Middletown Cares Februray 17, 2011 Minutes

In attendance: Laurene Sandstrom, Hudson Health Plan; Chris Brinckerhoff, Middletown Recreation Department; Saverio Maioni, Student in Alcoholism & Substance Abuse; Jerra Mann, Safe Homes of Orange County TASA; Rebecca Aviles, SUNY Orange Youth Empowerment Program; Risa Himaras, Neighborhood Watch; George Gruner, Middletown Rotary Club; Neil Kassel, Middletown Police Department; Krista Smith, Orange County Department of Health; David Delauriers, Planned Parenthood Mid-Hudson Valley; Deidre Sherman, Occupations; Krista Warner, Alcohol & Drug Abuse Council of Orange County; Jennifer Howard, Maternal Infant Services Network; Daniel Benotti, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County; Meghan DuBois O- Conner, POW’R Against Tobacco; Evelyn Massie, Mayor’s Youth Council; Melissa Laks, Orange County Probation Department; Isaiah Lopez, Rock of Refuge; Ana Tranchina, Fidelis Care; Charles Darden, RECAP, Inc; Danielle Morse Kapor, YWCA; Jennifer Blake, Dispute Resolution Center.

Welcome & Introductions – Meeting facilitated by Laurene Sandstrom CADCA Graduation for the Middletown Cares Coalition: Peg Kimple reported that 134 coalitions from across the nation “graduated” from the CADCA Academy at the CADCA National Forum in Washington, DC. In order to qualify for graduation, participating coalitions were required to re- assess their communities to determine the two most used drugs (alcohol and marijuana for Middletown), to develop logic models showing the activities and the environmental strategies to address each of those, and a sustainability plan to keep the coalition active after DFC funding runs out. Jean Sexton and Peg Kimple accepted the award, but Richard Purnell and Debbie Grazioso also worked very hard to accomplish this feat.

CADCA National Forum: Laurene Sandstrom reported that she, Jean Sexton and Peg Kimple attended the 2011 CADCA National Forum in Washington DC on February 7-10. They found the many large plenary sessions to be very interesting and the smaller workshops to provide important information on such topics as coalition building, strategies to stop underage drinking and drug use, and ways to utilize social media for the benefit of the coalition. They also took advantage of the opportunity to visit the offices of our congressional representatives to educate them on the work of Middletown Cares and the need to continue funding DFC grants.

What the 2010 PRIDE Survey tells us: Dr. Katherine Roberts presented on the results from the PRIDE Survey which has been administered to students in grades 6, 8, 10, and 12 each year for the past four years. The results from June 2010 indicated that past 30-day alcohol use continued to decline in the 10th and 12th grades. Twelfth graders are now below national norm and 10th graders are only slightly above; however, rates of 30-day alcohol use of 8th graders continue to be double that of the national norm. Cigarette use is low among our youths and is below national norm among those in 10th and 12th grade, but slightly above among 8th graders. Marijuana use is above national norm among those in all grades. Almost twice as many youth indicate they smoke marijuana compared to cigarettes. One of the most exciting results for Middletown Cares was that there was that students indicated a significant decrease in ease of availability of alcohol among the 12th graders since 2009. We have been working with the Middletown Police Department to make sure stores are checking IDs and not selling to minors. In fact, those compliance checks have decreased the number of businesses selling to minors from 11 of 45 businesses at the first check to only 1 business selling to a minor at the last check in September of 2010. The youth tell us this has worked as it is harder for them to get alcohol now.

Filling out the Marijuana Logic Model: Peg Kimple distributed the 12-Month Action Plan to be included in the continuation application for our Drug Free Communities grant and also the logic model so diligently created by the Logic Model Committee, Jean Sexton, Debbie Grazioso, Richard Purnell and Peg Kimple. The logic model still needs some activities to make it complete. It is attached to the minutes. Anyone with ideas for its completion are invited to call or e-mail Peg Kimple. In the meantime we will continue to work on the activities already listed. Leadership Council/Committee will begin to meet within the next two weeks. At this time its members will include Jennifer Howard, Jean Sexton, Richard Purnell, Laurene Sandstrom, Chris Brinckerhoff and Regina Cieslak.

Youth Summit: Since some coalition partners were concerned that we would not have enough time to produce a Youth Summit this year, Peg Kimple investigated and discovered that we started our planning at exactly the same time last year. Since we are planning to work with middle school students this year, we will immediately begin to contact the middle school principals and identify high school students who want to help with the planning.

• Middletown Rotary will hold its 68th Annual Horse Show on September 11, 2011, at Davidge Park. Every year the Rotary gives away up to $30,000 of the proceeds from the horse show to organizations such as the Warming Center or the YMCA. The group is trying to update and modernize its approach and welcomes suggestions.

• Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County announces its Bowl For Kids’ Sake, a fun fundraiser to be held at Bowling Time Lanes in New Windsor on March 27th. There will be great food and music as well as bowling. Middletown Cares will be forming a team! Join us!

• Mayor’s Youth Council was not able to go to Albany on February 8 to talk with our state senators and state congressional representatives because of the snow. A huge disappointment for our youth!

• Middletown Recreation Department is beginning a one-week camp for kids. The camp is being held at Middletown High School from 9:00 am – 4:00 pm and costs $70 for the week.

• The annual Making Healthful Decisions conference will be held on March 29 at the Falkirk Estate and Country Club in Central Valley. Contact Jennifer Howard of MISN (928-7448) or Krista Warner of ADAC (294-9000) for further information.

• Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Council Annual Poster Contest has just been concluded. Over 1,200 posters have been submitted, and the Awards Ceremony will be held April 8, 2011, at 10:00 am at the Paramount Theatre here in Middletown.

• National Night Out Against Crime will again be held on Tuesday August 2. Sgt. Neil Kassel and Sgt. Christopher Bailey are working with Risa Himaras of Neighborhood Watch to put on theevent, which will again extend all the way down West Main Street. The Paramount Theatre is working to extend the sound from the stage as well. But Risa NEEDS HELP!! Please come forward to volunteer your time!

• Orange County Health Department will be providing anti-tobacco and pro-breast-feeding information at worksites throughout the county. The Department will also be holding a meeting of its Strategic Alliance on March 2nd at 2:00 pm at 18 Seward Avenue. All are invited.

• POW’R Against Tobacco will soon be changing its name. The organization can also again interact with youth themselves and would like to collaborate with Middletown Cares partners in that regard.

• Planned Parenthood Mid-Hudson Valley has established a new organization, Youth Health Promoters. These will be youth who are moving up from the SOC (Safe or Sorry) program to more leadership. They will be paid a stipend to attend 6 sessions of training. Their motto is “Be Proud/Be Responsible”.

• Youth Empowerment meets at SUNY Orange.

• YWCA will be holding a training for young professional women at Thrall Library on March 10 at 6:00 pm. Please encourage high school seniors to join the meeting. Next Meeting: Thursday, March 10, 2011, 6:00 pm in City Hall Respectfully submitted, Peg Kimple Coalition Coordinator.