TOBACCO PREVENTION

Youth Tobacco Prevention Program: Oregon has the highest sales to minors in the nation, in fact 22.5% of Oregon retailers illegally sold to minors in 2013. Upstream, and partners, conducted a comprehensive tobacco retail assessment of 528 retailers in Multnomah County to learn more about how tobacco products are promoted and sold in the community. Requiring retailers to have licenses would result in curbing youth tobacco access and use. Oregon is one of only 11 states in the US that does not have a retail licensing ordinance or laws.

Multnomah County E-Cigarette Ordinance passed! Upstream, and partners, participated in multiple briefings and hearings to set an age restriction of 18 on the use of e-cigarettes, and to restrict the use of e-cigs in bars, restaurants, and other workplaces. The County Commission voted in favor of both polices in March 2015 and then they were passed as statewide policies by the Oregon legislature in May 2015.

Tobacco Policies Upstream is supporting:• House Bill 2546 - Prohibits sale, distribution and minor

possession of e-cigarettes as well as bans use indoors. • Senate Bill 417 - Requires all tobacco retailers statewide

to be licensed by OLCC (Upstream’s retail assessment will be used to make a case for this statewide policy).

• House Bill 5039 - Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement funding (TMSA) allocation – Advocating for $13 million of settlement to go towards statewide tobacco prevention, physical education grants and healthy communities.

• House Bill 2555 - Increases state-wide cigarette tax.• Senate Bill 415 - Prohibits distribution, selling or

allowing to be sold, flavored tobacco products in Oregon.

Summary of Upstream Public Health’s 2015 Policy and Program Goals

UPSTREAM’S CHILDREN’S HEALTH INITIATIVES

bold ideasinnovative policies

smart action

SCHOOL HEALTH & NUTRITION Ban Junk Food Marketing in Schools: In 2007, Upstream led a coalition of partners to successfully ban the sale of junk food in Oregon schools. That means no soda, monster cookies, or candy bars in school cafeterias, student stores or vending machines. However, companies have used a loophole in the law to still have a presence in schools -- through marketing.

Junk food companies spend nearly $2 billion dollars each year advertising to kids, mostly promoting unhealthy foods. Some of that marketing currently happens in schools. Advertisements in the halls and in classrooms are still tempting kids to crave unhealthy foods. These ads are undercutting our investments in healthier foods and our attempts to instill healthy food habits in our kids.

Upstream proposes that if a food cannot be sold in Oregon schools, it shouldn’t be advertised there, either. HB 3363 would align marketing standards to existing nutrition standards for what foods and beverages can be sold in schools.

Strengthening Farm to School & School Gardens (F2S): Over 80% of Oregon’s children don’t eat the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables. Since 2007, Upstream has been leading the push to bring Farm to School and School Garden Programs to Oregon. We successfully advocated for a pilot program in 2011 and expanded the program in 2013 so that 170,000 kids in 19 school districts throughout Oregon are now benefiting. F2S initiatives start with two simple ideas of bringing local, “farm fresh” food to school lunches and teaching kids about where our food comes from through establishment of school teaching gardens. In 2015 Upstream and partners are advocating for 5 million dollars so that thousands more kids in Oregon have access to farm fresh school lunches and access to school teaching gardens (HB 2721).

Upstream also coordinated the 2nd Annual School Garden Summit in January 2015 that was attended by over 300 teachers, school administrators and volunteers from around the state. They gathered to learn, network with one another, and improve their school gardens.

DENTAL HEALTH

Upstream supports HB 2021 – Funding for a pilot project that requires Oregon schools to provide fluoride varnish and dental health education for K-12 students. And HB 2024 is about certifying certain health workers to provide, and get reimbursed for, early childhood basic preventive dental services.

Upstream’s Early Childhood Dental Wellness Initiative: Over 50% of kids already have a cavity by 3rd grade and 40% of kids under the age of two drink a soda or more a week. Upstream is working to establish a successful dental health pilot program that includes providing dental health screenings and services within licensed childcare facilities located in the Tri-County area.

Over the next two years, Upstream Public Health will be working with 60+ childcare centers serving 3,500 low-income children ages six months to five years old who are enrolled in licensed childcare programs. We will target those childcare centers that have at least 50% of their recipients living at < 200% of poverty or below and/or are receiving state assistance. Services will be offered to children right within childcare centers and will include:• Screenings, varnishes, and tooth brushing, and

other best practice recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry.

• We will also educate childcare staff and thousands of parents on the importance of dental care and on the negative impact of sugar-sweetened beverages, which are a major cause of tooth decay.

UPSTREAM’S CHILDREN’S HEALTH INITIATIVES (continued)

2

UPSTREAM’S OTHER INITIATIVES

At the end of the project’s second year (December 2016) Upstream will present evaluation results to legislators and local policy makers as evidence of the pilot’s success so that a policy can be passed that requires this dental program to be implemented in all licensed childcare centers located in the Tri-County area and eventually the entire state.

HEALTHY TRANSPORTATION

Upstream wants to make sure that Oregon has healthy transportation options for everyone, especially those in underserved communities. Oregon currently faces over a $100 million shortfall in transportation funding which means less money for walking, biking and public transit. We will be advocating, together with our partners, to make sure that Oregon has healthy transportation options like reduced-cost transit passes available for thousands of Oregon youth and improved transit service and bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure near schools.

Specifically, we are working to pass HB 2979 the Youth Transit Initiative, which would provide high-school-aged youth with better access to transit so they can reach educational, extracurricular and employment opportunities. This bill will fund free, or reduced-fare, transit passes for students attending public secondary schools and increased transit service in the vicinity of public secondary schools.

Within the next 3-5 years, TriMet will construct and begin service on the Powell Division High Capacity Transit corridor. This new Bus Rapid Transit line will run from downtown Portland, past downtown

3

Gresham, connecting PSU, Portland Community College, Mount Hood Community College, and a dozen secondary schools located a mile or less from the improved transit service.

We are working to improve transportation & health outcomes for dialysis patients in the tri-county area and securing dedicated Safe Routes to School funding in the Portland metro area.

OREGON HEALTH EQUITY ALLIANCE (OHEA)

Upstream is on the Steering Committee for OHEA which is a coalition comprised of culturally diverse social justice organizations that are committed to improving health and wellbeing by using community-driven strategies to promote education, advocacy, and policy change.

OHEA: 2015 Policy Priorities • Health Care for All Children HB 3517– Ensure

ALL children have a healthy start in life.• Basic Health Plan HB 2934 – Health care for all

including currently ineligible legal permanent residents.

• Comprehensive Women’s Health SB 894 – Fill gaps in Oregon law that disproportionately impact minority women.

• Paid Sick Time SB 454– Law that would allow Oregonians to earn sick time while working.

• End Profiling HB 2002 – Laws protecting minorities in regards to searching, stopping and questioning them.

• Ban the Box HB 3025 - This bill will help create fair chances for all people with previous arrests or conviction records to compete for jobs

• Ban Junk Food Marketing in Schools HB 3363 – See School Nutrition section.

HEALTH IMPACT ASSESSMENTS

Upstream conducts health impact assessments to look at how people’s health will be affected by proposed policy and project decisions. Included in these assessments are ways to minimize harm and maximize health benefits. HIAs inform what policies we advocate for, create, or ask to be revised to improve population health.

Upstream is currently conducting a Health Equity Impact Assessment that would look at health, social and economic equity impacts of a potential tobacco retail license in Multnomah County; the policy is a public health best practice.

We are working with national partners to develop a screening tool for Health In All Policy projects in order to help health practitioners understand how to complete their work based on HIA values

Chronic AbsenteeismWe know that nearly one in four children in Oregon are missing a month or more of school each year. This is one of the highest rates in the nation. Chronic absenteeism affects performance and achievement, which results in lower graduation rates and higher dropout rates.

Upstream is currently looking for funding to conduct a research project that will help us understand how public health professionals and community organizations can help schools address child health issues and best prevent students from dropping off the trajectory toward success because of chronic absenteeism.

UPSTREAM’S OTHER INITIATIVES (continued)

240 N. Broadway, Suite 214Portland, OR 97227

503.284.6390 www.upstreampublichealth.org

4