Community Connect March 2014

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March 2014

Welcome to the March 2014 edition ofCommunity Connect!
The dates are confirmed for the Safe Communities America Annual
Networking Conference. This year, it will be held August 13-14, 2014
at Belvidere and Country Inn and Suites in Elk Grove Village, IL, justoutside of Chicago.
As always, there will be no registration fee and all meals are included
in order to keep costs down. We encourage all to attend, even thosecommunities who are working on their application or thinking ofworking on an application. Email us at scainfo@nsc.org and we'll
send more conference details as they become available.
Don't forget to like us on Facebook to stay up to date on current
resources and opportunities.

Nebraska Panhandle
Designation: 2011
International Safe Community: #254
Population: 90,000
The Nebraska Panhandle includes 11 counties in
Nebraska and spans 14,180 square miles - making it the largest, byarea, in the Safe Communities America Network. The Panhandle has
been working collaboratively, even before designation, which made theapplication process in 2011 very natural.
In addition to focusing on individual
behavior change, the coalition isworking to build supportive
environments to keep the community
safe and healthy. In order to beprepared in the case of an actual
emergency, the Panhandle Public
Health Department (PPHD), the Scotts
Bluff County Health Department andtheir partners through the Nebraska
Panhandle Safe Communities
Coalition, tested emergency plans
through specific exercises. This year, one exercise tested plans to set
up a clinic and dispense medications from the Strategic National
Stockpile (SNS). The SNS is a source of medications and supplies
released in an emergency to treat the public during a disease
outbreak.
Over the course of three days, the group tested their plans and wasmeasured for strengths and areas for improvement. On the first day,public health officials worked with Emergency Managers and a local
county health department on activation protocols that would start therequest and release of stockpiles. Over the course of the next twodays, the health departments worked with the Medical Reserve
Corps, a group of local health professionals and general public
patrons willing to help during large-scale disasters; other county

In This Issue
Community Highlight: Nebraska
PanhandleIssue Brief: Reducing Drug Abuse
Report: Child Passenger Safety
New Study on Suicide
Funding Opportunities
WebinarsConferences
International Corner: Visitors fromJapan
Stay Connected
Send us a quick email and we'll add
you to our mailing list!
scainfo@nsc.org
Visit us at
safecommunitiesamerica.org

Safe Sleep Toolkit
Resources to help parents andcaregivers understand how to keepbabies safe while sleeping. Visit
preventchildinjury.org.
Teen Safe Driving Blog
State laws help keep teens safe
while driving but parents can go
beyond laws and set household
rules like setting curfews, limitingthe number of passengers in a car

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officials; and a trucking company to set up a mock clinic at a rural fire
department in Bridgeport, NE. A list of emergency volunteers also
helped at the mock clinic. The SNS medications were guided by thesheriff's office to the clinic. The staff and volunteers went throughclinic plans to manage the flow of people through the clinic, parking,security, staff needed, and hours of operations.

and prohibiting the use of cell
phones while driving. Read moreand check out a video fromCongressman Randy Hultgren on
why he supports laws that protect
teen drivers.

Through the series of tests, major strengths were found intransportation security, clinic location, and set-up time. Areas ofimprovements included having more people at the site to dispense
medications and strengthening parking lot security. Learn more about
the Nebraska Panhandle Safe Communities Coalition goals,strategies and success stories on injury prevention at pphd.org.

Drive It Home

Issue Brief on Reducing Prescription DrugAbuse
Governors throughout the United States have been working to develop
comprehensive, coordinated plans to combat the public health andsafety crisis of prescription drug abuse. The National Governors
Association recently released an issue brief, "Reducing Prescription
Drug Abuse: Lessons Learned from an NGA Policy Academy" which
outlines the key strategies in reducing this epidemic. Read the entire
brief.

Resources, tools andvideos to help
parents of newly
licensed teen
drivers. Drive It
Home also gives parents anopportunity to connect with otherparents of teen drivers.
Visit driveithome.org.
World Health Organization
Infographic on Road Traffic
SafetyVital Signs Report - Child Passenger Safety
The CDC released its latest Vital Signs report promoting childpassenger safety. The report noted that while motor vehicle deaths forchildren ages 12 and younger decreased by 43 percent in the past tenyears, major disparities in outcomes still exist due to a number offactors. Read the report.

New Study on Causes of Suicide
A study recently released by the Norwegian Institute of Public Healthsuggests that more suicide prevention strategies need to be available
to target individuals who may take their own life despite no signs of aserious mental health issue. The study's main finding reports that asense of failure and rejection may lead to suicide in some individuals.
Read more about this study.

Funding: Making the Case for Laws That
Improve HealthRobert Wood Johnson Foundation is seeking research projects of lawsthat improve public health. Grants of up to $150,000 each will beawarded for studies that focus on the intersection of law and publichealth. Learn more about the RFP.

Community-Police Partnerships Awards
The MetLife Foundation, in partnership with the Local Initiatives
Support Corporation, wants to recognize, sustain and share the work ofinnovative partnerships between community groups and police topromote neighborhood safety and revitalization. Awards between$15,000 and $30,000 are available. Apply now.

Innovative Senior Center
Programs
The National Institute of SeniorCenters - winners of the 2013
Programs of Excellence

Do you have any upcoming
events? Any pictures you would
like to share withthe network?
Please send them along toscainfo@nsc.org and we'll post
them in an upcoming newsletter

Webinar: Using an Outcomes-BasedApproach in Program Development
Monday, March 24, 2014
2 p.m. - 3 p.m. ET
Presentations focus on effective ways to build achievable plans around

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transportation safety initiatives with examples from promising andproven teen safe driving projects. Register now.

Webinar: Heatstroke Prevention
Safe Kids Worldwide will be hosting a webinar to educate, inform andprovide valuable resources on heatstroke prevention.
March 26, 2014, Wednesday
1 p.m. - 2 p.m. ET
http://bit.ly/SKWwebinarMar26

March 27, 2014, Thursday
1 p.m. - 2 p.m. ET
http://bit.ly/SKWwebinarMar27

Safe Communities America is amember of the Pan Pacific Safe
Communities Network. The Network
includes the Australian Safe
Communities Foundation, Safe
Communities Foundation New
Zealand and Parachute Canada.
There are 119 accredited Safe
Communities in the Pan Pacific
Network. Visit ppscn.org to learn
more.

National Rx Drug Abuse Summit
April 22-24, 2014
Atlanta, GA
NationalRxDrugAbuseSummit.org.

Safe States Alliance Annual Meeting
May 20-22, 2014
Atlanta, GA
SafeStates.org

The 7th Asian Regional Conference on SafeCommunities
May 12-15, 2014
Busan, South Korea
Busan2014acsc.kr

The 4th European Regional Safe Community
Conference
June 3-5, 2014
Harstad, Norway
safecomeurope.com

The National Safety Council is an
International Safe Community
Support Center to the WHO
Collaborating Centre on Community
Safety Promotion, Karolinska
Institutet.

If you like this newsletter, like us on
Facebook and share your activities andevents.

Contact Us
Safe Communities America
National Safety Council
1121 Spring Lake Drive
Itasca, Illinois 60143
scainfo@nsc.org
630-775-2555

Safe Communities America Annual
Networking Conference
August 13-14, 2014
Elk Grove Village, ILContact scainfo@nsc.org for registration
information.

East African Regional Safe Community
Conference
November 19 - 21, 2014
Arusha, Tanzania
peercorpsglobal.org/earscc-2014
Do you have any upcoming events? Any pictures you would
like to share with the network?
Please send them to scainfo@nsc.org and we'll post them in an
upcoming newsletter.

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Japan Institution for Safe Communities visits
Safe Communities America
In early March, representatives
from the Japan Institution forSafe Communities, anInternational Safe Communities
Support Center, visited theUnited States to learn about
Safe Communities America.
Yoko Shiraishi, Chair, andHisato Imai, Director,represented their center.
Their visit began with a trip to National Safety Council headquarters inItasca, IL where they met with the Safe Communities America team.
They learned about the US Safe Communities America Network, theKentucky pilot project and the Safe Communities evaluation projects.
Next, the group made their way up to Madison, Wisconsin, to attend
several coalition events including:• A tour of the city of Madison led by Cheryl Wittke, Executive
Director of Safe Communities Madison-Dane County;• A Madison Rotary Club luncheon (the 8th largest Rotary Club inthe world);• A MedDrop box installation at the Police Department on thecampus of the University of Wisconsin;• The Annual Safety Night at the Children's Museum;• The Safe Communities Annual Breakfast where our Japandelegation was able to interact with several members of theSafe Communities Coalition in Madison-Dane County.
The group then traveled to New Lenox, Illinois.
• They were given a tour of SilverCross Commun ity Hospital• Viewed an emergency alert siren
installation• They ended their visit by meetingseveral members of the NewLenox Safe Communities
Coalition and receiving the key tothe city from Mayor TimBaldermann.
Thank you to Yoko Shiraishi and Hisato Imai for visiting Safe
Communities America. And a special thanks to Cheryl Wittke (SafeCommunities Madison-Dane County) and Dan Martin (New Lenox Safe
Communities Coalition) for taking the time to show us your communities
and making their visit memorable.
A special thanks to our national partners...and to The Dow Chemical Company and ExxonMobil for local community coalition
support.

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