OMNI TA Newsletter September 2021

Volume 33 | September 15, 2021

Gaming and Gambling

Please join OMNI and DBHDS for our Gaming and Gambling Forum on September 15th from 2-3:30pm ET. This event will provide an opportunity to learn more about gaming and gambling in Virginia and how it is impacting the communities that you serve. With the support of Anne Rogers, OBHW's Responsible Gambling Coordinator, we will explore prevention efforts that CSBs can implement in their own communities.

Problem gaming and gambling can affect anyone, regardless of age, ethnicity, income level, or other factor. Gambling disorder was added to the latest edition of the DSM as an addiction disorder. Just like using substances, gambling can affect our brain's reward system and lead to an addiction. Excessive gaming or gambling behaviors can cause significant problems that can impact relationships, occupations, and finances.

There are several forms of legal gambling in Virginia, such as: state-run lottery, casino gaming and sports betting, horse racing, skill gaming, and charitable gaming. With recent policies in the state, we can expect that gaming and gambling will become more normalized in your communities. For this reason, prevention efforts with new funding can help support your communities.

The focus areas of this forum are:

Gaming and Gambling definitions
Policy overview
Risk factors
Prevention efforts

We will also share a handout that OMNI created that provides a general overview of these topics.

We hope that after attending this forum you will have the necessary tools to begin thinking about how gaming and gambling may be affecting your community. We will also provide a brief overview of the upcoming needs assessment that focuses on Gaming and Gambling and what to expect in the months ahead.

If you are unable to attend the forum, you can find the slides and recordings in Box.com in the OMNI TA Resources >> Trainings & Webinar folder. Otherwise, we look forward to seeing you then!

ACEs Survey Administration and Monitoring of Data

CSBs should be administering the online ACEs Training Evaluation form provided by OMNI - supplied in English and Spanish - for ACEs trainings. The sponsoring CSB is responsible for sharing the link along with some instructions and survey guidance to all trainees to ensure that data is as accurate and complete as possible. Respondents will need some extra TA from the sponsoring CSBs to ensure specific fields are correct.

Every month CSBs receive an Excel spreadsheet that is incremental, with new responses added each month and saved in each CSB's ACEs folder in Box. The OMNI TA Team also sends a monthly email notifying CSBs there is new monthly data available with a codebook to help CSBs interpret the findings. Coming soon: we will be providing ACEs reports summarizing the training data in a data viz friendly format! Stay tuned for more information.

CSBs need to monitor for inconsistent or incorrect selections in the "Sponsoring CSB" field. Some participants check off their own CSB or another CSB by mistake. If there shouldn't be training data for a particular month, please notify the OMNI TA Team. CSBs should also monitor for incorrect training dates in the Training Information section of the survey.

For additional guidance, OMNI developed a resource to support administering the ACEs post-training survey. This document will help guide you through the process and provides suggested language and a sample PowerPoint slide to easily share instructions with your trainees.

The TA document is in box.com in the OMNI TA Resources for CSBs >> ACEs Tools folder.

Here is a direct link to the document: https://app.box.com/s/8axvuja0jl86xg220yl4ro4vh0q2ki5a.

News You Can Use

MHFA Outcomes for

FY21-22

You can define two different outcomes related to these trainings depending on whether your CSB delivered the training in-person or virtually, as the evaluation questions differ for each. Consult with your OMNI TA on how to incorporate these outcomes into your Logic Model and Measurement Plans.

VA Gambling Funds Question in PBPS

In the PBPS Plan Channel, you will notice a question asking, "Does this activity leverage Virginia's State Gambling funds?" Please leave this set to "No" for now, until the needs assessment is done and you select strategies for your CSB. However, you will also see this question in the Build Capacity Channel. Please select "Yes" for this question when you are recording staff hours related to the needs assessment in the Build Capacity Channel.

Intermediate & Long-Term Outcomes Aren't Changing in Your Roadmap!

These outcomes should stay the same for this current 5-year BG funding cycle. Over time, you will note change as the outcome deadlines approach.

Community Spotlight

Rappahannock-Rapidan CSB Prevention Manager Presents

Prevention Manager Alan Rasmussen recently presented "Taking Charge of Fear and Anxiety" for the Balancing Life Webinar Series offered by the Virginia Cooperative Extension and North Carolina Cooperative Extension university collaborations. In his Powerpoint presentation, Alan provided important information and knowledge gathered from his work with suicide and substance use prevention, specifically around stress and anxiety caused the uncertainty of COVID-19 times, and the coping mechanisms and resiliency that can be employed to help people live their lives to the fullest. Alan also provides counseling services for National Counseling Group Virginia and teaches courses at University of Virginia. Check out Alan's presentation here, and a playlist of the full Balancing Life Series here.

Quick Links:

Demographics Calculator

Data Entry Guidelines

VA Prevention Works! Portal