The Equitable Evaluation Initiative works to update nonprofit evaluation practices in order to promote equity. Dean-Coffey recently spoke with Interact for Health about the EEI’s work and her vision for the future of evaluation.

Read previous Health in Action stories .

Interact for Health recently published in local media important information about how to protect yourself and others from the coronavirus. Topics include how to wear a mask properly, the risk associated with various activities and how to clean and disinfect. These documents are now available on the COVID-19 page of our website in both poster and letter size under the heading "Print resources."

The Department of Population and Public Health Sciences at Wright State University is now accepting applications for the Boonshoft Public Health Workforce Scholarship. The scholarship is available to Ohio public health department employees interested in earning their Master of Public Health degree at Wright State University. The award will cover 50% of in-state tuition and program fees. Applications are due Aug. 10.  Learn more and apply here .

Illicit drug use in Ohio and Kentucky has soared since the coronavirus pandemic started (DeMio, Cincinnati Enquirer, 7/8). Millennium Health evaluated more than 500,000 urine-test results from 2020 and compared results from January through mid-March (pre-pandemic) with those from mid-March to the end of May. In Ohio steep increases were found after the pandemic emergency started for all four drugs that were screened for: non-prescribed fentanyl was up 29%, methamphetamine was up 19%; cocaine was up 26%; and heroin was up 35%. The laboratory's Kentucky tests show significant increases in non-prescribed fentanyl, up 32%; methamphetamine, up 21%; and cocaine, up 27%. Read the Cincinnati Enquirer article .

Ohio’s foster care system does not adequately track psychotropic and opioid medication prescriptions for children in its care, according to a report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (Eaton, Cleveland Plain Dealer, 7/16). The report found that more than 30 percent of Ohio children in foster care were prescribed one or more psychotropic or opioid medications and Ohio’s Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System often lacked accurate details about their prescriptions, increasing their likelihood of getting improper medication doses or combinations. Read the Cleveland Plain Dealer article.

While data on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website has long reflected that those younger than 18 make up 2% of COVID-19 cases, data from states shows children make up 6.4% of those infected (Edney, Bloomberg, 7/16). California and Mississippi say children and teens represent nearly 10% of the cases being reported, and Florida has found that about a third of all children tested are infected. The numbers are rising, epidemiologists say, as testing has become more available to those with mild or no symptoms, encompassing many of the pediatric cases, and as those under 18 are increasingly involved in social activities. Read the Bloomberg article.

Visit Interact for Health's COVID-19 page for information, data and printable resources.