RAPAD Coalition Meeting Minutes
December 19th, 201
12:00 to 1:30pm, Max’s Grill, Olivia, MN
Present: Lamont Jacobson/Chair, Annie Tepfer/RAPAD Coalition, Dave Torgelson/County Attorney, Virginia Sullivan/Secretary, Chuck Blum/KOLV/Vice Chair, Leah Schueler/SHIP, Bill Schmitz/Hometown Bank, Heidi Sticha/RC Hospital, Janine Kramer/Olivia House of Hope, Shereen Frank/RCW Schools, Janette Oehlers/Guia Coach/Pact For Families, Dave Drager/Pastor Buffalo Lake Hector, Sherrie Hable/Renville County Human Services, John Dodson/BOLD Superintendent
Old Business: Coalition members were asked by Lamont to fill out match forms and turn them in. Coalition members celebrated a good year for the coalition with a meeting/Christmas Party at Max’s. Lamont called for the approval of the meeting minutes and agenda, Jennifer made a motion which was 2nd by Dave. Chuck reported on the radio ads for KWLN, Q102 & Big Country. Students Danielle and Taylor from TADA helped record the ad and were excited about it. Janet will record the ad for the community spotlight which is from a grant that will run one month.
Marijuana Prevention Project/BOLD: Morgan Fennern a BOLD alumni returned to report to the coalition about her marijuana prevention project that she worked on as part of her Public Discourse class. Morgan discovered that there has been a lack of knowledge about marijuana; its effects and general information. She began her project by talking to upper classmen & suggested starting a SADD portion to the Leadership Group that is already in place. Morgan spoke to the principal and the leadership group about promoting knowledge to begin action on her project and created a website outlining information to assist in helping students increase their knowledge. https://morganfennern.wixsite.com/Boldhsmarijuanausage Jennifer suggested some available Pact For Families resources for the group. Rick suggested she talk to him and Annie about possible funding for the student activities to help promote knowledge of marijuana. John will be talking to the leadership group and with Tom Kroes about future activities. Lamont asked Morgan how she knew about the marijuana problem. She stated she found out about use through other students and she wants to come back and talk to the students to see if by utilizing her project outline they have gained more awareness. Dave stated that among some youth there is a lack of fear of the law and also lack of understanding of the addictive nature of marijuana. Schools are having a problem with teens vaping in the bathrooms in-between classes. Teens are not aware that E-Cigs are a gateway to tobacco use. John asked Morgan if the subject of marijuana was in the health classes. She stated yes but felt that more information is needed. Annie stated there are learning kits she can send to schools and that she wants to see if something can be developed about marijuana use and abuse. John stated health instructors would be open to any new curriculum.
Youth Engagement Training: Annie and Shereen attended. Annie stated the workshop was similar to social work classes, getting youth involved in leadership roles. Debra Moore from U of M presented. She studied theory about youth engagement work. Participants were able to interact with other participants to share knowledge and ideas.
Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention: An RX tool kit online has stories of people and their prescription drug use and many stories of unexpected addiction. Annie stated there are now radio ads on the subject. SHIP and public health want to try to increase community involvement and conversations to start making changes & address the problem. Jill Bruns has joined the hospital community health board. Annie stated that RC Hospital is training doctors; law enforcement is having trainings and pharmacies also are getting more information. Annie would like all entities to collaborate for more effective action. Morrison has a mentoring grant available to help collaboration between community entities. The coalition can help with that connection. Lamont stated that drug companies are being sued by several states. SHIP wants more learning tools and this may be added to their 2018 strategy plan. ACMC has a tool kit for entities to use. Heidi stated the hospital gives medication education to pharmacies and discharge orders are discussed with patients. She is not sure about what the clinic is doing. Sherrie Hable stated that when she was given medication she was given a disposable bag. Heidi stated that patients are given information about medication disposal. The director of nursing is going to work on a new plan to prevent over prescribing.
School and Youth Groups: RCW students collected canned goods for the food shelf. TADA has a party on January 10th. They want to maximize the number of students by not having the party after school. They are working on their T-shirts. Shereen asked the coalition how they felt about the choice made by the students “Pugs not Drugs”. Many coalition members felt that it was a fun way to promote awareness.
SHIP-Opioid Addiction Prevention: Jennifer stated that SHIP is involved in creating strategy to help with the Opioid epidemic. She stated ACMC has a tool kit that may be useful. She also stated that Monsanto has a community grant that SHIP may be applying for to help with this. Janine stated that there needs to be some regulation online because residents are able to order opioid prescriptions from almost anywhere and may not know what is in the medication.
Faith Based: Dave stated that the after game activity for youth was a success and Annie stated that there is additional funding available for another activity.
Upcoming Meetings/Trainings: Pact For Families Collaborative meeting in January 10th, 2018 in Willmar: they will have a panel of directors from each of the mental health locations. The 5/25 Committee will meet at 10 a.m. This committee is working on many areas for youth ages 5 to 25 years of age. TADA Holiday party January 10th. CADCA conference in Washington: The coalition is inviting coalition members to attend; funding for hotel, food and plane flight is available. Lamont has stated he will be attending. The Brain Conference: April 19th, 2018 in Willmar at the high school; this year the former principal of the school is Wala Wala Washington will be presenting on the school’s video “Paper Tigers” and what their school did about bullying and difficult students.
Next meeting: January 23rd, 2018/ Renville County Government Building, Olivia, MN
Respectfully submitted: Virginia Sullivan/Coalition Secretary