead group 3 with Pat Macfoy.
      • Engage someone in public health that has worked in rural areas and with farmworkers. (The Center for Housing may be able to provide contacts.)
  • Next Steps and Closing
    • Work group members are asked to share which small priority group they would like to be involved in prior to the next meeting.
    • The next Severe Housing Problems Work Group will be on Monday, March 18, 2024, from 3:00 to 4:00 pm via Microsoft Teams.

Monday, October 16, 2023, from 3:00 to 4:00 pm, Microsoft Teams- Work Group Meeting

Attendees: Ken Edminster, Lea Henry, Stefanie Ledwell, Pat Macfoy, Lindsay Rosenfeld, Bill Rowe, Stephen Sills, Josh Walker; Staff: Hannah McDiarmid

Notes:

• The 2022-2023 priorities were:
  • Increase measures and funding to provide tenants with access to mediation, legal representation, and legal education to secure and protect housing
  • Remove legal barriers, institute enabling legislation, and facilitate lending to promote Community Land Trusts and other shared equity models of homeownership
  • Simplify and expand the Weatherization Assistance Program, Low-Income Energy Assistance Programs, and other healthy homes and utility assistance programs by affirmatively engaging low-income communities through targeted outreach to help families meet their energy needs
  • Support funding, loans, and other resources for housing providers in agricultural areas to improve safe and healthy home environments for migrant workers
  • Support programs designed to increase home ownership for historically disenfranchised communities
• Topics Discussed:
  • Add policy for seniors (affordable and aging in place), unhoused, supportive housing, reentry population, at-risk of homelessness, etc.
  • Broaden the definition of supportive housing services to encompass various forms of housing assistance, including preventative measures such as foreclosure assistance.
  • Focus on community land trusts was from measures to increase homeownership as an important component of achieving stable housing.
  • Influence on the 2022-2023 priorities was across the continuum of housing need. Prioritization should consider either increasing housing supply or stabilizing people who are housed so that they do not become unhoused, such as through mediation and upstream efforts.
  • Emphasize the importance of prioritizing policies that aim to stabilize individuals who already have housing, preventing them from becoming homeless. This includes affordability, offering support like foreclosure prevention and aging in place assistance, and legal resources to prevent evictions.
  • Recognize undocumented families and migrant workers as part of the vulnerable population.
• There were no changes to the 2022-2023 priority areas.
• Legal Aid, Housing Collaborative, AARP, Rural Center, ICCHP (Interagency Council on Coordinating Homeless Programs), and HUD were added to the list of potential partners to engage.
• Next steps were to:
  • Schedule quarterly work group meetings.
  • Ask work group members to share if they are interested in serving as a subgroup leader for the priorities.
  • Ask work group members to share which subgroup they would like to be involved with.
  • Schedule small subgroup meetings as needed.

Readings/Listenings

• Center for Community Progress. (2021, December). Land Banks and Community Land Trusts: Partnering to Provide Equitable Housing Opportunities Now and for Future Generations. https://communityprogress.org/publications/land-banks-and-community-land-trusts-2/
• North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. (2021, December). North Carolina’s Olmstead Plan. https://www.ncdhhs.gov/508-compliant-north-carolina-olmstead-plan/download?attachment
• North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. (2023, March). Strategic Housing Plan. https://www.ncdhhs.gov/ncdhhs-strategic-housing-plan-final-22723/open 

Co-Leaders and Members

Members:

The Opioid and Prescription Drug Abuse Advisory Committee (OPDAAC) is a legislatively mandated statewide coalition tasked to increase coordination, communication, surveillance, and policy efforts surrounding the overdose epidemic in NC. Since 2010, NCDHHS has convened a wide network of partners quarterly to address prevention of overdoses. OPDAAC has evolved from its initial role of implementing the state’s opioid strategic plan to a community of practice to share emerging trends and impactful intervention programs. Anyone working to address the overdose epidemic is welcome to attend, such as those from harm reduction, treatment, recovery, community groups, families who have lost loved ones to overdose, first responders, healthcare partners, and academics. Meetings are designed to focus on priorities of the NC Opioid and Substance Use Action Plan (OSUAP); expert speakers and panelists present their work; participants have the opportunity meet and network with content experts and learn diverse perspectives. OPDAAC’s membership has grown from 80 participants to over 1,200 members representing a diverse network of partners working to address the overdose epidemic.

Priorities

The following priority areas are from North Carolina’s Opioid and Substance Use Action Plan (OSUAP). For additional information refer to the current OSUAP and data dashboard at https://www.ncdhhs.gov/about/department-initiatives/overdose-epidemic/north-carolinas-opioid-and-substance-use-action-plan/.

• Center Equity and Lived Experiences by acknowledging systems that have disproportionately harmed historically marginalized people (HMP), implementing programs that reorient those systems, and increasing access to comprehensive, culturally competent, and linguistically appropriate drug user health services for HMPs
• Prevent future addiction and address trauma by supporting children and families
• Reduce Harm by moving beyond just opioids to address polysubstance use
• Connect to Care by increasing treatment access for justice-involved people and expanding access to housing and employment supports to recover from the pandemic together

Action Plan

The Opioid and Substance Use Action Plan broadens its focus to include polysubstance use and centers equity and lived experience (OSUAP, 2021). Strategies included in the action plan are available at https://www.ncdhhs.gov/about/department-initiatives/overdose-epidemic/north-carolinas-opioid-and-substance-use-action-plan.   

The a data dashboard provides integration and visualization of state, regional, and county-level metrics for partners across North Carolina to track progress toward reaching the goals outlined in the NC Opioid and Substance Use Action Plan at https://www.ncdhhs.gov/opioid-and-substance-use-action-plan-data-dashboard.

Meeting Schedule

For information about future OPDAAC meetings, visit https://www.ncdhhs.gov/about/department-initiatives/overdose-epidemic/nc-opioid-and-prescription-drug-abuse-advisory-committee

Meeting Notes

Meeting agendas, slides, and recordings are available online at https://www.ncdhhs.gov/about/department-initiatives/overdose-epidemic/nc-opioid-and-prescription-drug-abuse-advisory-committee/opdaac-meetings-agendas-and-presentations.

Readings/Listenings

• Injury and Violence Prevention Branch Overdose Data: https://injuryfreenc.dph.ncdhhs.gov/DataSurveillance/Overdose.htm
• Injury and Violence Prevention Branch Overdose Prevention Team Technical Assistance Resource Guide: https://injuryfreenc.dph.ncdhhs.gov/resources/docs/IVP_TAGuide_8.23.21_web.pdf
• Naloxone Saves: http://www.naloxonesaves.org/
• NC Opioid and Substance Use Action Plan (OSUAP) 3.0, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. (2021, May). North Carolina’s opioid and substance use action plan, version 3.0. https://www.ncdhhs.gov/about/department-initiatives/overdose-epidemic/north-carolinas-opioid-and-substance-use-action-plan
• NC Opioid Settlements CORE-NC: Community Opioid Resources Engine for North Carolina: https://ncopioidsettlement.org/
• NC Safer Syringe Initiative: https://www.ncdhhs.gov/divisions/public-health/north-carolina-safer-syringe-initiative
• North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition: https://www.nchrc.org/
• OSUAP Data Dashboard: https://www.ncdhhs.gov/opioid-and-substance-use-action-plan-data-dashboard
• Stop the Stigma Resource Guide: https://www.ncdhhs.gov/media/8589/download

Co-Leaders and Members

Updated 3/21/2024

Priorities

2023-2024 Priorities:​​​​​​​

• Raise the state minimum sales age of tobacco products from 18 to 21 and establish a tobacco retailer permitting system to protect NC young people.
• Ensure that all Medicaid and Uninsured populations have barrier-free access to evidence-based, standard of care tobacco treatment which includes coaching/ counseling and FDA approved medications.
• Implement state and local tobacco-free and smoke-free air policies; continue to monitor and track progress and promote quality, effective implementation.
• Promote increased and recurring appropriations for robust and evidence-based tobacco prevention and cessation programs and services.

Priority Development Agenda

• Explore seeking reimbursement for Certified Tobacco Treatment Specialists (CTTS) for their work in providing standard of care tobacco treatment, including counseling and access to FDA approved tobacco treatment medications under the supervision of a prescriber.
• Recommend an electronic cigarette policy for restaurants and bars.
• Increase the price of tobacco products by raising the current state tax on cigarettes and increase other tobacco product taxes to parallel levels.

Action Plan

Meeting Schedule

2023-2024 SHIP Tobacco Committee Meeting Schedule:

• Thursday, October 12, 2023, from 12:30 to 2:00 pm, Microsoft Teams
• Thursday, December 21, 2023, from 12:30 to 2:00 pm, Microsoft Teams
• Thursday, February 8, 2024, from 12:30 to 2:00 pm, Microsoft Teams
• Thursday, April 11, 2024, from 12:30 to 2:00 pm, Microsoft Teams
• Thursday, June 13, 2024, from 12:30 to 2:00 pm, Microsoft Teams

Meeting Notes

Thursday, June 13, 2024, from 12:30 to 2:00 pm, Microsoft Teams- Work Group Meeting

Attendees: Teresa Beardsley, Stella Blankenship, Anna Bess Brown, Kim Canady, Allyson Cavaliere, Laura Contreras, Ashley Curtice, Sanquis Graham, Jen Greene, Elizabeth Halstead, Courtney Heck, Sally Herndon, Mona Hood, Robyn Lane, Noxxie Malinga, Erin McClain, Kimberly McDonald, Sherrie Parish, Vera Reinstein, Ashley Rink, Ray Riordan, Delton Russell, Charlene Sampson, Ashley Stoop, Deidre Sully, Joyce Swetlick, Tiffany Thigpen, Natalie Thompson, Ernest Watts, Megan S. Williams, Christine Zazzaro

• Welcome, Introductions, and Icebreaker in the Chat        
  • Sally Herndon and Delton Russell welcomed everyone.
  • Everyone present was asked to share in the chat the first piece of music they owned.                         
• Policy Priority Updates Brief updates on the Short Session
  • YTS exemption
    • The North Carolina Youth Tobacco Survey (YTS) exemption was received, and the survey will be moving forward.
  • Compliance with Federal T21 law
    • Compliance with the Federal Tobacco 21 law is on hold.
  • Calling on Partners!  NCALHDs, ALA, ACS, AHA, NCAH, NCPHA, CDC Health Disparities Grant/Tobacco, Duke-UNC TTS, others?
    • House Bill 563, concerning hemp-derived consumables, has been assigned to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Its potential impact on tobacco regulation, including the Tobacco 21 law aimed at preventing minors from accessing tobacco and vape shop products, remains uncertain.
    • Ernest Watts, Region 8 Tobacco Lead, shared the Region 8 Tobacco Collaborative, local substance abuse coalitions, and health directors have shared their concerns with House Bill 563, especially with kratom being able to be taken on school grounds, with the three senators sponsoring the bill. There was good attendance at the public hearing.
    • Ray Riordan, Director of Local Policy and Programs with the Tobacco Prevention and Control Branch, shared since the previous SHIP Tobacco Committee meeting, 7 new tobacco/ vape shop retailer zoning ordinances have been adopted. Tobacco regional managers have worked to educate local decision makers and their planning staff. The ordinances adopted were in the following towns and counties, Jacksonville in Onslow, Spring Lake in Cumberland, Ahoskie in Hertford, Concord in Cabarrus, Mount Airy in Surry, and Elizabeth City in Pasquotank. Orange County’s Board of Commissioners passed a new unified development ordinance restriction.
    • Ashley Curtice, Director of Health Education and Communications with the Tobacco Prevention and Control Branch, shared the Tobacco Branch created an FAQ document about the Parents Bill of Rights.
    • Charlene Sampson, Pharmacist with the Division of Health Benefits, shared the nicotine replacement therapy protocol reimbursement will be effective August 1, 2024.  Refer to the Medicaid Bulletin for additional information.
• Final Medicaid Tobacco-free Policy Bulletin/ BreatheEasyNC and Change for Life
  • The Medicaid Tobacco-related policy requirements will be effective July 1, 2024. Training and technical assistance are being provided as needed.
  • The Change for Life Committee is an opportunity for peer-to-peer learning. Sign up is available on the BreatheEasyNC website at https://breatheeasync.org/.
• NC Invests Juul Settlement funds: The Rescue Agency’s Prevention and Cessation Campaigns that Work with Youth: Behind the Haze, Down and Dirty, and Quit the Hit!
  • Allyson Cavaliere, Account Supervisor, and Laura Contreras, Account Manager, with Rescue presented highlights from the statewide comprehensive approaches to teen vaping in North Carolina.
  • Rescue has implemented a multi-campaign comprehensive approach to teen vaping prevention and cessation that was strategically designed to reach teens across the spectrum of vape use.
  • Behind the Haze is a vaping prevention media campaign for 13–18-year-olds in North Carolina. This campaign was designed to deliver educational content exposing the truth about vapes and discourage teens from vape use. Assets used with the campaign included the flagship video, social memes, GIFs, Tic Tok style videos and others that can run across multiple channels.
  • Down and Dirty is a tobacco prevention campaign for 13 to 18 year old country teens in North Carolina. This campaign is designed to reduce tobacco and nicotine use among country teens, and it includes messaging focused on cigarettes and vaping. The brand aims to resonate with country teens by connecting living free with country teens’ values and aims to shift the perception to be that living tobacco free is the norm.
  • Quit the Hit is an Instagram-based virtual intervention designed to provide support and ease young people into the quitting process. This campaign is hosted on Instagram via a private group. Direct message participants receive five weeks of quit support.
  • For additional information about the prevention and cessation campaigns and videos referenced during the presentation refer to the presentation slide deck.
• JUUL Settlement Webinar Topics
  • The group was asked if they would be interested in attending other workshops about what the JUUL settlement funds are being used for.
  • Potential topics shared included the following:
    • Cessation Programs for Young Adults (This is Quitting - TRUTH)
    • Truth Tours at NC Colleges – NC A&T and Fayetteville Tech to-date
    • Does TRUTH's This is Quitting work for younger teens? (soon to come)
    • Youth Tobacco Prevention Summit (Past and Future)
    • What QuitlineNC can do for Young People:  Live Vape Free and an Alternative to Suspension Certificate Program
    • ENDSTracker (RTI's Program that tracks sales and marketing of e-cigs in NC)
    • UNC Tobacco Prevention and Evaluation Program (TPEP) and data that helps NC plan and implement Juul Settlement funds
    • Local Coalition Work with Counter Tools to assess Point of Sale
    • Juul Settlements Documents Depository:  How to Use It and Some Key Findings
  • A follow-up note will be shared about preferences for potential topics.
• Future Planning, Announcements and Wrap Up
  • The 2024 NC SHIP Community Council Annual Meeting will be on Wednesday, July 10, 2024, from 10:00 to 12:00 pm on Microsoft Teams. Contact Ashley Rink if a calendar invite has not been received. The agenda will be shared closer to the meeting. The Annual Meeting will be an opportunity to hear highlights across the Community Council and share more about what is next for 2024-2025.
  • Ashley Rink will be sending an email asking if the current SHIP Tobacco Committee members are willing to continue for 2024-2025.
  • Ashley Curtice shared for the fireside chat and tele-town hall on May 29th, 18,151 people listened by phone and on NCDHHS Facebook, Twitter (X), and YouTube accounts, 1,681 viewers watched, for a total reach of 19,834 people to date. The fireside chat recording is available here and the Cafecito recording is available here.

Thursday, April 11, 2024, from 12:30 to 2:00 pm, Microsoft Teams- Work Group Meeting

Attendees: Sarah Arthur, Nnenne M. Asi, Alana Denise Austin, Teresa Beardsley, John Broome, Anna Bess Brown, Kim Canady, Georgia Childs, Ashley Curtice, Kaycee Deen, Krysta Gougler-Reeves, Sanquis Graham, Jen Greene, Elizabeth Halstead, Shayla Hayes, Courtney Heck, Sally Herndon, Scott Herrick, Kathryn Higdon, Mona Hood, Kearston Ingraham, Kristin Jimison, Rita Krosner, Jeffrey LaForge, Robyn Lane, Tobin Lee, Lu McCraw, C. Michelle Mulvihill, Sherrie Parish, Kathryn Polaskey, Leah M. Ranney, Ray Riordan, Delton Russell, LaKeisha Scott, Penny Shelton, Kyle Smith, Gregg M. Stave, Deidre Sully, Erin Sutfin, Joyce Swetlick, Natalie Thompson, Tenika Walker, Mary H. Ward, David Willard, Megan S. Williams, Mary Williams-Stover, Juliana Wilson

• Welcome, Introductions, and Icebreaker in the Chat        
  • Sally Herndon, Delton Russell, and Jen Greene, the co-leaders,  welcomed everyone.
  • Everyone present was asked to share in the chat their name, agency, and if there was one thing they would be famous for outside of work, what that would be.                               
• Policy Priority Updates
  • Brief updates on the Short Session
    • YTS (Youth Tobacco Survey) exemption
      • The special provision for the North Carolina Youth Tobacco Survey (YTS) to be exempt from the Parents bill of rights requirement to have parents opt in for their child to participate is proposed as a technical correction for the Short Session.
      • The Youth Tobacco Survey (YTS) is the only survey that provides North Carolina specific data.
      • The Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) and the National Youth Tobacco Survey already received special provisions for exemption to the Parents’ Bill of Rights.
  • Compliance with Federal T21 law
  • The Short Session is too short to for a policy this complex. 
  • Additional guidance from SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) has not been received yet and is still needed to make an informed decision.
  • An interagency work group has been working on this for several years and has good bill language from the government perspective.
  • This work will be moved to the next long session. There continues to be local support from boards of health, county commissioners, and schools.
• Calling on Partners!  NCALHDs, ALA, ACS, AHA, NCAH, NCPHA, CDC Health Disparities Grant/Tobacco, Duke-UNC TTS, others?
  • Sally Herndon shared the NC Division of Public Health received a no cost extension on their CDC Health Disparities grant. The following two projects on building trust and filling data gaps will be continue:
    • The LGBTQ+ survey focuses on tobacco use and other health areas of interest in the LGBTQ+ communities.
    • The North Carolina Native American Tobacco Survey will fill some data gaps about tobacco use in tribes through pow wows and other cultural events. This survey is being done in partnership with is in partnership with the North Carolina Commission on Indian Affairs and Wake Forest Baptist.
    • The Tobacco Prevention and Control Branch is also working with the Commission on Indian Affairs to consider how to use some of the JUUL settlement funds to reach youth in tribes.
  • Sally Herndon shared the Duke-UNC Tobacco Treatment Specialist Training (Duke-UNC TTS) Program offers comprehensive and intensive short courses on pharmacotherapy, counseling, youth/ young adult one day trainings, blogs, and more. There are some scholarships available for clinicians and public health practitioners who are serving are serving low income, rural, and/or historically marginalized populations.
  • Jen Greene, Health Director, AppHealthCare, shared the North Carolina Association of Local Health Directors (NCALHDs) has not finalized what they will be focusing on during this short session. Tobacco 21 continues to be a priority and is an important focus that continues to be on their radar.
  • Scott Herrick, North Carolina State Government Relations Director at American Heart Association (AHA), shared AHA continues to be active with their campaigns for cardiac emergency response plans in schools and telephone CPR. AHA is reviewing the 2019 legislation that passed to determine if it is comprehensive enough and if any further amending is needed. They will also be talking with those doing the Duke race car studies, to ensure they are not conflicting with what they are doing going forward.
  • There were no updates from the North Carolina Alliance for Health (NCAH).
  • Deidre Sully, Regional Manager for Region 7 (Johnston, Nash, Wake, Warren, Granville, Vance, and Franklin counties), shared she has been working with county boards of health on resolutions for Tobacco 21 (T21). Since January, Franklin, Granville, Vance, and Warren counties passed T21 resolutions.
  • Jeffrey LaForge, Manager, Care Management, Carolina Complete Health (CCH), shared CCH has added smoking cessation to their HPRs and with increased focus on smoking cessation, vaping, and tobacco use overall. They will be doing thorough assessments and directing them to tobacco cessation resources.
  • Kearston Ingraham, Research Program Evaluator, Duke Cancer Institute, shared the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences is hosting their 10th Annual Women’s Health Awareness event. Duke Cancer Institute sponsors cancer tract activities, including cancer screenings. Last year they incorporated the lung cancer risk assessments into their screening program, as well as a need for appropriate referrals.
• Medicaid Tobacco Free Policy: Updates on BreatheEasyNC and Change for Life
  • An updated Medicaid Policy Bulletin clarified questions stakeholders had, specifically those that are not subject to the full comprehensive policy.
  • A frequently asked questions resource is being developed and a model draft policy is available on the Breathe Easy NC website.
  • From the latest SAMSHA data, 30% of the positive change in tobacco-free policies in the nation in the last few years has come from North Carolina.
  • The Medicaid tobacco-free policy goes into effect on July 1, 2024.
  • The Division of Public Health is at the table to help bring about compliance over the next year. The regional managers and local coordinators are working across the state.
  • The Change for Life Committee is an opportunity for peer-to-peer learning. Sign up is available on the Breathe Easy NC website at https://breatheeasync.org/.
• NC Medicaid Proposal to Expand Access to Tobacco Treatment in Partnership with Pharmacies: A Kitchen Table Conversation: 
  • The panelists included the following people. Highlights from the panel are included below.
    • Joyce Swetlick, Director of Tobacco Cessation, TPC Branch with
    • Penny Shelton, Executive Director NC Association of Pharmacists
    • Kimberly Canady, RN, Nurse Consultant II, NC Medicaid, Clinical Policy
  • In 2021, state law 2021-110 was passed by the General Assembly and signed into law by Governor Cooper. Pharmacists in North Carolina were authorized to provide nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) without patients having to go to a medical provider to get a prescription before going to the pharmacy.
  • The authority is for pharmacists to be able to provide NRT. The protocol is the method by which the pharmacist is able to provide a prescription.
  • Medicaid beneficiaries are required to have a prescription to have the NRT covered by Medicaid. The protocol is needed mainly for Medicaid beneficiaries. NRT is available over the counter. If the insurance provider requires a prescription, the protocol could be used by pharmacists to provide a prescription and submit a claim.
  • The protocol does not guarantee payment. The counseling must be connected to the protocol so the pharmacist can be paid for the time that they are educating the individual about the NRT and how to use it. 
  • The NRT protocol does have a provision to allow for individuals less than the age of 18 to be able to receive care under this protocol with parent or legal guardian permission. The pharmacist would provide a consent form for the parent or legal guardian.
  • Part of the protocol is patient education and support, however, the codes in the protocol, 99202 and 99212, are not counseling codes. For there to be comprehensive patient education and support may also have to depend on the Quitline for a referral.
  • The benefits of the protocol are that it adds additional access to care by adding another avenue of contact with a healthcare provider to assist with tobacco cessation.
  • The main limitation is how the protocol is rolled out and how to approach this comprehensively. Medicaid has chosen to roll this out tied to the protocol.
  • Additional information on submitting requests for coverage is available on Medicaid’s website at https://medicaid.ncdhhs.gov/providers/forms/providerstakeholder-request-coverage-form.  
  • The North Carolina Association of Pharmacists offers training programs for pharmacists; however, tobacco cessation does not have a statute required training. This makes data and tracking difficult.
• Future Planning, Announcements and Wrap Up
  • Recommendations for breakout groups on specific topics of interest and/or topics for the larger group can be shared with Sally Herndon, Delton Russell, Jen Greene, and/or Ashley Rink.
  • Sally Herndon shared an idea for doing a test run with this group on a workshop series on what North Carolina is doing with Juul Settlement Funds.
  • North Carolina is the first state to set up a documents depository related to the lawsuit against JUUL through a contract with the UNC library system. The documents are being organized and filed by UCSF because they are the library of record for the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement.
  • The next SHIP Tobacco Committee meeting will be on Thursday, June 13, 2024, from 12:30 to 2:00 pm, from 12:30 to 2:00 pm via Microsoft Teams. The next meeting will feature prevention media strategies in partnership with the Rescue Agency.
  • Announcements:
    • Mary Williams-Stover shared the Center for Black Health and Equity is hosting their 10th Annual No Menthol Sunday on May 19, 2024. Additional information is available at https://www.nomentholsunday.org/.
    • Joyce Swetlick shared the Quitline has implemented a menthol portion to their program. Anyone who is identified as using a menthol product will receive extra information and counseling regarding menthol and starting in July will receive up to 12 weeks of combination nicotine replacement therapy.

Thursday, February 8, 2024, from 12:30 to 2:00 pm, Microsoft Teams- Work Group Meeting

Attendees: Sarah Arthur, Nnenne Asi, Joshua Batten, Kim Bayha, Teresa Beardsley, Ronny Bell, Lorraine Bolduc, Lani Callison, Kim Canady, Carleen Crawford, Ashley Curtice, Ronda Doward, Stephanie Gans, Elizabeth Halstead, Courtney Heck, Sally Herndon, Mona Hood, Rodney Jenkins, Amy Jones, Jeffrey LaForge, Robyn Lane, Danya MacDonald, Jim Martin, Erin McClain, Molly Monath, Tamra Morris, Michelle Mulvihill, Tiffany Munday, Sharon Nelson, Dana Painter, Sherrie Parish, Vera Reinstein, Ray Riordan, Delton Russell, Charlene Sampson, LaKeisha Scott, Jasmine Simmons, Lou Ann Simmons, Les Spell, Gregg Stave, Deidre Sully, Erin Sutfin, Joyce Swetlick, Natalie Thompson, Mary Ward, David Willard, Megan Williams, Mary Williams-Stover, Juliana Wilson, Rachel Yip, Christine Zazzaro; Staff: Ashley Rink

• Welcome, Introductions and Icebreaker in the Chat
  • Sally Herndon and Delton Russell welcomed everyone.
  • Everyone present was asked to share in the chat their name, agency, and what brought them feelings and thoughts of nostalgia.
• State of Tobacco Control Report, American Lung Association
  • Danna Thompson was unable to attend the meeting to present on the American Lung Association’s State of Tobacco Control Report due to a family emergency.
  • The 2024 State of Tobacco Control North Carolina report is available at https://www.lung.org/research/sotc/state-grades/north-carolina.
  • The report includes recommendations for actions to be taken by North Carolina's elected officials to reduce tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke.
  • Thoughts and questions shared about the 2024 report were:
    • Medicaid does not cover group therapy.
    • Even with Medicaid Expansion, in North Carolina there is still a co-pay for preventative medications, like tobacco cessation medications, for people over the age of 21.
    • Need for opportunities for pediatricians to be able to bill Medicaid for counseling parents during a well visit around cessation and not only sick visits.
    • The criteria for the report are based on what CDC recommends as best practices. 
• Policy Priority Updates
  • Jim Martin, Director of Policy and Programs with the Tobacco Prevention and Control Branch, shared 42 states have passed laws to increase their age from 18 to 21. There are many areas within North Carolina’s statutory language  that need to be strengthened to effectively reduce tobacco sales to minors.
  • Ronda Doward, Director of Tobacco Prevention with the Division of Mental Health Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Use Services, shared updates from the Annual Synar Report related to retail violation rate of sales to minors. Underage purchasers are used that are between the ages of 16 and 17.
  • Ronda shared additional guidance is anticipated from SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) for the eight states that do not have a Tobacco 21 law by December 2024. The state may be in jeopardy of losing 10% of block grant dollars that are received for prevention and treatment services (about $5.4 million dollars) if the state’s retail violation rate is over 20%. The current rate is 21.9%.
  • Ronda also shared there was a high retail violation rate with vape shops in a pilot study in 10 counties with a sample size of about 400 inspections; 16- and 17-year-olds were used for those samples.
  • Sally Herndon shared over 50 resolutions supporting an effective Tobacco 21 law have been received from local health departments, boards of health, county commissioners, and school boards. At the local level there has been movement within municipalities addressing vape shops through zoning regulations.
• Updates on Medicaid Tobacco-free Policy and Cessation Work
  • Steph Gans, Tobacco Treatment Specialist with the Tobacco Prevention and Control Branch, shared highlights of progress with BreatheEasyNC Becoming Tobacco Free
    • The acceleration of the decrease among people struggling with their mental health or substance use coincides with the work of BreatheEasyNC.
    • There has been an increase in offering screening for tobacco use.
    • There have been increases in smoking cessation, counseling, nicotine replacement therapy, and non-nicotine medications.
    • There have been significant increases in smoke-free campuses; the acceleration is related to BreatheEasyNC and Change for Life Tobacco Free Recovery Coalition bringing evidence-based standard of care into different types of behavioral facilities.
    • The Change for Life Tobacco Free Recovery Collaborative has expanded statewide with over 60 organizations participating. This provides a space for peer organizations to be able to mentor each other in all things related to being and becoming tobacco free.
    • NC Medicaid is working on pharmacist reimbursement since pharmacists can dispense nicotine replacement therapy from the pharmacy without a doctor’s visit.
    • For additional information refer to Steph’s slide deck titled “NC BENC progress.”
  • An amendment has been sent to the tailored and standard plans to move the tobacco free policy requirement to July 1. The requirement affects all North Carolina Medicaid managed care, long term services and support providers (LTSS providers); their staff are prohibited from tobacco use while on the provider grounds, in their buildings, and in their vehicles.
    • A new bulletin will be released with the new date for tobacco free policy requirement.
    • Ray Riordan shared the regional tobacco control managers will be starting an early adopter pilot project for LTSS providers. The regional managers will be conducting listening sessions to identify provider staff concerns to assist with planning and implementation processes for the new tobacco free policy. There will be offerings of training, technical assistance, tobacco free signage, and free nicotine replacement therapy to staff at these early adopter pilot project sites.
• Partner Updates, Announcements and Wrap Up  
  • The next SHIP Tobacco Committee meeting will be on Thursday, April 11, 2024, from 12:30 to 2:00 pm via Microsoft Teams.
  • Vera Reinstein shared Alliance Health has contracted with the North Carolina Association of Pharmacists to help study, pilot, and educate pharmacies on ways that they can support the behavioral health population and how to pay for that. The North Carolina Association of Pharmacists is coming up with a pharmacy locator to find participating pharmacies.
  • Natalie Thompson shared about conversations happening around conversations around UDOs and zoning. She has met with Durham County City Planning Department. Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) includes a collection of zoning regulations and ordinances that counties and or cities may adopt to organize all their rules around zoning.
  • Kim Bayha shared in Mecklenburg they have been working on building the foundation and recruiting to launch a multicultural tobacco free coalition. About thirty people attended an in-person interest meeting. They are partnering with the Center for Black Health and Equity and anticipate launching in April 2024.
  • The following topics were shared for consideration for future meetings:
    • Work being done with JUUL settlement funds
    • Tips from Former Smokers Campaign
    • American Indian Tobacco Survey- Ronny Bell
    • Addressing vape shops through zoning regulations
    • Awareness around menthol

Thursday, December 21, 2023, from 12:30 to 2:00 pm, Microsoft Teams- Work Group Meeting

Attendees: Sarah Arthur, Teresa Beardsley, Ann Boonn, John Broome, Anna Bess Brown, Lani Callison , Kim Canady     , Carleen Crawford, Ashley Curtice, Lisa Dalton, Kaycee Deen, Ronda Doward, Sanquis Graham, Sharon Greer, Doreen Harris, Sally Herndon, Shamika Howell, Kearston Ingraham, Kristin Jimison, Jeffrey LaForge, Noxxie Malinga, Jim Martin, Viviana Martinez, Lu McCraw, Beth McDermott, Kimberly McDonald, Molly Monath, Michelle Mulvihill, Sherrie Parish, Richard Peters, Marina Pieretti, Marisa Ramos, Vera Reinstein, Ray Riordan, Delton Russell, Charlene Sampson, Jasmine Simmons, Lou Ann Simmons, Kyle Smith, Ann Staples, Gregg Stave, Deidre Sully, Joyce Swetlick, Danna Thompson, Natalie Thompson, Mary Ward, Marianne Hedrick Weant, David Willard, Mary Williams-Stover, Juliana Wilson; Staff: Hannah McDiarmid and Ashley Rink

• Welcome, Introductions and Icebreaker in the Chat                                                       
  • Sally Herndon welcomed everyone and shared the Surgeon General Vivek Murthy invited the nation to build and strengthen our relationships, both personal and professional, as there is growing evidence that these connections keep us healthy. Everyone present was asked to share in the chat their name, agency, and what connections they will make over the winter holidays.
• Priority Settings of this Committee and Key Stakeholders 
  • Survey Results – This Committee
    • Ashley Rink, Program Manager with the NC SHIP Community Council, reviewed the results of the SHIP Tobacco Committee Priority Setting 2023-24 Survey.
  • Priority Setting Complete for 2024 – NCAH
    • Marianne Hedrick Weant, Program Manager with North Carolina Alliance for Health (NCAH), shared policy wins and 2024 policy priorities and goals. Additional information about their priorities is available at https://www.ncallianceforhealth.org/tobacco-use-prevention/.
    • For additional information and/or to become involved with NCAH visit their website at https://www.ncallianceforhealth.org/.
  • Priority Setting in Process – NCALHDs
    • Sally Herndon shared the North Carolina Association of Local Health Directors’ (NCALHDs) priority setting process was currently underway and was not finished as of the meeting.
    • NCALHD has had Tobacco 21 on their priority list in the past. Many health directors are passing resolutions about an effective Tobacco 21 law.
  • Priority Setting in Process – Tobacco Prevention and Control in DPH/DHHS
    • Jim Martin, Director of Policy and Programs with the Tobacco Prevention and Control Branch, shared updates on special provisions and Tobacco 21.
      • Special Provision to exempt NC YTS survey from Parents bill of rights requirement to have parents opt in for their child to participate
      • Special Provision to allow TPC Branch to continue serving the young adult population with Juul Settlement funds programs and services
      • T21 – building support/possible incremental steps without closing doors on future progress 
    • Others? 
      • The American Lung Association is in line with the priorities that had been shared and would like to support them. There are opportunities to connect with champions and work together across the state. 
      • There may be opportunities to align the work with Breathe Easy North Carolina and Change for Life with the Opioid Settlement work that is occurring throughout the state.
      • The Justus-Warren Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Task Force’s action agenda supports tobacco cessation and tobacco use prevention. Additional information and their action agenda is available at https://www.startwithyourheart.com/.
• Brief Updates on Youth Access to Tobacco in NC Data from DMH/DD/SAS
  • Ronda Doward, Director of Tobacco Prevention with the Division of Mental Health Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Use Services, reviewed the unofficial results of the Annual Synar Report. The report is available at https://www.ncdhhs.gov/divisions/mental-health-developmental-disabilities-and-substance-use-services/reports/annual-synar-report.
  • The Synar survey is done annually to demonstrate compliance in North Carolina. The unofficial retail violation rate was 21.9% due partly because of a decline in the number of retailers able to be counted in the survey sample design. Reasons retailers were not included they were not selling tobacco products, out of business, or were not located. The sample included a total of 549 retailers. In previous years, the violation rate was under 20%.
  • The report will become official once SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) approves the report.
• Overview - Updated Research on the Impact of Tobacco Control Policies on Convenience Stores
  • Ann Boonn, Director, Research, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, provided an overview of a research report released in October 2023 on the alliance between big tobacco and convenience stores. Additional information is available at https://www.tobaccofreekids.org/what-we-do/industry-watch/deadly-alliance.
  • The tobacco industry invests heavily at the point-of-sale. The objective of point-of-sale marketing is to promote price and place tobacco products that are appealing to consumers and boost sales. Price discounts make up about 99% of the tobacco marketing at the point of sale and 97% of marketing spending. Research shows tobacco marketing works and more exposure to tobacco marketing translates to more tobacco use.
  • At the national level, corrective statements at the point of sale went into effect. The signs must be displayed from now until the of June 2025. The Department of Justice has set up a portal  to report stores suspected of not complying with the federal court order requiring certain stores to display signs containing corrective statements.
• Partner Updates, Announcements and Wrap Up
  • The next SHIP Tobacco Committee meeting will be on Thursday, February 8, 2024, from 12:30 to 2:00 pm via Microsoft Teams.
  • Danna Thompson, American Lung Association, shared their State of Tobacco Control report will be coming out on January 24, 2024. This may be a topic for the SHIP Tobacco Committee’s February meeting.
  • Kearston Ingraham, Duke Cancer Institute, shared the MaryAnn Black Health Equity Symposium will be on Friday, February 9, 2024, from 3:00 to 6:30 pm. The event will be in-person. Registration is open at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/maryann-black-health-equity-symposium-2024-tickets-704872120487?aff=oddtdtcreator. The keynote may be recorded and information from the abstracts and posters will be shared after the symposium.
  • The North Carolina General Assembly 2024 Short Session is scheduled to begin late April and expected to last until the end of June.
  • Sally Herndon shared a new  Medicaid Expansion Dashboard tracking the number of people enrolled is now available at https://medicaid.ncdhhs.gov/reports/medicaid-expansion-dashboard.

Thursday, October 12, 2023, from 12:30 to 2:00 pm, Microsoft Teams- Work Group Meeting

Attendees: Peter Adamowsky, Alana Austin, Kim Bayha, Terri Bell, Stella Blankenship, Lani Callison, Megan Canady, Carleen Crawford, Lisa Dalton, Kaycee Deen, Stephanie Gans, Sanquis Graham, Morgan Wittman Gramann, Jen Greene, Sally Herndon, Mona Hood, Sarah Jacobson, Amy Jones, Jeffrey LaForge, Robyn Lane, Tobin Lee, Danya MacDonald, Jim D. Martin, Erin McClain, Kimberly McDonald, Al Milak, Molly Monath, Tamra Morris, Michelle Mulvihill, Tiffany Munday, Dana Painter, Sherrie Parish, Richard Peters, Vera Reinstein, Ray Riordan, Delton Russell, Charlene Sampson, Jasmine Simmons, Lou Ann Simmons, Les Spell, Gregg Stave, Deidre Sully, Erin Sutfin, Joyce Swetlick, Tiffany Thigpen, Natalie Thompson, Tenika Walker, Mary Ward, Ernest Watts, Tori Whitley, David Willard; Staff: Hannah McDiarmid and Ashley Rink

• Welcome, Introductions, and Icebreaker in the Chat         
  • The 2023-2024 SHIP Tobacco Committee Co-leaders are Delton Russell is the Community Co-Lead, Jen Greene is the Organization Co-Lead, and Sally Herndon is the NCDHHS Co-Lead.
  • Everyone present was asked to share in the chat their name, title, organization, and favorite thing about fall.
• North Carolina General Assembly Budget Update & Impacts on Tobacco Control Landscape in NC, including but not limited to:  
  • JUUL Funding
    • For the JUUL funding, 11.25 million dollars was appropriated for each year of the biennium for commercial tobacco use prevention programming.
    • The JUUL funding is ending; there will be a need to seek additional funding from the General Assembly for continuity of those programs.
    • The 11.25 million dollars goes into a special fund that is overseen by the Tobacco Prevention and Control Branch. Of the 11.25 million dollars, $750,000 goes towards evaluation and the remainder of the dollars would be targeted to fourth through twelfth graders.
  • Parents Bill of Rights
    • There was a restriction pertaining to the administration of surveys in North Carolina, previously Senate Bill 49. With the new law, all children would be opted out unless their  parents specifically opted them into taking those surveys.
    • There has been successful work with the General Assembly to exempt the National Youth Tobacco Survey. Additional work is being done for an exception for the state surveys as well.
    • The North Carolina Youth Tobacco Survey is on hold this fall until the language is changed.
  • Other Changes
    • The method of taxing snuff and added alternative nicotine products was changed from being cost-based to weight-based. This is problematic for the parity of taxing tobacco products; snuff is a very light product, and the tax would be significantly smaller when based on weight. This change will have an impact on revenue and reduce revenue in North Carolina.
    • Increasing the price of tobacco products is an evidence-based way to prevent use. For every 10% increase in the price of cigarettes and other tobacco products there is about a 7% reduction in youth tobacco consumption and 4% reduction in adult tobacco consumption.
  • North Carolina General Assembly Budget
    • North Carolina’s budget was approved at the beginning of October. A technical corrections bill has not been confirmed at this point. The Division of Public Health has been working on several technical corrections to put forward to the General Assembly.
• Review Priorities and Feedback from Survey
  • The priority setting survey responses and comments were reviewed and discussed. There were 19 responses submitted before the meeting. Refer to the slide deck for the results reviewed and additional responses discussed on pages 4 to 12.
  • The Co-Leaders shared that the priority setting survey would remain open until Friday, October 20, 2023. 
• Potential topics shared for future meetings included:
  • Sample resolutions for decision makers in communities- Jen Greene can share a sample resolution.
  • Research from Deadly Alliance: How Big Tobacco and Convenience Stores Partner to Hook Kids and Fight Life-Saving Policies
  • The work being done with Fort Liberty.
  • Ideas for topics can be shared with Sally Herndon, Delton Russell, Jen Greene, and/or Ashley Rink.

Readings/Listenings

• American Lung Association- 2024 State of Tobacco Control- North Carolina: https://www.lung.org/research/sotc/state-grades/north-carolina
• Annual Synar Report: https://www.ncdhhs.gov/divisions/mental-health-developmental-disabilities-and-substance-use-services/reports/annual-synar-report
• Tips from Former Smokers Campaign: https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/campaign/tips/index.html
• Tobacco 21: Law of the Land: https://tobacco21.org/
• To sign up for the Ripple Effect, email Ashley Curtice at ashley.curtice@dhhs.nc.gov.
• Davis J, Clark S, et al. Comparison of Virtual and In-Person Tobacco Treatment Specialist Training. Telehealth and Medicine Today. 2023; 8(432). doi: https://doi.org/10.30953/thmt.v8.432
• Tanz LJ, Heck C, Herzig CTA, et al. Assessment of School Staff Knowledge and Perceptions of Student E-cigarette Use and Resource Needs, and E-cigarettes Confiscated at 12 North Carolina High Schools — 2019. North Carolina Medical Journal. 2023;84(6). doi:10.18043/001c.83954 

• American Cancer Society- Nicotine Replacement Therapy to Help You Quit Tobacco (2021): https://www.cancer.org/cancer/risk-prevention/tobacco/guide-quitting-smoking/nicotine-replacement-therapy.html
• American Lung Association- Smokefree Policies in Multi-Unit Housing (2022): https://www.lung.org/policy-advocacy/tobacco/smokefree-environments/multi-unit-housing
• American Lung Association State of Tobacco Control- North Carolina Highlights (2023): https://www.lung.org/research/sotc/state-grades/highlights/north-carolina
• Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids- New Revenues, Public Health Benefits, & Cost Savings from a $1.00 Cigarette Tax Increase in North Carolina (2020). https://tobaccopreventionandcontrol.dph.ncdhhs.gov/youth/Documents/NC-TaxIncreaseBenefits.pdf
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention- Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs (2014): https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/stateandcommunity/guides/pdfs/2014/comprehensive.pdf
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention- North Carolina: Improving Access to Medicaid Tobacco Cessation Benefits (2022): https://www.cdc.gov/sixeighteen/state-collaborations/nc-medicaid-tobacco-cessation/north-carolina_-improving-access-to-medicaid-tobacco-cessation-benefits.pdf
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention- Secondhand Smoke (2022): https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/secondhand-smoke/
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention- Smoking Cessation- The Role of Healthcare Professionals and Health Systems (2020): https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/sgr/2020-smoking-cessation/fact-sheets/healthcare-professionals-health-systems/
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention- STATE System Preemption Fact Sheet (2023): https://www.cdc.gov/statesystem/factsheets/preemption/Preemption.html
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention- Tobacco 21: Policy Evaluation for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs. https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/stateandcommunity/tobacco-control/pdfs/t21-policy-evaluation-guide-508.pdf
• Counter Tools- Licensing, Zoning, and Retailer Density (2023): https://countertobacco.org/policy/licensing-and-zoning/
• NCDHHS- North Carolina Standard Plan, Tailored Plan and LME/MCO Tobacco-Free Policy Requirement (2023): https://medicaid.ncdhhs.gov/blog/2023/03/15/north-carolina-standard-plan-tailored-plan-and-lmemco-tobacco-free-policy-requirement
• North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Tobacco Prevention and Control Branch- Sample Resolution- Protecting Our Kids from Vaping and Nicotine Addiction (September 26, 2022) North Carolina Medical Journal- Advancing Commercial Tobacco Control and Health Equity Through Policy, Systems, and Environmental Change (2022): https://ncmedicaljournal.com/article/55430
• QuitlineNC- Tobacco Treatment Standard of Care: https://quitlinenc.dph.ncdhhs.gov/health-professionals/tobacco-treatment-standard-of-care.html
• Truth Initiative- Tobacco & Pharmacies Report (2019): https://truthinitiative.org/research-resources/tobacco-industry-marketing/action-needed-tobacco-and-pharmacies
• Truth Initiative- Vaping in the Workplace (2021): https://truthinitiative.org/research-resources/emerging-tobacco-products/vaping-workplace

Co-Leaders and Members

The North Carolina State Excessive Alcohol Advisory Committee (NC SEAAC) is composed of North Carolina partners that work in the prevention, treatment and recovery, policy and advocacy, and research of excessive alcohol use and its related harms. To learn more about NC SEAAC and/or if interested in joining, contact SubstanceUseData@dhhs.nc.gov. 

(Revised 09/25/2023)

Priorities

2022-2023 Priorities:

• Consider local ordinances related to the sale and consumption of alcohol at local events, including adoption, implementation, and regulation of alcohol social districts

Action Plan

North Carolina's Excessive Alcohol Use and Related Harms Action Plan (Paused until further notice.)

Meeting Schedule

2023-2024 NC SEAAC Meeting Schedule:

• Thursday, November 9, 2023, from 1:00 to 2:30 pm, virtual
• Thursday, April 25, 2024, from 1:00 to 2:30 pm, virtual
• Thursdsay, October 17, 2024 from 1:00 to 2:30 pm, virtual

Meeting Notes

Thursday, April 25, 2024, from 1:00 to 2:30 pm, virtual- NC SEAAC Meeting

Notes:

• Discussed the work of some of state level partners who work on alcohol-related issues. Partners from the North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) Commission, Forensic Tests for Alcohol (FTA) Branch, and Office of Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) discussed the impactful work that they do every day across the state.
• Thanked the following for sharing their work with the group: Jeff Strickland (ABC), Stacy Grier (ABC), Anthony Burnette (FTA), and Paul Crowley (OCME).
• The following resources were shared during the meeting:
  • Talk It Out NC: NC Survey of Parents & Students Executive Survey provides an overview of the results from a 2023 statewide survey that aims to assess the magnitude of underage drinking in North Carolina as well as the mindset of parents and children towards alcohol use. More resources from Talk It Out NC can be found here.
  • Polysubstance Fact Sheet was created by Community Impact NC and provides information on commonly misused substances and the substances that they may be used with.
  • The ABC Interactive Revenue Map provides the revenue distribution by ABC boards. ABC boards distribute funds to local nonprofit, charitable, and public works organizations. The ABC Board Directory is a directory of local ABC boards across North Carolina. Please contact your local ABC board to find out more about funding opportunities.
  • Alcohol Testing and Alcohol Involvement Among Violent Deaths by State, 2014-2016 was a study conducted to assess the characteristics of violent death by blood alcohol concentration (BAC) testing status, and the proportion of decedents with a positive BAC or BAC ≥ 0.08 g/dL. From 2014-2016, North Carolina tested nearly 90% of violent death decedents for alcohol.
• For a recording of the meeting, please contact Fisher Charlton at fisher.charlton@dhhs.nc.gov.

Thursday, November 9, 2023, from 1:00 to 2:30 pm, virtual- NC SEAAC Meeting

Notes:

• Reviewed main focus areas for draft action plan. Version one of the plan will focus on access to alcohol (state control, price, place, promotions, and products). The plan is continuing to be drafted. 
• Discussed excessive alcohol use data and ways to utilize it in prevention work.
• The North Carolina Division of Public Health (DPH) presented some of the alcohol-related harms trends in North Carolina. The presentation included information on statewide alcohol consumption, alcohol-related mortality, and key prevention strategies for excessive alcohol use and its related harms. More alcohol-related data and resources from NC DPH can be found here.
• Dr. Melinda Pankratz, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, presented the findings of the North Carolina Youth and Young Adult Prevention Survey. The findings covered a wide variety of topics, including alcohol misuse prevalence, disparities, and risk and protective factors.
• More of the findings can be found in the North Carolina Substance Misuse Prevention Data Dashboard. The dashboard is still being built and is subject to change. An official version of the dashboard will be housed at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

Readings/Listenings

Guide to Community Preventive Services, Excessive Alcohol Consumption: https://www.thecommunityguide.org/topics/excessive-alcohol-consumption.html

NC Injury and Violence Prevention Branch, Alcohol Data Dashboard: https://dashboards.ncdhhs.gov/t/DPH/views/AlcoholDashboard_2020Update_04042021/Story

NC Injury and Violence Prevention Branch, Alcohol Use and Related Harms Website: https://injuryfreenc.dph.ncdhhs.gov/DataSurveillance/alcohol.htm

NC Injury and Violence Prevention Branch, North Carolina Alcohol Social Districts, July 2023: https://injuryfreenc.dph.ncdhhs.gov/DataSurveillance/pdf/SocialDistrictsActionSummary-FINAL.pdf

NC Injury and Violence Prevention Branch, The Excessive Alcohol Use in North Carolina Fact Sheet, June 2023: https://injuryfreenc.dph.ncdhhs.gov/DataSurveillance/pdf/ExcessiveAlcoholUseinNC-FactSheet.pdf

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Alcohol Program: https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/about.htm

The Societal Cost of Excessive Drinking in North Carolina, 2017: https://ncmedicaljournal.com/article/55455

Co-Leaders and Members

Co-Leaders:

Updated 3/21/2024

Priorities

2023-2024 Priorities:

• Integrate “Rethink Your Drink” toolkit into school curricula, promoting water as a healthy alternative to sweetened beverages.
• Promote healthy procurement policies to support public and private investment to increase the availability of healthy alternatives to sugary drinks and limit “default beverage” options for all meals served to people of all ages at food venues to include only milk, 100% fruit juice, or water.
• Ensure access to safe and clean water in schools at water-filling stations that have been tested for safety.
• Implement healthy choice beverage in vending machines at schools, community colleges, universities, and parks.

Priority Development Agenda

Action Plan

Note: The following are draft action plans based on discussions during the work group meeting on April 19, 2024. The co-leaders will be meeting to review action plans at the co-leader meeting on Friday, May 31, 2024.

Meeting Schedule

2023-2024 Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption Work Group Meeting Schedule:

• Friday, November 3, 2023, from 9:30 to 11:00 am, Zoom
• Friday, January 12, 2024, from 9:30 to 11:00 am, Zoom
• Friday, April 19, 2024, from 9:30 to 11:00 am, Zoom

Meeting Notes

Friday, April 19, 2024, from 9:30 to 11:00 am, Zoom- Work Group Meeting

Attendees: Tracey Bates, Mary Anne Burghardt, Jayne McBurney, Tish Singletary, Sarah Tomlinson; Staff: Ashley Rink

• Welcome and Agenda Overview
  • Jayne McBurney welcomed everyone. The icebreaker question was what their favorite flower was.
• *DRAFT* NC SHIP 2030 Action Plan: Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption
  • The action plans shared were based on the action planning template and previous meeting discussions.
  • Updates shared and discussed during the meeting are included in the “Meeting Notes/Updates” columns for each of the policy priorities.
• Closing
  • Suggestions and recommendations can be added to the action plan charts in 2024-04-19 Agenda- Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption Work Group Meeting.docx or emailed to Jayne McBurney by the end of April.
  • Next Meeting Dates:
    • This was the last scheduled work group meeting for the Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Work Group.
  • The co-leaders will be meeting to review action plans at the co-leader meeting on Friday, May 31, 2024, from 10:00 to 11:00 am on Zoom

Friday, January 12, 2024, from 9:30 to 11:00 am, Zoom- Work Group Meeting

Attendees: Tracey Bates, Mary Anne Burghardt, Jayne McBurney, Courtney Ramsey-Coleman, Rhonda Stephens, Sarah Tomlinson; Staff: Hannah McDiarmid

• Welcome and Agenda Overview
  • Jayne McBurney welcomed everyone and asked for introductions. The icebreaker question was what key word defines them for 2024.
• Grounding and Level Setting
  • The purpose of the meeting was to wordsmith the identified priorities and discuss action planning.
  • The following were identified at the previous meeting as the work group’s 2023-2024 priorities:
    • Integrate “Rethink Your Drink” toolkit into school curricula, promoting water as a healthy alternative to sweetened beverages.
    • Promote healthy procurement policies to support public and private investment to increase the availability of healthy alternatives to sugary drinks and limit “default beverage” options for children’s meals at food venues to include only milk, 100% fruit juice, or water.
    • Ensure access to safe and clean water in schools at water-filling stations that have been tested for safety.
    • Implement healthy choice beverage in vending machines at schools, community colleges, universities, and parks.
• Wordsmithing the priorities
  • Included below are the updated priorities and related discussions.
  • Priority A: Integrate “Rethink Your Drink” toolkit into school curricula, promoting water as a healthy alternative to sweetened beverages.The following taglines were discussed as potential updates for refreshing “Rethink Your Drink.”
    • Make the clear choice...water (for a healthy body and smile)
    • Say Yes to Water (Used by Durham Health Department)- has leverage already.
  • Priority B: Promote healthy procurement policies to support public and private investment to increase the availability of healthy alternatives to sugary drinks and limit “default beverage” options for all meals served to people of all ages children’s meals at food venues to include only milk, 100% fruit juice, or water.
    • The group discussed updating children’s meals at food venues to all meals served to people of all ages.
    • What ages drink the most sugar-sweetened beverages?- Considering buying power and rural/ urban- quality of water.
    • Targeting this message to places that impact these audiences.
    • Including community colleges to support this in strategic plans: https://archive.nccommunitycolleges.edu/strategic-plan
  • Priority C: Ensure access to safe and clean water in schools at water-filling stations that have been tested for safety.
    • Les Spell had shared a document from NCDPI about water policies allowing students to have water at their desks.
    • Funding water filling stations- get more information on water quality in schools, assuming filling stations have a filtration system.
  • Priority D: Implement healthy choice beverage in vending machines at schools, community colleges, universities, and parks.
    • Including community colleges to support this in strategic plans: https://archive.nccommunitycolleges.edu/strategic-plan
    • The community colleges do not have a say what is placed in their vending machines, the vending machine owners determine the inventory in the machines.Would vending machine companies be interested in “healthy retail designation”?
    • Driving demand
• Action Planning
  • The group discussed the following related to action planning for each of the priorities.
  • Priority A (Rethink Your Drink): Who will update the toolkit and create/run a campaign with a new tagline?
    • The SNAP-Ed Statewide Social Marketing Committee will work on a new toolkit that can be added to the Eat Smart, Move More website and shared broadly. They are working on a social marketing campaign about drinking water targeting those who are SNAP eligible.
    • Are there funds available to develop messaging and promotional materials? The target audience is not only SNAP-Ed.
  • Priority B (Healthy Procurement): Who leads the recommendations for policies being put in place?  Who has influence?
    • Local Health Department, local government, Council of governments
    • Finds events where these organizations are, such as NC Association of County Commissioners.
    • Integrating students, interns, fellows, NC Public Health Association, student group (Leah Mayo), ESMMNC (Eat Smart Move More North Carolina)
    • Association for college presidents/ administrators; the NC Community College Association is responsible for their strategic planning.
  • Priority C (Safe and Clean Water in Schools): Water stations and water bottles are allowed in school (information from Les Spell); water safety (more information on water quality data needed)
    • Environmental health-  DPH, DEQ, what % of households are on well water
    • Healthy Environments Collaborative (Tish Singletary has information on this.)
    • Number of municipalities with fluoridated water, availability of bottled fluoridated water.
    • NC Environmental Working Group- healthy lives/ healthy environment:
    • Jayne McBurney to contact NCSU Extension.
    • Clean Water for NC
    • Advocating is good, but also need to encourage/ work past barriers (for example, computers and water, also equity for those who may not be able to afford a reusable bottle), cost of water filling stations, teachers/ educators as models, student ambassadors.
  • Overcoming regression of COVID behaviors around water stations.
  • Priority D (Healthy Vending) Who leads the healthy vending work? 
    • Vending for rest stops is done by the Division of Services for the Blind, connecting to learn policies/guidelines.
    • Can some of the community college healthy pantry work expand to vending/food service guidelines?
    • North Carolina Vending Association
    • Can NCCE/Health Departments/ others provide services to help vendors provide healthy options that consumers like.
    • Taste testing options in high vending spaces.
    • Association for college presidents/ administrators; the NC Community College Association is responsible for their strategic planning.
    • Ask Tish Singletary if she has a contact.
    • Alice Ammerman/ Basheerah Enahora- Healthy food bowls work.
    • NC Beverage Association?
    • NC Restaurant and Loding Association
    • Healthy Vending Foods List
• Closing
  • The co-leaders, Jayne McBurney, Alice Ammerman, and Tish Singletary will meet to review action steps and brief for the meeting in April. Next steps will be shared with the work group over email.
  • The group discussed creating a wish list of materials and funding needed to support the work.
  • Wish list: Social media, graphic design, printing, factsheets for different stakeholders, website to host resources, mini grants to implement strategies
• Next Meeting Dates:
  • The next work group meeting will be on Friday, April 19, 2024, from 9:30 to 11:00 am via Zoom.

Friday, November 3, 2023, from 9:30 to 11:00 am, Zoom- Work Group Meeting

Attendees: Crystal Adams, Alice S. Ammerman, Tracey Bates, Mary Anne Burghardt, Jayne McBurney, Lisa Shock, Tish Singletary, Les Spell, Rhonda Stephens, Sarah Tomlinson; Staff: Hannah McDiarmid and Ashley Rink

• Welcome and Agenda Overview
  • Jayne McBurney welcomed everyone and asked for introductions. The icebreaker question was what their favorite fall beverage was.
• Grounding and Level Setting
  • The purpose of the meeting was to provide grounding and level setting, and review the priorities identified this past year.
  • Group agreements, common language, Indicator 13: Sugar-Sweetened Beverages, and the Year of Action asks, roles and expectations, and timeline were reviewed.  Refer to the slides for additional information on these topics.
• Priority Review
  • The purpose of the priority review was to determine if the priorities were clearly stated, were actionable, were resourced, and if they would continue to be a priority.
  • The 2022-2023 Priorities from the 2023 NC SHIP report were:
    • Integrate “Rethink Your Drink” toolkit into school curricula, promoting water as a healthy alternative to sweetened beverages
    • Establish healthy food procurement policies that support public and private investment in healthy food, and increase availability of healthy alternatives to sugary drinks
    • Recommend NC Department of Public Instruction (DPI) adopt a statewide policy permitting students to bring water bottles to school (containing only water)
    • Ensure access to safe and clean water in schools at water-filling stations that have been tested for safety
    • Limit “default beverage” options for children’s meals at food venues to include only milk, 100% fruit juice, or water
    • Implement healthy choice beverage in vending machines at schools and parks
  • The work group reviewed each of the 2022-2023 Priorities. The work group discussed the following being the priorities for 2023-2024.
    • Promote “Rethink Your Drink” messaging and availability of nutritious beverage choices (To potentially be reworded.)
    • Promote healthy procurement policies to support public and private investment to increase the availability of healthy alternatives to sugary drinks (To be combined with Limit “default beverage” options for children’s meals at food venues to include only milk, 100% fruit juice, or water.)
    • Ensure access to safe and clean water in schools at water-filling stations that have been tested for safety
    • Implement healthy choice beverage in vending machines (Expand beyond schools and parks.)
• Action Planning
  • The co-leaders will meet in December to discuss the next steps.
• Closing
  • The next work group meeting will be on Friday, January 12, 2024, from 9:30 to 11:00 am via Zoom.

Readings/Listenings

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention- Increasing Access to Drinking Water in Schools (2014): https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/npao/pdf/water_access_in_schools_508.pdf
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention- Water Access in Schools (2022): https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/nutrition/wateraccess.htm
• Healthful Living Standards, https://www.dpi.nc.gov/districts-schools/classroom-resources/academic-standards/standard-course-study/healthful-living
• Healthy Drinks, Healthy Kids: https://healthydrinkshealthykids.org/ SNAP-Ed Toolkit: Obesity Prevention Interventions and Evaluation Framework (2023): https://snapedtoolkit.org/
• World Health Organization- Healthy public food procurement and service policies (2022): https://www.who.int/news/item/15-07-2022-the-untapped-potential-of-healthy-public-food-procurement-and-service-policies-to-support-therepurposing-of-food-and-agricultural-policies-for-delivery-of-affordable-healthy-diets

Co-Leaders and Members

Updated 4/9/2024

Priorities

2023-2024 Priorities:

• Expand affordable housing programs for persons living with HIV
• Identify and address gaps in HIV healthcare access for formerly incarcerated populations
• Identify barriers to HIV post exposure prophylaxis being delivered by pharmacists
• Increase the number of harm reduction programs, including needle exchange programs
• Increase the number of people who know their HIV status and are linked to prevention or treatment services
• Understand the impact of NC’s Medicaid Managed Care Plans on health outcomes for CMS clients living with HIV

2022-2023 Priorities:

• Expand affordable housing programs for people living with HIV
• Expand North Carolina’s provider network for HIV care and prevention services
• Identify and address gaps in HIV healthcare access for formerly incarcerated populations
• Identify barriers to HIV post exposure prophylaxis being delivered by pharmacists
• Improve provider comfort with incorporating sexual health assessments into routine healthcare services
• Increase access to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for individuals at high risk for HIV transmission
• Increase the number of harm reduction programs, including needle exchange programs
• Increase the number of people who know their HIV status and are linked to prevention or treatment services through high impact, coordinated interventions
• Understand the impact of NC’s Medicaid Managed Care Plans on health outcomes for CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) clients living with HIV

Priority Development Agenda

The following were not prioritized for 2023-2024:

• Expand North Carolina’s provider network for HIV care and prevention services 
• Improve provider comfort with incorporating sexual health assessments into routine healthcare services
• Increase access to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for individuals at high risk for HIV transmission 

Action Plan

Meeting Schedule

2024 HIV Diagnosis Work Group Meeting Schedule:

• Wednesday, February 14, 2024, from 10:00 to 11:30 am, Microsoft Teams
• Wednesday, March 13, 2024, from 10:00 to 11:30 am, Microsoft Teams
• Wednesday, March 27, 2024, from 10:00 to 11:30 am, Microsoft Teams
• Wednesday, April 17, 2024, from 10:00 to 11:30 am, Microsoft Teams

Meeting Notes

Wednesday, February 14, 2024, 10:00 to 11:30 am, Microsoft Teams- Work Group Meeting 

Attendees: Hope Bryant, Alicia Diggs, Latoya Gardner, Chelsea Gulden , Veleria Levy, Matt Martin, Judith Montenegro, Tiffany Munday, JeaNelle Plummer,  Frankie Simmons; Staff: Ashley Rink

• Welcome and Agenda Overview
  • The HIV Diagnosis Work Group Co-Leaders, Chelsea Gulden, Veleria Levy, and JeaNelle Plummer, welcomed everyone and asked for introductions.
• Grounding and Level Setting
  • The priorities identified by last year’s HIV Diagnosis Work Group were included in the 2023 North Carolina State Health Improvement Plan (NC SHIP) report. The updated indicator data is available in the 2023 NC SHIP report and the Healthy North Carolina 2030 Scorecard.
  • As part of the 2023-2024 NC SHIP Community Council’s Year of Action, the work group is asked to develop and begin to implement action plans related to their identified priorities.
  • The work group’s progress will be tracked in the 2023-2024 NC SHIP Community Council Scorecard.
• Priority Review
  • The work group reviewed the priorities the group will address and discussed current and potential priority group members. 
    • Expand affordable housing programs for persons living with HIV.
      • Hope Bryant
      • Alicia Diggs
      • Latoya Gardner (Lead)
    • Identify and address gaps in HIV healthcare access for formerly incarcerated populations.
      • Victoria Mobley may help to identify someone for this group.
      • JeaNelle Plummer (Lead)
      • Alicia Diggs may have a name.
      • Douglas Meardon
    • Identify barriers to HIV post exposure prophylaxis being delivered by pharmacists.
      • Veleria Levy (Lead)
      • Matt Martin
      • Dr. Carolina Mejia 
      • Victoria Mobley
      • Judith Montenegro
    • Increase the number of harm reduction programs, including needle exchange programs.
      • Leslie from CCP? Chelsea
      • NCAAN harm reduction group? (Veleria)
      • Someone from ALPHA or WNCAP? 
    • Increase the number of people who know their HIV status and are linked to prevention or treatment services.
      • Alicia Diggs
      • Chelsea Gulden (Lead)
      • Matt Jenkins
      • Victoria Mobley
      • Frankie Simmons
    • Understand the impact of NC’s Medicaid Managed Care Plans on health outcomes for CMS clients living with HIV.
      • Matt Martin (Lead)
      • Judith Montenegro
      • Tiffany Munday
• Meeting Schedule
  • The work group’s current meeting schedule is as follows.
    • Wednesday, March 13, 2024, from 10:00 to 11:30 am, Microsoft Teams
    • Wednesday, March 27, 2024, from 10:00 to 11:30 am, Microsoft Teams
    • Wednesday, April 17, 2024, from 10:00 to 11:30 am, Microsoft Teams
• Priority Breakout Groups
  • The following members agreed to be subgroup leads:
    • Expand affordable housing programs for persons living with HIV- Latoya Gardner
    • Identify and address gaps in HIV healthcare access for formerly incarcerated populations- JeaNelle Plummer
    • Identify barriers to HIV post exposure prophylaxis being delivered by pharmacists- Veleria Levy
    • Increase the number of harm reduction programs, including needle exchange programs- To be determined.
    • Increase the number of people who know their HIV status and are linked to prevention or treatment services- Chelsea Gulden
    • Understand the impact of NC’s Medicaid Managed Care Plans on health outcomes for CMS clients living with HIV- Matt Martin
  • The leads will be responsible for scribing during subgroup meetings.
  • Action planning templates will be shared with subgroup leads.
  • For members in two subgroups, there will be opportunities to jump between the breakout groups and/or review the subgroup meeting notes.
• Closing
  • Next steps included breaking into subgroups at the next meeting to begin action planning and sending invites to those highlighted in yellow. Names and contact information for potential subgroup members can be shared with Chelsea Gulden, Veleria Levy, JeaNelle Plummer, and/or Ashley Rink.
  • The meeting ended at 10:35 am.

Readings/Listenings

• NASTAD (National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors). (October 2023). Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP), and Other HIV Prevention Strategies: Billing and Coding Guide: https://nastad.org/sites/default/files/2023-10/PDF-HIV-Prevention-BillingAndCoding-101223.pdf

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) - HIV Testing (2022): https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/testing/index.html
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC )- PrEP for HIV Prevention in the U.S. (2021): https://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/newsroom/fact-sheets/hiv/PrEP-for-hiv-prevention-in-the-US-factsheet.html
• Health Justice- HIV treatment outcomes among formerly incarcerated transitions clinic patients in a high prevalence setting (2018): https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6755570/
• HRSA’s Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program- Addressing the HIV Care Needs of People with HIV in State Prisons and Local Jails (2020): https://ryanwhite.hrsa.gov/sites/default/files/ryanwhite/resources/hrsa-justice-tep.pdf
• National Coalition for Sexual Health- Sexual Health and Your Patients: A Provider’s Guide (2022): https://nationalcoalitionforsexualhealth.org/tools/for-healthcare-providers/asset/Provider-Guide_May-2022.pdf
• NC Ending HIV: A Plan to End HIV Together Community-by-Community Hand-in-Hand: https://epi.dph.ncdhhs.gov/cd/hiv/docs/NC-Ending-HIV-Brochure-English-Web.pdf
• NCDHHS- HIV Care: https://epi.dph.ncdhhs.gov/cd/hiv/program.html
• NCDHHS- North Carolina State Health Director’s Standing Order for Post Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) (2022): https://www.dph.ncdhhs.gov/docs/PEP-StandingOrder-March2022.pdf
• SAMHSA- Harm Reduction (2023): https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/harm-reduction
• U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HOPWA)- Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS Program (2023): https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/comm_planning/hopwa

Co-Leaders and Members

The purpose of the Perinatal Health Equity Collective (PHEC) Policy Workgroup is to advocate for and promote policies found in the 2022-2026 North Carolina Perinatal Health Strategic Plan through education
and information sharing.

The Perinatal Health Equity Collective’s partner organizations include:

• Alamance Achieves
• Alamance County Health Department
• AmeriHealth Caritas
• AppHealthCare
• Atrium HealthCare
• Birth Sisters Doula
• Blue Cross Blue Shield NC
• Carolina Complete Health
• Carolina Global Breastfeeding Institute
• Chatham County Public Health Department
• Cone Health
• Dogwood Health Trust
• The Duke Endowment
• Duke University
• Durham County Public Health
• Durham Children’s Initiative
• East Carolina University
• Elon University
• Equity Before Birth
• Equity for Moms and Babies Realized Across Chatham (EMBRACe)
• Every Baby Guilford
• Family Connects International
• Forsyth County Health Department
• Foundation for Health Leadership and Innovation
• Greensboro Health Disparities Collaborative
• Healthy Start
• Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
• Jacaranda Health
• Jace’s Journey
• Kate B. Reynolds Foundation
• MAAME
• March of Dimes
• Mecklenburg County Public Health
• Meredith College
• MomsRising
• Momma’s Village Fayetteville
• Mountain Area Health Education Center (MAHEC)
• National Service Office for Nurse-Family Partnership
• North Carolina Academy of Family Physicians
• North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University
• North Carolina Area Health Education Centers
• North Carolina Association of Certified Nurse Midwives
• North Carolina Black Alliance
• NC Child
• North Carolina Child Fatality Taskforce
• NC Counts Coalition
• North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence
• North Carolina Council of Churches
• North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health
• North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Child and Family WellBeing
• North Carolina Department of Health and
• Human Services, Office of Rural Health
• North Carolina Healthcare Association
• North Carolina Institute of Medicine
• North Carolina Medical Society
• North Carolina Partnership for Children
• Orange County Health Department
• Partnership for Children and Families
• Perinatal Quality Collaborative of North Carolina (PQCNC)
• Piedmont Health Services
• Points True North Consulting
• Racial Equity Institute
• Robeson Health Care Corporation
• Royal Family Ministries
• Sistas Caring 4 Sistas
• Triangle Doulas of Color
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Medicine
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Social Work
• UNC Collaborative for Maternal and Infant Health
• Upstream
• Vidant Health
• Village of Wisdom
• Wake Health
• WellCare
• Winer Family Foundation
• Individuals with lived experience

Priorities

2022-2023 Priorities:

The Perinatal Health Equity Collective Policy Workgroup prioritized the following NC Perinatal Health Strategic Plan (PHSP) strategy that aligns with the 2022 NC SHIP. The numbers included with the prioritized policies refer to the strategy numbers in the PHSP, https://wicws.dph.ncdhhs.gov/phsp/.

• Teen Births
  • 12F. Increase same-day access to all methods of contraception
• Early Prenatal Care
  • 1E. Perinatal health care providers should participate in training around health equity, implicit bias, and cultural competency
  • 7E. Increase the number of Prepaid Health Plans (PHPs) that cover doula services
  • 7G. Elevate the role of community health workers in addressing the social drivers of health
  • 9A. Expand Medicaid to provide affordable, comprehensive health, behavioral health, and dental insurance coverage, including mobile health and telehealth for all
  • 9I. Implement the NC Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) scholars program to recruit and train students of color and students from rural backgrounds to become providers in underserved areas
  • 10A. Expand the use of evidence-based and evidence-informed models of perinatal care highlighted in the Maternal Health Innovation Program, including doula services, group prenatal care, group child visits, and community health workers
• Infant Mortality
  • 1D. Provide training to all NCDHHS staff and ongoing professional development on equity that builds understanding of and competencies to advance health equity
  • 1E. Perinatal health care providers should participate in training around health equity, implicit bias, and cultural competency
  • 7E. Increase the number of Prepaid Health Plans (PHPs) that cover doula services
  • 7G. Elevate the role of community health workers in addressing the social drivers of health
  • 7J. Expand efforts to prevent infant deaths related to unsafe sleep environments
  • 9A. Expand Medicaid to provide affordable, comprehensive health, behavioral health, and dental insurance coverage, including mobile health and telehealth for all
  • 10A. Expand the use of evidence-based and evidence-informed models of perinatal care highlighted in the Maternal Health Innovation Program, including doula services, group prenatal care, group child visits, and community health workers
  • 10F. Adopt maternal and neonatal risk-appropriate levels of care that align with national standards
  • 10Q. Support the creation of a statewide 24-hour breastfeeding support hotline
  • 12F. Increase same-day access to all methods of contraception

Priority Development Agenda

Action Plan

Meeting Schedule

2023-2024 PHEC Policy Workgroup Meeting Schedule:

• Monday, October 9, 2023, from 11:00 to 12:00 pm, Zoom

Meeting Notes

Readings/Listenings

• 2022-2026: NC Perinatal Health Strategic Plan: https://wicws.dph.ncdhhs.gov/phsp/
• Critical Term: Why Are Black Mothers and Babies Dying: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rN1vtYICJWM&t=4s
• NCDHHS- Community Health Workers (2018): https://www.ncdhhs.gov/divisions/office-rural-health/community-health-workers
• NCDHHS- Perinatal Health Data (2023): https://wicws.dph.ncdhhs.gov/phsp/perinatalData.htm
• Improving Maternal Health Outcomes in North Carolina, NCMJ: https://ncmedicaljournal.com/issue/5393
• NC AHEC Scholars Program: https://www.ncahec.net/health-careers/ahec-scholars/
• North Carolina Early Childhood Action Plan: https://www.ncdhhs.gov/about/department-initiatives/early-childhood/early-childhood-action-plan
• North Carolina Maternal Health Innovation Program (2023): https://wicws.dph.ncdhhs.gov/indfam/innovation.htm

Co-Leaders and Members

Updated 4/9/2024

Priorities

2023-2024 Priorities:

• Maximize eligible people who enroll in newly expanded Medicaid coverage.
• Determine the need for expanding and sustaining financial support to recruit and retain Community Health Workers.
• Support and increase funding to health clinics for the uninsured.

Priority Development Agenda

• Encourage action plans based on community health needs assessments to focus on access to services for the uninsured

Action Plan