News from Nevada County Health and Human Services Agency 1 message HHSA
Fri, Jan 15, 2016 at 10:10 AM
NEVADA COUNTY HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES AGENCY SOCIAL SERVICES – BEHAVIORAL HEALTH – PUBLIC HEALTH – CHILD SUPPORT AND COLLECTIONS
Nevada County Health & Human Services Agency Newsletter Issue No. 41 – January 2016 A word from the Health & Human Services Agency… I want to thank each of you for the extraordinary work that you do every day. You provide food, shelter, and medical insurance to poor and needy families and children. You provide direct mental health and substance abuse treatment for our neighbors who are disabled, sick, and addicted to drugs and alcohol. You protect children and adults from neglect, abuse, and exploitation. You assure that children receive necessary support from their parents following the breakup of families. You help veterans obtain financial and medical benefits for themselves and their families. You help families to obtain housing, home repairs, and rental assistance. You support breastfeeding mothers, help children to obtain immunizations, support the growth and positive development of infants, and offer case management services to those suffering from catastrophic illnesses. You work in programs that help to prevent suicide, substance abuse, sexually transmitted disease, and tobacco use. You promote healthy eating, better nutrition, exercise, and facilitate access to health care. Through your efforts, many of our county residents and family members are able to find employment and become self-sufficient.
Many of the people we serve are born into poverty, and are themselves victims of abuse and domestic violence. Some have been so severely traumatized as children, that as adults they are unable to process information clearly, or react with inappropriate emotions to everyday stress and conflict. Our clients, customers, and patients often are living in constant turmoil, danger, and uncertainty. When this occurs, their thoughts and actions simply turn toward basic survival. Our rules, regulations, policies and protocols may not make sense to them, leading to frustrating interactions. This is somewhat ‘normal’, given their background and expected current living situation. For us, providing services in these circumstances with patience and empathy can be very challenging.
As you enter the New Year, I hope you have more opportunities to care for yourselves and your own families. Pay attention to your health and wellness! Spend time with family and loved ones. Get outside and engage in physical activity. Stay inside and discuss dreams, wishes, and plans for the future. Don’t be too hard on yourself for your perceived failures, forgive yourself and move forward to the next goal. We never really arrive, we just keep moving forward.
And, we should all be social workers!
---Michael
60-Plus, A Community Conversation Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) exist today as a result of the passage of the Older Americans Act in 1965. AAAs respond to the needs of citizens 60 and older in local communities. Nevada County’s AAA, Area 4’s mission is to create and support opportunities that enhance the lives of older adults and their families to be safe, healthy and independent. In an effort to best serve Nevada County, Area 4 is soliciting input via a community survey and town hall meetings in both Western and Eastern County. The data collected will be utilized to plan for services and funding to support older adults in our community. If you would like to participate please attend one of the Town Hall meetings; you may also complete the survey online. http://agencyonaging4.org/happening/ Western Nevada County Town Hall Meetings: When: February 17, 2016 Morning Session from 10-11:30 Afternoon Session from 4-5:30 PM Where: Nevada County Board Chambers located at 950 Maidu Avenue in Nevada City. Eastern County time and location to be announced soon! For more information contact Tamaran Cook at (530) 265-7160.
Community Funding Opportunity The Nevada County Adult & Family Services Commission announces a joint Request for Funding (RFF) for Federal Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) and Community Initiative Funding (CIF). These funds will allow local non-profit agencies an opportunity to provide services that will enhance the priorities set forth by the Community Services Block Grant Community Action Plan (CSBG CAP).
A total of $15,000 Community Initiative Funding (CIF) has been allocated to support a single, one-time only funded project subject to the Nevada County Board of Supervisors’ approval and fiscal resources.
An additional $60,000 per year for two years has been designated by the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) to improve the lives of low-income residents.
CSBG and CIF are two separate funding sources.
Non-Profit organizations may submit an application for either CSBG or CIF funds or may apply for both funding sources. The Applica*on-Deadline-is February 5, 2016 no later than 3:00 P.M.
CIF Funding Funding requests are for fiscal year July 1, 2016-June 30, 2017. The maximum funds available will be $15,000. These funds have been allocated to support a single, one-time-only funded project subject to the Nevada County Board of Supervisors’ approval and fiscal resources. These funds are NOT intended to provide long-term support of a program and are not to be used to pay for administrative overhead costs. Funding priorities are aligned with the CSBG funding.
CSBG Funding
Funding requests are for the fiscal years July 1, 2016-June 30, 2018. The maximum funds available will be $60,000 per year for two years, and are contingent on Federal, State and local funding remaining the same, and Nevada County Board of Supervisors’ approval.
CSBG funding must be targeted to very low-income residents. Proposals must meet the priority objectives outlined in the CSBG CAP. The CSBG CAP priorities are listed below and found at: http://www.mynevadacounty.com/nc/bos/cob/docs/Board%20of% 20Supervisors%20Resolutions/2015%20BOS%20Resolutions/15-276.pdf .
Vision for a Healthier Community Last year the Public Health Department conducted a Community Health Assessment (CHA) with the goal of developing strategies to address the community's health needs and identified issues. With the CHA complete we are now in the early phases of the next step; development of a corresponding Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP). A CHIP is a long-term, systematic effort to address public health problems based on the results of CHA activities and the community health improvement process. The CHIP can be used by health, education and other human service agencies, in collaboration with community partners, to set priorities and coordinate and target resources. It should define the vision for the health of the community through a collaborative process and should address the extent and scope of strengths, weaknesses, challenges, and opportunities that exist in the community to improve the health status of that community. The Nevada County CHIP Steering Committee will be conducting visioning sessions (see link to Flyer below) on January 26th, to hear and document feedback from stakeholders and the community at large on how to help make Nevada County a healthier place to live. Pease join us as we continue to take a look at the overall health of our community, understand our challenges and assets, and then come together with community partners to figure out how we might collectively set and address health-related priorities. http://www.mynevadacounty.com/nc/hhsa/ph/docs/Public%20Health%20News%20Releases/Visioning%20Session%20Flyer.pdf Team Nevada County Do your New Year resolutions include getting in shape or starting an exercise program? Are you looking to lose weight and get in shape? Would you like to have fun with friends achieve a goal this year? Do you like challenges and laughing out loud and getting muddy? Why not consider becoming part of Team Nevada County and registering for Tough Mudder Tahoe. https://toughmudder.com/events/2016-tahoe
Nevada County Health and Human Services is putting together a team work together to achieve the goal of accomplishing Tough Mudder? June 11th 2016 at Northstar in Truckee is where the event takes place. The event is so much fun. The obstacles are crazy fun. The most difficulty is in being able to hike/job/run 10 miles at elevation. There are a ton of very fun obstacles involved (any of which you can bypass if you like), including rope climbs, scaling walls (climb or a team member lifts you up), ice dunks, warrior carries (you carry a teammate then they carry you a short distance), beached whale (use a rope to climb a huge plastic blow-up creature), slosh through mud pits, and laugh the whole way. Signup by January 28th for a discount using the code “MadeForThis” at registration. Cost is $95 + insurance fee of $11.06. You get an amazing adventure, a sense of accomplishment, team spirit, an awesome headband and a beer at the end and a story to tell. Come join us. For more information, contact Tex Ritter in Child Support at (530) 265-7077. Income Tax Preparation Assistance The Nevada County Department of Child Support Services is preparing for the fourth consecutive year to prepare income tax returns for low income individuals and families in our community. This year brings an exciting new collaboration with the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), Nevada County 211 and Nevada County Department of Social Services. Appointments can be made Mondays with AARP and Tuesday through Friday at either the Eric Rood Administration Building or the new Brighton Greens Resource Center when it opens in March.
New to this tax season is the California Earned Income Tax Credit (Cal EITC). To qualify for this credit, the maximum income limit is $13,870 with a maximum credit of $2,653. The updated 2015 Federal EITC maximum income limit is $53,267 with a maximum credit of $6,242. The Department will open for tax preparation on Monday, January 25th. For more information, or to make an appointment, please call Nevada County Dial 211 or 530-265-7097. New Earned Income Tax Credit Outreach CalEITC4ME Spread the word! California has launched a new campaign entitled CalEITC4Me. The focus of this campaign is to spread awareness of the first-ever state Earned Income Tax Credit to benefit California's working families, increase use of the federal EITC, increase the availability of free tax preparation services locally, and ensure that the credit winds up in the hands of those who worked hard to earn it.
There is currently $380 million available in the California EITC fund. CalEITC2Me aims to disperse the full amount of these funds to reach our most vulnerable and needy families. Some persons who may not file taxes because of their lower income rates may not be aware that they are eligible to these extra benefits, or that they even exist. This campaign is hoping to increase the number of persons who file taxes in order to utilize these tax credits. This will help increase the amount of money that goes directly to taxpayers. If the campaign is successful, California's working families will add hundreds of millions of dollars to the state's economy in income, business sales, new jobs, and tax revenue.
To learn more about this program, find out if you are eligible, or find out how to apply for the credit in 2016 go to CalEITC4ME.org for more information, or follow them on Twitter at Twitter.com/CalEITC4me, or on Facebook at Facebook.com/CalEITC4me. You can also be a part of the community to help spread the word by going online to CalEITC4Me.org and downloading their toolkit or other outreach materials, or by emailing them at [email protected].
CalFresh Benefits and You! CalFresh is a food supplement program funded by the USDA to help improve health and nutrition of families with low incomes. CalFresh can stretch food dollars, allowing families and individuals to buy more fruit, vegetables, whole grains, lean protein and other healthy foods. The benefits can also be used to purchase seeds and plants to grow your own food.
Emergency Warming Center Approved in Truckee The Tahoe Truckee region has a small but hearty year round population of people who are homeless. In January of 2015 during the HUD mandated homeless count, 37 people were identified who were sleeping outdoors or in cars on that specific cold winter night. While most of us are very happy to see the snow this winter, for our neighbors without homes this type of weather can be life threatening. It is not uncommon for homeless people to die of exposure in the Truckee area. Over four years ago county staff, together with non-profit partners and the faith community, began working on creating an emergency warming center that could provide shelter to homeless people on the worst weather nights. The Tahoe Truckee region has no shelter at all, and no agency dedicated to serving homeless people, all of which makes it challenging to implement new services like a warming center. This past year the group reconvened with renewed determination to open a center in order to avoid more unnecessary deaths. Church of the Mountains in downtown Truckee offered their facilities, which had been a significant hurdle. A core group of volunteers signed up to be trained in Red Cross protocols for shelter operations. On December 15 the Truckee Planning Commission approved a temporary use permit which allows the Center to open for operations this winter on a pilot basis. Nearly 100 community members turned out to support this effort, demonstrating the compassion and caring for which Truckee is known. The center will be open when specific weather criteria are met (below 15 degrees or more than 1 foot of snow is forecast), and when enough volunteers are available for adequate staffing. For more information or to get on the notification list of when the shelter is open, please email [email protected]
Flu Cases are on the Rise Seasonal influenza (flu) cases are rising. Most years, flu illnesses rapidly rise around this time and peak in January or February and continue into the spring. Typically 5-20% of Americans in a season get the flu resulting in about 200,000 hospitalizations. Young children, pregnant women, the elderly, and those with chronic medical conditions are at greater risk for complications. Early reports this season show a significantly better match between the vaccine and circulating flu strains than last year. The Nevada County Public Health Department is still offering free flu vaccination, and it is not too late to receive one!
Many illnesses casually get called the “flu” but actually are not; lots of other viruses also cause cough and congestion. Infections commonly called “stomach flu” are typically caused by other germs not related to the flu.
Flu symptoms include sore throat, fever, headache, muscle aches, congestion, and cough. These are similar to the common cold but tend to be more severe. Influenza is caused by a virus that easily passes between people with a cough, a sneeze, a handshake, or from infected droplets on surfaces like countertops. .
Frequent hand washing with warm water and soap for 20 seconds is key for limiting the spread of flu. Other simple preventive measures include covering your cough with a tissue; avoiding touching your eyes, nose, and mouth; cleaning and disinfecting surfaces, and staying home if you are ill. Your doctor can help guide you on the flu vaccine, further preventive measures, and when and if anti-viral medication would be helpful.
To keep track of the national flu season and get the latest data and advisories, please see: www.flu.gov. Nevada County Offers Free and Confidential HIV Testing
The Nevada County Public Health Department (NCPHD) recently received confirmation from the NorCal AIDS Cycle that our third funding proposal was approved! To date we have received two generous awards for a total of $23,500 to support free and confidential Rapid HIV Testing and Counseling.
NCPHD offers these services on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month, from noon until 3:00 p.m., at our Grass Valley office located at 500 Crown Point Circle. In addition to finding out their HIV status, individuals who test negative will receive counseling about strategies to reduce their risk, while those whose test results show a preliminary positive will receive an immediate referral to the County’s HIV Case Manager who will connect them with the resources they need to live with HIV and prevent further transmission of the virus.
We’ll know the amount of our third award after this year’s Cycle has occurred (May 12-15). The NorCal AIDS Cycle is a bicycle ride fundraiser in which cyclists ride hundreds of miles through Northern California to raise money and awareness for HIV/AIDS service providers in the Sacramento Valley and beyond.
For more information about the NorCal AIDS Cycle, please go to their website located at http://norcalaidscycle.org/. For more information about NCPHD’s HIV-AIDS services, please go to http://www.mynevadacounty.com/nc/hhsa/ph/Pages/HIV-Testing-inNevada-County.aspx.
Nevada County Behavioral Health Crisis Stabilization Unit On December 14th the Behavioral Health Crisis Stabilization Unit (CSU) celebrated their opening with a well attended ribbon cutting and open house. The CSU is a 23-hour program that provides emergency psychiatric care in a warm, welcoming environment for individuals experiencing a mental health crisis. The 4-bed CSU provides more in-depth treatment to individuals while behavioral health crisis workers determine if they need to be transferred to a psychiatric hospital or can respond to outpatient services. Overall, the quality of mental health services is increased and fewer individuals will need to be transferred to out of county psychiatric hospitals. The patient experience will be more positive, and families will have easy access to their loved ones while receiving treatment. Specialty psychiatric medication management will be provided on site, with telepsychiatry as a backup option. The facility will provide enhanced safety and security for both patients and staff.
The CSU is a collaborative project with Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital, Sierra Mental Wellness Group, and Nevada County Behavioral Health. The project was made possible by funding from Senate Bill 82 – The Investment in Mental Health Wellness Act and the California Health Facilities Financing Authority (CHFFA).
February Harvest of the Month – Oranges In February, much of the community will be celebrating oranges as the Harvest of the Month! Tart and tangy with an underlying sweetness, citrus fruits have a juiciness that rivals all other fruits, and they have amazing health benefits as well. For example, oranges are loaded with anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, and blood clot inhibiting properties.
· Blend two peeled oranges with two cups of frozen, unsweetened strawberries until smooth. Place the citrus berry mixture in the freezer and stir every 15 minutes until you have a thick, icy treat. ·
Mix peeled orange slices with raisins and banana slices. Top with a spoonful of lowfat vanilla yogurt for a healthy breakfast.
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Add a citrus splash to your green salads by topping them with peeled orange slices.
Lastly, it’s best to combine your healthy eating with some physical activity, but staying fit shouldn’t be all work and no play. Turn on your favorite music and challenge your family to a dance contest. Learn some new moves from your children and show them how things were done in your day!
For more information on Harvest of the Month, please visit http://www.harvestofthemonth.cdph.ca.gov/.
