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2004 Challenge Award Winners
Winners Merit Awards Honorable Mentions
Butte County
Literacy on the Move
Contact: Nancy Brower
Library Director
1820 Mitchell Avenue
Oroville, CA 95965
Phone: 530/538-7525
E-mail: nbrower@buttecounty.net
Every team needs a good “coach,” and Butte County is no exception. The county was facing one of the highest child poverty rates in the state at 30.9 percent, combined with very low literacy levels. In response, the Butte County Library unveiled the “Literacy Coach,” a 36-foot library on wheels, which is designed to provide library services to many of the county’s hard-to-reach children and parents in outlying areas. The Butte County First 5/Children and Families Commission directed $165,000 into the vehicle, which is designed to overcome the economic, geographic, language and transportation barriers many families in Butte County face. The Literacy Coach is 36 feet long and customized with six laptop computers, training stations and a satellite Internet connection. The Literacy Coach routinely travels through low-income housing complexes, migrant labor camps, state-funded preschools and other education facilities, and offers story times, crafts, book giveaways and other school readiness activities. Other activities include computer training and parent workshops in both English and Spanish promoting literacy and learning for the whole family. Over the past year, 3,180 children and 2,083 parents/adults have taken part in a variety of services, and more than 5,400 books have been given to families to develop home libraries.
Kings County
Farm Worker Van Pools
Contact: Allison Picard
Deputy CAO
1400 Lacey Blvd.
Hanford, CA 93230
Phone: 559/582-3211
E-mail: apicard@co.kings.ca.us
Bureaucratic red tape, hard-to-get insurance coverage for drivers and thorny federal labor laws have made it a challenge for farm workers to find transportation to and from work in Kings County and the Central San Joaquin Valley region. The county is home to one of the largest agricultural workforces in the nation that supports many enterprises, ranging from fieldwork to packinghouses, and safe transportation to and from jobs is an ongoing issue, especially since a collision involving a vehicle killed 13 farm workers in 1999. Utilizing a federal Job Access Reverse Commute grant, the county developed a vanpool pilot project in Kings and Tulare counties to counter the problem. Drivers who completed a physical, drug test and had a 10-year driving history were licensed to provide transportation to workers. The counties also purchased 15 passenger vans with GPS tracking to kick-off the program. Today, more than 80 vans transport 600 farm workers daily, operated by drivers with the means to get themselves and others to work without violating existing laws. Fresno County recently joined the program as well.
Los Angeles County
Expungement Services to GROW Participants
Contact: Maria E. Del Valle
HSA I
12820 Crossroads Parkway South
City of Industry, CA 91746
Phone: 562/908-6745
E-mail: mdelvalle@ladpss.org
Many people seeking jobs are stopped in their tracks when it becomes known they have a criminal record. However, often times they may qualify for expungement of these criminal records, but are not aware of it and/or do not know the procedures. Nonprofit programs to assist such individuals abound in Los Angeles County, so it made sense to link job seekers with the various expungement programs. Individuals seeking employment who apply through the General Relief Opportunities for Work (GROW) Program now receive a handbook from their case manager outlining the qualifying criteria, how to obtain their official criminal record, an application for expungement, fee waivers and a guide to the process. Once a client qualifies, the county case manager, or one of many local community agencies, can step in to navigate the client through the expungement process. This public-private partnership costs the county nothing, and participants have received many thousands of dollars’ worth of free legal advice from such nonprofit legal organizations. As of this year, the program has referred 2,107 GROW participants for expungement.
Madera County
Picture Me Healthy
Contact: Carol Barney
Public Health Director
14215 Road 28
Madera, CA 93638
Phone: 559/675-7893
E-mail: cbarney@madera-county.com
Faced with the lowest immunization rate (28 percent) for 2-year-old children in the state, Madera County had to develop new and creative ways to educate and motivate parents to get their children immunized. Nearly three-quarters of young children were not fully immunized, leaving them vulnerable to vaccine-preventable disease. Enter the Picture Me Healthy baby photo book program. Many families served by the Public Health Department are not able to afford routine photos during their child’s first two years. Staff utilized free art material, volunteered to take the photographs, translated the materials for non-English speaking families and kept current child appointment records — all on a modest $2,000 budget. As more children received a book, which contains a page for each immunization milestone and a photo space with an appointment reminder underneath it, immunization rates continued to rise. Today, 2-year-old immunization rates are over 87 percent. Parents now look forward to clinic visits and dressing up their children in anticipation of the photo session. More importantly, for every dollar spent vaccinating against measles, mumps and rubella, $14 is saved in health care costs.
Napa County
Using GIS to Create a Special District
Contact: Mary Jean McLaughlin
Public Information Officer
1195 Third Street, Room 310
Napa, CA 94559
Phone: 707/253-4111
E-mail: mmclaugh@co.napa.ca.us
In 2002, Napa County and the Napa County Housing Authority faced a major challenge in its quest to provide additional housing for farm workers to support the county’s grape industry. At issue: A two-week deadline loomed to submit formalized plans describing the necessary boundaries or proposed housing, as required by the California State Board of Equalization. But local surveying companies were unable to take the project for up to six months to a year, and would charge the county $50,000 for the work. Fortunately, the county had embraced Geographical Information System (GIS) technology in previous years and was able to use the robust GIS data to provide the proper plans. But first, the county had to convince the State Board of Equalization to accept an electronic description of the property and boundaries without field survey work, and was successful in doing so. The project was completed in one day, allowing the county to collect $340,000 in revenue assessments on the new service area, and saved the county $50,000 in surveying costs. The savings paid for 45 percent of farm worker housing expenses and allowed the county to add 60 more beds in 2003.
Sacramento County
Food Safety Education for Restaurants
Contact: Richard Sanchez
Chief
8475 Jackson Road, Suite 240
Sacramento, CA 95826
Phone: 916/875-8440
E-mail: sanchezri@saccounty.net
The Centers for Disease Control estimates that approximately 75 million cases of food-borne illness occur in the United States every year. In 2003, Sacramento County fielded 659 complaints associated with food-borne illnesses. To solve this problem, the county unveiled a Food Service Education course that same year, making it the first mandatory training program in the state for establishments cited for repeated food handling offenses. The program, administered by the Environmental Management Department, presents a hands-on, interactive classroom training that focuses on how and why food-borne illnesses occur and the important role the food handler plays in prevention. The two-and-a-half hour course covers the basic principles of food safety while focusing on preventive and reactive action. Participants are tested at the end of each class and receive certificates of completion. The program, which is taught in both English and Spanish, pays for itself through a $20 registration fee per person. Since its inception, 60 restaurants have participated in educating their food service staff. The Food Service Education course is a valuable tool for restaurants in the fight against food-borne illness, while at the same time assuring patrons that safe food is being served in Sacramento restaurants.
San Diego County
Risk Mitigation & Litigation Program
Contact: John Sansone
County Counsel
1600 Pacific Highway
San Diego, CA 92101
Phone: 619/531-4847
E-mail: john.sansone@sdcounty.ca.gov
For the past several years, San Diego County has worked aggressively to reduce the amount of taxpayer dollars spent as a result of lawsuits filed against the county. Prior to 2001–2002, the county’s litigation payments averaged $6.5 million. The County Counsel’s office figured out that a way to reduce the risk of litigation is to educate workers on the legal aspects of their duties and train them to mitigate or eliminate risk, which in turn reduces the county’s potential liability. The Risk Mitigation and Litigation Program engaged all parts of the county workforce in a comprehensive series of multidisciplinary activities, including forming groups to discover new ways to reduce exposure. The program has paid off: From July 2002 through December 2003, taxpayers were saved an estimated $469 million in potential liabilities from court victories in 142 of 146 cases. Since 2001–2002, the program has reduced litigation payments to an average of $3.1 million, nearly a 50 percent reduction when compared to 1995–2001. Perhaps more importantly, although difficult to quantify, is the number of lawsuits avoided due to the success of the training and education programs teaching county employees to perform their jobs in a safe, efficient, effective and legal manner.
Solano County
County Medical Services Program Managed Care Pilot
Contact: Moira Sullivan
Assistant Director
275 Beck Avenue
Fairfield, CA 94533
Phone: 707/784-8401
E-mail: msullivan@solanocounty.com
When the State of California transferred responsibility for medically indigent adults to county government more than 20 years ago, it particularly strained the budgets of smaller counties. By 1999, about 50 percent of $12.6 million in hospital costs for treating medically indigent adults in Solano County was spent on only 129 patients. To control costs and expand services to indigents, small counties joined together and the County Medical Services Program (CMSP) Managed Care Pilot program was created. Working off the MediCal program model, Solano County designed a program to negotiate rates with local hospitals and created a “risk pool” for local health care providers who volunteered to join the program. Providers in the program share in any year-end savings, a model that encourages doctors to promote preventive and less expensive health care services. Results of the pilot program were compelling: Hospital days for medically indigent adults have been reduced by 13 percent, hospital reimbursements have decreased by $1.4 million, and the cost per member per month has remained steady at $318. Due to the success of this model, the CMSP Governing Board expanded the program to 34 counties in 2004.
Stanislaus County
Camp ALWAYS — A Life With Adoption Yields Success
Contact: Sharon Schuchert
Social Worker IV
P.O. Box 42
Modesto, CA 95353
Phone: 209/558-2197
E-mail: schucs@mail.co.stanislaus.ca.us
Bringing new adoptive families closer together is a goal in Stanislaus County. In 2001, the county and various community service groups first offered a five-day “family camp” designed to expand post-adoption support services to families. This first camp served 86 campers free of charge. The county understood that when support systems are made available and utilized by adoptive families, placement disruption and the need for costly out-of-home care and treatments are less likely to occur. The camp was created through a public-private partnership involving the Community Services Agency and the Adopt A Special Kid program, and the site for the event was provided by the U.C. Berkeley Alumni Association’s Lair of the Golden Bear. The camp is paid for with $35,000 from the Promoting Safe and Stable Families program. Response was encouraging, as new adoptive families participated in various activities ranging from entertainment, education and social networking. The program, now offered annually, provides an affordable, value-based family camping experience with nominal cost to the county, and helps ensure that communication skills are learned and practiced for new adoptive families. In fact, many of the families who attended the first camp in 2001 are now repeat campers.
Yolo County
Yolo County Patient Assistance Program
Contact: Lynn Bramwell
Program Coordinator
10 Cottonwood Street
Woodland, CA 95695
Phone: 530/666-8645
E-mail: lynn.bramwell@yolocounty.org
Yolo County faced a dual challenge: to save indigent mental health services threatened with closure due to budget cuts; and spend less on indigent patient primary care while expanding access to quality, brand name prescription medication for patients. The county’s goal was to generate cost savings while simultaneously providing better service. Enter the Patient Assistance Program, a public-private partnership comprised of retail pharmaceutical companies, Raley’s supermarkets, nonprofit stakeholder groups and various county health services departments. The county hired an analyst to enroll patients and utilize several different programs to ensure the patient’s access to the highest quality prescription medication possible. The program initially cost $91,300, but it covered its expenses and netted the county and its health care contractor nearly $400,000 in savings in its first year. Together, the consortium has not only kept the mental health program from being cut, it has also saved the county $1.5 million since its inception. Now, patients receive higher quality medication and care because analysts in the program are able to pick from a variety of companies offering the approved medication, often at reduced prices.
Mailing Address: 1100 K Street, Ste. 101, Sacramento, CA 95814 - Phone: 916-327-7500
