Minutes for August Meeting
Present: Carol Kemhus (Optimist Club/Mt. Pleasant Elementary), Patty Brown (Rivercrest Neighborhood), Cyndi Borgmeier (OCSD), Amanda Takish (Northwest Family Services), Bobby Vickery (National Guard Counterdrug), Amber Cordry-Martinez (National Guard Counterdrug), Carol Sanders (OCSD), Doug Neeley (Mayor), Deb Hodges (National Guard Family Programs), Jen Forsman (Northwest Family Services), Robyn Morrison (Genesis of Hope), Gerry Hill (United Methodist), Lisa Normand (Eastham School), Cathy Poppen (Oregon City Schools Foundation), Elizabeth Russell (OCT Coordinator)
Draft of leadership structure was shared
Doug Neeley suggested we have a sub-group that included parent education as well as resources and support for parents to access.
Purpose of the steering committee was reviewed
– This group will make business decisions so that the entire whole group can focus on actions and education.
– Steering committee will meet every month
– General membership will meet every other month
Bylaws and Steering Committee: Bylaws will be sent out to all to review. Please be ready to discuss and approve at the next meeting.
Steering Committee – self-nomination or anonymous nomination process. Anyone who is interested in participating on the steering committee please contact Elizabeth by August 31, 2011.
Coalition Meeting Norms agreed upon:
- State the intention of coalition (vision/mission)
- Start on time and end on time.
- Inclusion of all voices (step forward/fall back)
- Come prepared, be present, and follow through.
- Collaborate and disagree with respect.
- Honor agenda
- HAVE FUN
Community Health Fair:
- Gerry Hill agreed to coordinate this event.
- Carol Sanders, Carol Kehmus, Cyndi Borgmeier, Elizabeth Russell, and Cathy Poppen will work with Gerry on this event.
- A committee meeting is set for August 24th, 10:00 AM at Eastham, Room 216
- This group will combine the Family Dinner Day, September 26 campaign.
Family Dinner Day, September 26:
This is a campaign that encourages families to have dinner together. Research by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University has consistently found that the more often kids eat dinner with their families, the less likely they are to smoke, drink or use drugs.
There is a desire to pass out materials on this. Recommendations for delivering the message:
Parent clubs, concert in the park, restaurants, Cub Scouts, churches, Heath Fair, Grocery stores, Schools,….
Window Cling Campaign –
This is a county campaign and Elizabeth will be asking for volunteers to work on this later. One goal is to have youth involved in this event.
The Sticker Shock Campaign was designed in Pennsylvania in 1998 to reach adults who might purchase alcohol legally and provide it to minors. Stickers warning about the penalties for furnishing alcohol to minors were placed on all multi-packs of beer, wine coolers, and other alcohol products that might appeal to underage drinkers. The impact of the stickers is increased by media coverage of the event and by longer-lasting window clings to be displayed by participating retailers.
T. Sgt. Bobby Vickery presented on the Oregon National Guard Counter Drug Program.
Programs he shared:
Guard Adventure, Mentor 101, Stay on Track, Red Ribbon Events, Summer Camp
Guard Adventure is in the process of becoming evidence based program. It is a middle school program. It is currently being done in 7th grade Health classes.
Mentor 101 – Teaches mentors about the one on one relationship (this is for groups that already have mentoring programs in place)
Stay on Track – This is already an evidence-based program. It is a sit down with books (6, 7, and 8th grade curriculum)
Red Ribbon Events – Some things that they can do: Helicopter can land at the school; bring in a Humvee, Guest Speaker, Consultation and more
Summer Camp – is being planned at this time for next summer.
Next Meeting: To Be Determined, pending a survey of membership for available days and times.
Open House recap
what Oregon City sector leaders had to say
sectors represented:
- Youth
- Faith Community
- Parents
- Schools
- Healthcare
- Criminal Justice/Law Enforcement
- Civic/Volunteer Organizations
- Government
- Arts & Culture
What problems do you see in Oregon City related to youth substance abuse?
- economy
- not enough youth oriented activities
- not enough after school programs for working parents
- sports activities too expensive for majority of students
- more info is needed on available resources
- Retail sales to minors
- parents okay with drinking at home
- prescription meds
- heroin increase
- DUI/MIP?
- Funding for school programming / electives
- lack of stability for housing / parent support
- social promotion
- lack of support from family members
- lack of alternative space
- unemployment/economic times
- drop out rate increasing
- jobs
- decreasing participation in faith-based activities
- homelessness
- access to mental health facilities
- transportation barriers for youth getting to services
- resources
What current efforts are you aware of that intend to address these problems?
- Drug and Alcohol curriculum in schools
- school activities
- Clackamas County Behavioral Health / Children & Family
- Faith Communities – youth groups
- weekly drop-in for GLBTQ youth
- Truancy court
- Living Room resource
- Faith based community & OCSD homeless liaison working on homelessness issues
- school-based health center at OCHS
- sports – community & school
- OC Parks & Rec
- Community Schools
- Clackamas Children’s’ Center & Women’s Center
- Martha Schrader’s’ veterans’ program
- drop-in medical center through Willamette Falls Hospital
- Arts?
What is missing in the community’s response?
- money
- resources
- lack of coordination of services
- lack of urgency
- business community involvement is low
- youth voices – high school seniors
- activities – age-based
- rigorous enforcement of MIP laws
- how is the library involved?
- resources
- parent involvement
- compartmentalization of sectors – lack of connection
- tying in problem to behavior/grades
- truancy
- C.A.R.E.S. response – identification & intervention
- transportation for rural
- social promotion
What is possible?
- connected/supported community with all agencies
- drug-free homes
- rigorous enforcement of laws – policy changes
- peer-to-peer support
- stronger family relationships
- cultural shifts as to what are our new norms
- reduction in underage drinking
- more access to treatment programs for all members of family
- info in school newsletter & online links to info
- print docs from schools
- youth com. center in OCity
- lunch buddy
- networking with Chamber of Commerce
- mentoring at high school level to elementary
- enlist as mentors high school students who need community service hours to graduate
- everything
June meeting in review
Meeting in Review, 6.01.2011
I.
Attending:
Jesús Navarro Meza (Volunteers of America), Lisa Normand (Eastham School), Dawn Wade (County Juvenile Department), Lisa Nunes (OCity Police Dept), Debbie Cole (Volunteer Services, OCSD), Brenda Myers (The Living Room Project), Aaron Anderson (Mountain View Youth Ministry), Jen Forsman (Northwest Family Services), Julie O’Dwyer (Stand for Children), Kitty Huffstutter (Clackamas County Prevention Coalition), Elizabeth Russell (OCT Coalition Coordinator)
II.
Thank you to Dawn Wade from the Clackamas County Juvenile Department for presenting information on MIP Court. She provided an overview of the options available to a person charged with MIP (minor in possession) or PCS (possession of a controlled substance). Dawn also outlined the diversion process and discussed the family perception of pros and cons to accepting diversion vs. paying a fine.
Areas of concern include parent involvement and awareness; limited time with families (for counseling) before their court date; the imbalance of fines between alcohol and other substances; and the cost of diversion counseling services.
III.
Elizabeth presented a start-up timeline and proposal for organizational structure:
- Immediate Timeline includes getting mission/vision and bylaws in place as well as establishing a basic work groups and leadership.
- Contact Elizabeth for a copy of the provided flow charts and role descriptions.
- Organizational Structure and Decision-Making Process are also on the front burner.
- Identified four primary work groups or teams (names indicate primary interests and skills, teams will take more formal shape in the coming months).
- Infrastructure (Elizabeth, Lisa Normand, Kitty H.)
- Outreach & Membership (Brenda, Debbie, Julie, Jesús, Lisa)
- Planning & Education (Kitty, Jen, Aaron, Jesús, Lisa)
- Action & Programs (Aaron, Brenda, Jen, Debbie, Jesús)
- Lisa Normand offered to serve as one interim co-chair and the Coalition will actively seek someone to fill role of the second chair.
IV.
Next meeting is an Open House on July 13th from 4:30-6:00p.m. It will include food, surveys of perceived issues, community vision board, and a presentation/overview of the Coalition. The intention is to offer an introduction to Oregon City Together and the opportunity to invite potential members.
Open House:
Wednesday July 13th
4:30 – 6:00 p.m.
Location TBD
meeting in review 5.04.2011
I.
We were fortunate to have Kitty Huffstutter present some of the fundamentals of community coalitions and prevention science. To recap, as a result of the efforts of a few dedicated individuals, we currently have funds for training and technical assistance to develop the coalition. This mentoring grant is targeted toward applying for a larger 5-year DFC (Drug Free Communities) award. As a coalition, we can choose to pursue this grant or not. However in the meantime, the mentoring funds are intended to provide the support that will position us for applying.
Kitty also offered an overview of the Clackamas County Prevention Coalition (CCPC), which serves as an umbrella coalition for local coalitions. The intention of the CCPC is to get more people learning about prevention science, and to foster a county-wide network of prevention volunteers.
II.
Elizabeth described the tasks and decisions that are immediately before the group:
- Recruitment and representation from all 12 sectors of the community.
- Contact Elizabeth for any support in extending invitations for participation.
- Organizational Structure and Decision-Making Process are also on the front burner.
- Review the Coalition Involvement Agreement for discussion at June’s meeting.
- An electronic version of the Member Profile is attached.
- The coalition will want to designate Co-Chairs
- Mission of the coalition will largely be determined by what participants see as priorities in the community.
- A Community Assessment is the first step toward identifying key areas of focus and also is a requirement for the DFC grant. It is also the first step toward identifying priorities for Action Teams.
- Toward this end, we began a Roundtable discussion of perceived problem areas.
III.
With the understanding that coalition work is intended to develop Community-Level Interventions, there was a good beginning discussion of perceived problems in the area.
The topics that came up can serve as hints of what is of interest and priority for Action Teams to form around.
Key questions in the Assessment Process were posed to the group:
. What are the key problems in the community?
. How do we know it is a problem?
. What are the things we can do to reduce the likelihood of this problem occurring?
. What are the local conditions that are contributing to the problem?
Themes from the discussion include:
- parent education and awareness
- coordination of efforts between sectors
- early onset of use
- extended response to incidents (ie. post-punitive education and awareness)
- social stigma around use and addiction (which keeps problems invisible)
- alcohol use at OCHS
- alcohol and drug use in the home (parent use)
- ease of procurement
- misinformation about harmlessness of marijuana
- homelessness – addressing basic needs
IV.
Agreements:
- Cyndi Borgmeier (OCHS) will attend the Drug Influence Recognition event at OCHS next week and reporting back to the Coalition.
- It was agreed that the coalition will rotate presentations from sector representatives to begin learning about available programs, services, and initiatives. Dawn Wade (County Juvenile Dept) mentioned the Up in Smoke program and will present at the June meeting.
Next Meeting:
Wednesday June 1st
1:30 – 3:00 p.m.
Eastham, Room 214