California Health Collaborative

Tobacco Programs - The San Bernardino County Tobacco Control Program works to reduce underage youth access to tobacco products and to limit secondhand and thirdhand smoke exposure in outdoor public areas. Through the funding of two subcontracts, the program continued strengthening its community outreach in the City of Victorville and the Town of Apple Valley. Data was collected in Apple Valley to assess youth access to tobacco in the retail environment and the program hosted a number of local community events. In addition, program staff continued tobacco education and outreach efforts in the valley region of the county.Diabetes Education programs continue to provide both in person and virtual group education models, instructing on healthy eating, weight management, exercise, and stress management. CHC is in discussion with Kaiser around a proposal to begin implementing diabetes education programs for Kaisers systems. The Regional Advocates Countering Tobacco (ReACT) Project supported youth-led tobacco prevention advocacy in Sanger, Corcoran, and Parlier through media campaigns, policy training sessions, and the annual Youth Leadership Summit. The project engaged 123 youth, significantly increasing youth involvement and broadening outreach. In addition, ReACT organized educational town halls on tobacco-related issues, hosted a webinar on the equitable enforcement of tobacco-free outdoor areas, and participated in multiple community events to share information and resources. These efforts allowed staff to raise awareness about the accessibility of tobacco products near schools and emphasize the importance of reducing secondhand smoke exposure in public parks.The Kings County Tobacco Control Program is conducting policy campaigns in the Cities of Avenal and Lemoore to reduce youth access to tobacco products and reduce exposure to secondhand smoke in common outdoor recreational and non-recreational areas. On August 15, 2023, the City of Lemoore City Council adopted a Smoke-Free Parks and Recreation Ordinance that prohibits the use of any tobacco related products in any public park or recreational area. In the fall of 2023, program staff and one Kings County Tobacco Free Coalition member met with an Avenal city leader to discuss updates on the Tobacco Retail License Campaign in response to the city council's and the communitys interest in a Tobacco Retail License.FUERTE Project advanced tobacco prevention efforts in La Quinta and Palm Desert through targeted outreach, youth engagement, and community collaboration. The team completed key training and presentation benchmarks focused on young adults, launched its first wave of decoy operations, and conducted public opinion polling to inform local prevention strategies. FUERTE partnered with over 10 agencies. The project also initiated efforts to onboard a Medical Health Academy student intern, reinforcing its commitment to developing future public health leaders. The NorCal 4 Health project is dedicated to tobacco prevention in the rural coastal counties of Northern California: Del Norte, Humboldt, Mendocino, and Lake. During the 20232024 year, the project celebrated several key accomplishments. It hosted the Born to Breathe Youth Media Festival, a four-county event that amplified youth voices in tobacco prevention. Building on that momentum, a video featuring youth perspectives was created and presented to elected officials in three jurisdictions in Lake County. These efforts, combined with the collaborative support of Lake County Public Health, Blue Zones, and other key community partners, contributed to the successful passage of three Tobacco Retail License Ordinances in Lake County.The Rural Empowerment, Advocacy, and Leadership (REAL) Project is focused on addressing tobacco-related health inequities among rural community members in the City of Atwater (Merced County). This is achieved through the projects policy campaign that seeks to reduce exposure to secondhand smoke for tenants living in multi-unit housing (MUH) complexes by engaging community members in advocacy efforts. In FY 2023/2024, the program was successful in recruiting community partners to assist with strategic planning, conducting key informant interviews with city officials, and developing a community grants giving project.

Medi-Cal Services (CalAIM and MSSP) - MSSP continued to provide invaluable and essential services and oversight for low-income participants serving the six counties of El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo, and Yuba for MSSP . The program worked with nearly 500 participants to continue living in the comfort of their own home. Plus the counties of Fresno, Kings, Madera, Nevada, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Tuolumne, and Kern for CalAIM. In the past year, CalAIM has been actively pursuing additional grants to leverage integration across the agency, partnering with Maternal Wellness, Tobacco, and DEI on a variety of projects. In addition, CalAIM, MSSP, and Maternal Wellness have been working closely to develop an integrated care management program approach through the integration of assessment tools, shared trainings, a combined management approach, a combined SharePoint platform, and shared metrics, and will continue developing relationships and strategies to ensure program growth and sustainability.Achieved qualified provider account status with MediCal in the PAVE System us to deploy and bill for CHW Service Benefit Programs Obtained DHCS Funding support to train 40+ CHC staff as Certified CHWs, which is required for billable CHW services. CHW Training also includes a Train-The-Trainer program so that CHC can independently train and certify CHWs internally and externally.