OMNI TA Newsletter July 2021

Volume 31 | July 15, 2021

Goodbye FY20-21 and Hello FY21-22!

As we do every summer, we are currently wrapping up one fiscal year while planning for the next. To help us all stay on the same page, we wanted to highlight some important pieces of information so they don't get lost:

Closing out Block Grant (BG) FY20-21:

Ensure all PBPS BG-related data is entered by the end of 7/15 - TODAY!
Review any rejected activities. Make any corrections that are needed, or reach out to the OMNI team for assistance in addressing the rejections.
Ensure that you have submitted the BG end-of-year survey by the end of the day 7/15 – TODAY!
All BG-related activities need to be corrected no later than 7/30.
Activities not corrected by that time may not be included in OMNI's end-of-year reporting.

Welcoming BG FY21-22:

OMNI's BG and SOR Evaluation Roadmap Kick-off Meeting is Tuesday, July 20th at 11 am ET. Register here.
In this meeting, we will go over the following:
The combined BG and SOR process for evaluation planning
Updates to the Evaluation Roadmap document
Timeline for evaluation planning this summer
As mentioned previously, OMNI is combining the evaluation planning processes for BG and SOR in order to maximize our TA calls and be more efficient with your time.
The evaluation planning process will be simpler this year, as we will only be making updates to logic models, not building them from scratch.
We will post a recording afterward for those who aren't able to join. But we encourage folks to attend the kick-off meeting so there is an opportunity to answer any and all questions you may have.

The OMNI TA Team is once again looking forward to our calls and connecting with each CSB. This is often the only time we have for conversations outside of emails, and we very much enjoy hearing about your communities and work!

Introducing New OMNI Team Members!

Most of you are pretty familiar with the OMNI Prevention team, by this point! As you know, our team consists of our fearless leader, Eden Griffin (she/her), and the dedicated TA Team of Cindy Vigil (she/her), Ivonne Parra (she/her), Jason Wheeler (he/him), T Schweimler (they/them), and Cheryl Winston (she/her).

Now, OMNI is very pleased to introduce you to some stellar new additions to our staff and team, some of whom you will cross paths with during the new FY planning work.

Kate Rifken (she/her): Kate joined OMNI in December 2020 from the State of Wisconsin, where she worked on substance use and mental health evaluations. Kate currently works on a range of projects, including substance use projects and public health projects.

Bianca Gonzalez-De La Rosa (she/they): Bianca obtained their Master of Social Work from the University of Denver. Prior to joining OMNI, Bianca worked as a clinician in community mental health and integrated behavioral healthcare where they focused on trauma, substance use, and perinatal mood disorders.

Amanda Seibel (they/she): Amanda joined OMNI in May 2021 after collecting data for diverse community health projects and facilitating a public policy advisory group. Amanda received a Master of Social Work from the University of Denver and supports a variety of public health projects at OMNI.

Above is a photo of our team in action, at one of our weekly meetings!

Top L-R: Kate, Eden, Amanda
Middle L-R: Cindy, Bianca, T
Bottom L-R: Ivonne, Jason, Cheryl

News You Can Use

Grouping Activities in PBPS

A reminder that grouping activities in PBPS is permitted only for the "Website/social media campaign for CSBs and/or coalitions" campaign.

For example, if your website/social media efforts used different types of messaging/posts/events, you can group them into one activity that captures all of the impressions combined.

If you have another campaign that has multiple different types of activities, you will need to submit separate implementations for those activities. You can refer to the "Reference Data Entry Plan" in your Box.com account for more information on how to record activities in all types of cohorts/campaigns.

Social Determinants of Health

Carnevale Associates recently released a brief on addressing the social determinants of health in substance use prevention you can access here.

Carnevale Associates specializes in bringing strategic consulting solutions to governments, organizations, and communities as they confront the policy and program challenges of substance use, behavioral health, and criminal justice. The research-based policy solution agency has federal, state, and local government clients, including our own Region 10 Community Service Board!

Gaming and Gambling CSB Community Forum

The next CSB Community Forum, on September 15th from 2-3:30pm EST, will be on Gaming and Gambling prevention. Scheduled to present is Anne Rogers, the Responsible Gambling Coordinator for DBHDS! Anne will present some updates on the problem gaming/gambling landscape across the state. Stay tuned for a Zoom invite and we hope to see you all there!

Let OMNI know if you would like your CSB to present information on this topic, or if you have questions.

Community Spotlight

Futuro Latino Coalition awarded CADCA's Dose of Prevention Award!

The Futuro Latino Coalition works with various organizations in the Latino community of Harrisonburg and Rockingham Counties, to provide resources on alcohol prevention and substance use issues. Recently, the Coalition received the CADCA Dose of Prevention Award for their prevention work during National Medicine Abuse Awareness Month (NMAAM). Futuro Latino Coalition members visited stores in the Latino community to talk about NMAAM, worked with the local police department to organize a DEA take-back event, and coordinated with youth to gather insight on prescription drug misuse. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Future Latino Coalition also learned to adapt their efforts by hosting events through Zoom and reaching stakeholders like Latino churches, "we also facilitated online webinars, virtual meetings, conversations with parents, pizza night with youth, gatherings, raffles, lotería games, and more." Congrats Futuro Latino Coalition on your award and for raising awareness of the dangers of prescription and OTC drugs!

Check out their blog feature on the Stop Medicine Abuse website!