Natrona County Prevention Coalition
September 3, 2019 Time: 1:00-2:00 p.m. Place: Oil and Gas Building @ 2211 King Blvd
Minutes from August (member luncheon) approved by Greta Hinderliter, 2nd by Nicole Wilson
New Business
Welcome! Your hard work is what makes our coalition a success! Thank you for all that you do!
Strategic Plan: A review of the progress towards our strategic plan goals will be reported quarterly. Next month we will review the first quarter’s progress. Stay tuned!
Early Observers Update:
CPD- Rebekka Ladd brought alcohol and drug statistics from July 2018-2019. DUIs- (can’t decipher drug related from alcohol related due to coding) Most folks are 1st time offenders. If youth under 20 get a DUI it is still logged. There was a discussion around why the month of March seems to have a significant increase in DUIs as opposed to other months; spring break and St Patrick’s day? It was suggested that more prevention programming should be provided in March to address the DUI increase. The Average BAC is well over the limit. CPD is still down 11 officers and without enough officers, there is a lack of ability to enforce the law. There has been a 75% increase in DUIs lately, with 130 trauma activations (car accident, motorcycle, falls. Compare that 130 this year with 98 total last year. Suicide attempts are up by 28%, and CPD response to mental health calls is also up by 27%. This could be in correlation to the rise in awareness, but the rise in attempts is concerning. Mental health calls are hard to track though, because calls like a domestic violence report can also stem from mental health issues (ex- suicide intervention).
NCSO- Drinking limit is .08 Blood Alcohol Content (BAC), binge drinking tends to get that BAC well above the limit. One thing to keep in mind: higher BAC rates tend to go underreported due to noncompliance to submit the test. Average BAC rates are better than they were in 2018. This could be due to working with retailers to reduce overserving (TIPS training).
CNCHD- TIPS training in the community has been well received.
DFS- When Drug Endangered Children (DEC) started in June 2019, 20% of the cases in DFS appeared drug involved according to state data. Paul Fritzler reported that this data might be skewed- the real numbers are probably higher than 80%. With child displacements, drugs were involved in at least 88% of cases. 194 children are currently in placement. 163 children are currently in foster care. 29 are in some type of juvenile placement. 2089 reports of abuse or neglect have came in to the Natrona DFS office in the past year. Under 50% do not fall in to the services needed category. 169 investigations were substantiated. 285 cases were just in-home cases (no court order). It was suggested that we need more data, and a better way to collect this data. Paul would like to track what we invest into treatment and prevention. Not all counties in Wyoming helps pay for parental substance treatment and individual counseling but Natrona County DFS does. Our placements are lower than Sweetwater and Laramie county. When placement costs are high, it’s hard to invest in prevention. There is a rural impact into the state numbers as well- limited resources (such as professionals in substance treatment). Natrona DFS provides referrals to community agencies based on identified needs. Non court ordered Multi-disciplinary team (MDT) process takes 30-60 days to figure out the right fit for the client. Client time management limits are kept in mind. DFS role has become more case management (connecting clients to services). Paul expressed that we are lucky here in Natrona County to have a community that works well together. Gaps in services? Families First Act was mentioned. How do you prevent problems in the 1st place? Biggest barrier- not meeting families where they are at. Most schedules are 8-5 M-F. Case workers also struggle with feeling safe in client homes (home visiting safety issues). Mercer FRC mentioned recently discussing expanding hours to better serve families.
WMC- In the ER, DUIs may be down, but different drugs are more prevalent, especially DABS in kids. DABS have been causing hallucinations, vomiting, vomiting blood. Children are quoted saying “I did a DAB yesterday” WMC is seeing some PCP and LSD lately too. Narcotics are not as bad with teens. When looking at BACs, .300 is not abnormal in adults. .350 can be lethal. .200 can cause DTs. Suicide attempts are up 28% and getting more violent in trend (gunshot, stabbing, hanging). There have been an increase in women shooting themselves. SANE exams- 63 in the last year. On track for that this year. It’s all about the timing… a SANE exam must take place within 72 hours of a sexual assault. Most assaults the offender knows the victim. There doesn’t seem to be a strong correlation with drugs or alcohol.
Subcommittee & Strategies Report:
Ø Family and Parenting: Family day counts look like we served about 13-1500 people, roughly!
o Event update: The next meeting we will play clue in preparation for a Clue themed Family Game Night!
Ø YEC: Current initiatives- Suicide Prevention Awareness Team (SPAT)is also low on numbers, recruitment underway.
o #WYAMPLIFY event- Recruitment for YEC event at Jump Craze!
Ø 21st Century Community Learning Centers:
o Science Zone: no update
o VIBES: served 62 students this summer!!! Vibes TRIBE will be performing at David Street Station with Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband! They will perform bluegrass and rock and roll songs. Share the FB event! The school year program will include song writing, rock music on the marimbas, and learning digital music production skills. VIBES also hired a music therapist who will be working part time with the CCLC students!
Ø Community Prevention Strategies Group: Tanya Southerland and Tom Earnst from the school district joined CPSG to talk about bullying (trending down) vaping (on the rise) and the Safe 2 Tell app. Anyone can report anything from drugs to abuse to fights to suicide (really anything that may be a danger to someone) on the Safe2Tell app. The calls go to Cheyenne, and every call gets connected to someone, and gets followed up on. Urgent situations are followed up on directly. Tanya and Tom will provide NCPC with some filers and promotional give aways soon.
Monthly Member Spotlight: Kari Owen and Sarah Schnieder with the Center for Training and Development in the Contiuing Education Dept at Casper College. Discussed Americas Promise Grant (covers short term certificate programs) and the upcoming Nonprofit Directors Institute (provides 56 hours of training from industry experts). There is a $500 discount for any agency that sends a second person to the training.
Introductions &Announcements:
Present: Whitney Lamb (Mercer/NCPC Chair), Sheena Hixson (Mercer FRC-CCLC/SES/CT), Lisa Brown (Mercer FRC- Family and Parenting),Brittlyn Bulgrin (Mercer FRC- YEC/SPTF), Keri Owen (Casper College), Sarah Schnieder (Casper College), Manhattan Jejlicka (DFS), Paul Fritzler (DFS), Amanda Whistler (YCC), Pam Mann (YCC), Rebecca Albertson (DOC Probation & Parole), Grace Niemitao (CNCHD, Hailey Rodgers (CNCHD), Chief McPheeters (CPD), Susan Buettgenback (PAT), Nicole Wilson (PAT), Mary Parkinson (PAT), Chris Mahoney (WBI), Rebekah Ladd (CPD), Keith McPheeters (CPD-Chief), John Becker (NCSO), Amanda Lewallen (BBBS), Briana (BBBS), Greta Hinderliter (NCSD#1), Bill Howell (CWCC), Becky Flemming (WMC)
Announcements:
YCC- Thankful Thursday event in November
Probation/Parole- They don’t actually track if their clientele are DFS clients or not
CNCHD- Celebrating their 65th anniversary Sept 12 from 4-6pm. Coalition trainings are available Sept 24-25th Day of Prevention is October 4th 8am – 2pm at Casper College
Mercer FRC- the new Social and Emotional Skills for preteens class is up and running. Going great! The next session for Preteens will start in November. Will be using the High School version of the evidence based Too Good for Violence curriculum in Corrective Thinking. The next Corrective Thinking class begins October 2nd from 4-6:15pm. Mercer is also now teaching Corrective Thinking in NCSD’s Suspension Lab. Anger Management starts tonight (the first day of school). Strengthening Families starts next week, Nurtured Heart Approach is being implemented in the schools. Suicide prevention walk will take place Oct 14th at David Street Station.
CPD- 2nd quarter there has been an increase of 118% of injury in car crashes. CPD will be working with Rebekka Ladd to do something about it. Distracted driving is a concern, failure to yield, speeding. This year we are on a record run for number of fatalities. Seatbelts and helmets are the biggest contributing factors to this. Insurance rates will raise due to this. The application deadline for new officers is September 15. Saturday there will be a large scale emergency exercise at the Casper College- AVOID the area from 7am -2pm if possible.
NCSO- see Early Observer report
PAT- Roll and Read event to take place at the Tate Pumphouse September 14th 10am-12pm
WBI- Teenage suicide prevention packets are available. WBI can pull statistics for the packets.
CWCC- Counselors are starting school this week. Kid’s Fest will be 10am – 4pm at the Events Center.
NCSD- It’s the first day of school and there are 62 homeless youth getting connected to bus routes free lunches, etc. Youth in need have been given shoes, backpacks, etc. The schools did already have their first fight in the first 15 minutes of school being back in session. The school board changed therapy animal policies, more hoops and trainings required
WMC- See Early Observer report
BBBS- Welcome Briana! She is the new Progressive Youth coordinator. The day on the mountain was a huge hit with ATV rides, archery, etc. Progressive youth is currently doing a weekly curriculum that includes topics like sexual healthy education, healthy relationships, and general life skills. Wine tasting fundraiser and a haunted house plans are in the making. Stay tuned!