OMNI TA Newsletter November 2021

Volume 35 | November 15, 2021

Block Grant Evaluation Summit Recap

The OMNI Evaluation Team enjoyed seeing you all at the Block Grant Summit! It's always our pleasure to see all of your faces, share information, and support each other. Here is a quick recap of the summit highlights.

OMNI gave announcements about the launch of the new Portal! The new Virginia Prevention Works portal will be launching in early December. It will have improved functionality and will serve as a central communication tool between OMNI, OBHW, and CSB staff.
Keri-Lyn at CPG gave us an overview of the much anticipated PBPS Version 3. Please make sure that anyone who does data entry at your CSB is signed up for a training during the weeks of Nov 8th and Nov 15th (see recent portal posts for registration information).
Nikki and Afsoon from OMNI presented on the fabulous things you can do at the Virginia Social Indicator Dashboard (VASIS). Lots of data updates are in the process, so please stay tuned to the portal for announcements regarding when new data go up on the dashboard.
Bern'Nadette, Joscelyn and T from OMNI walked us through the Needs Assessment processes for Gambling and Gaming and Marijuana prevention, including the Environmental Scan and Community Readiness Assessment. Check out the guides for these processes in the Needs Assessment folder on Box.com!
Keith provided some DBHDS updates regarding ARPA funding, ACEs, and timelines

We know you have a lot on your plates with all the vital work you do for your communities, and we are here to support you! We hope you found the event helpful. If you have TA or Training ideas or requests on other topics, please let us know at OMNISupport@omni.org

This Month in Needs Assessment: Planning

In the coming months we'll dedicate a newsletter section to the Needs Assessment. This work includes the Environmental Scan (for gaming/gambling) and the Community Readiness Assessment (for gaming/gambling and marijuana). We know different CSBs will begin and progress at different speeds and that is okay. This section may help you think ahead and/or ensure you've covered crucial components.

The focus for this month is planning. Begin by looking over the guidebooks on Box.com found here: VA Needs Assessment Guides. We hear that these efforts sound like a lot of additional work and we hope that once you're acquainted with the components they'll seem manageable to complete. Make sure you're clear about the goals and methods. More detailed steps are below.

Environmental Scan: Identify a team lead, review scan details, and begin timeline and workplan. Consider how these efforts can be combined with existing work and travel you're doing with Counter Tools or compliance checks, for example.

Gaming/Gambling Community Readiness Assessment: Identify a team lead, identify stakeholders, and determine if focus groups or interviews make sense for your community. Begin outreach efforts by contacting stakeholders and scheduling the focus group(s)/interviews.

To view the training sessions from the BG Evaluation Summit, tune in to the recording here from 1:43:45 to 2:54:00. Please reach out to OMNI with any questions as you plan. We're here to support!

News You Can Use

Block Grant CSB Level Reports Available

Your customizable CSB level reports are now available on box.com in your CSB folders. These reports can help highlight activities that you can share with stakeholders and your community. We created this report in PowerPoint so you can easily customize details.

Some helpful tips while working on customizing the document:

1. Use the "Arrange" option to evenly space your document. You can find this under the home tab in the drawing section. To start, select multiple objects that you want to evenly arrange by clicking the object while holding the control key and going to the arrange option in the home tab.

2. To identify colors, use the eyedrop tool in the colors tab to determine the exact color you want to match and apply it to other text or objects.

For additional tips, you can view the 2016 PowerPoint Tips and Tricks document or reach out to the TA team.

Updated Portal Launch

December 1st an updated version of the Virginia Prevention Works Portal will launch.

The link will be the same and this new version of the portal will play a central role in communication between OBHW, CSBs, and OMNI. Your concerns about the usability of the portal have been heard and incorporated into this new site. When you use the site for the first time you'll be prompted to make a new account (early testers won't need to make a new account). An email will go out with instructions prior to its launch.

We're excited about the launch of the new portal and hope this will make your experience using it a little easier!

Community Spotlight

Northwestern CSB hosts Positivity Campaign

As part of the Lock and Talk suicide prevention initiative, Northwestern CSB hosted a Positivity Campaign in January 2021. Over 500 positive messaging yard signs with a Lock and Talk logo were distributed throughout the community. Participating agencies included Chambers of Commerce, Parks & Rec, school systems, and coalition partners. "The regional social marketing work has advanced significantly and the campaigns coming out have resulted in a new level of professional quality. What a continued blessing it is to be part of the initial group of CSBs who created this initiative. It's been wonderful to see the overall growth and support of Lock and Talk!"

Quick Links:

Demographics Calculator

Data Entry Guidelines

VA Prevention Works! Portal