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SCRATCH Meeting Minutes
March 11, 2015
Welcome and Introductions
Old Business
Meeting with Congressman Lobiondo Cory, Beth, and Gloria attended the meeting with Congressman Lobiondo and his aide. The meeting was
about 15 minutes long, but a lot was accomplished in those 15 minutes. A SCRATCH packet was given to the
Congressman Lobiondo, acknowledging the achievements that SCRATCH has made over the years. The
Congressman was very impressed with SCRATCH’s accomplishments. Congressman Lobiondo extended an
invitation to SCRATCH to participate in upcoming speaking events. The congressman’s aide stated that the
congressman had worked with the SWC about 7 years ago, so he is familiar with the agency and the coalition.
His aide also mentioned that he had seen The Southwest Council billboards about the dangers of legalizing
marijuana. This is the 3rd
meeting with local politicians that Cory and SCRATCH members have attended.
Pennsville Guidance and Nursing In-service Presentation
Don Palmucci from Pennsville School District invited Cory to speak at an upcoming inservice day for
nurses and guidance counselors. About 12 guidance counselors and nurses attended the presentation. Cory
presented about marijuana along with a brief presentation about the SCRATCH Coalition. The presentation was
well received. A survey about the marijuana presentation for data collection was given to the attendees. Kristen
Sacova, a member of the SCRATCH coalition, has been helpful with scheduling Cory to present at Drug Court in
Bridgeton. Cory will be going back to Drug Court about every four months to present. If any members hear of any
opportunities with school districts or the community to present, please contact Cory.
Funeral Home Policy Project Update
An article titled “Funeral Homes Lead Drug Efforts” made the front page of the South Jersey Times
Gloucester County edition on March 2nd. Also listed in the article were drop box locations for Gloucester and
Camden counties. Several funeral home directors were interviewed along with Cory about the funeral homes
taking on a new approach to help educate the community on proper disposal of prescription medication. Efforts
are still ongoing. Currently 12 out of about 30 funeral homes participated throughout the region. SCRATCH is
satisfied with the success thus far. Great progress has been made in the last 3 months. Cory followed up with a
letter to the editor naming the funeral homes that are joining in the effort. We can now use this information to
encourage other funeral homes to participate in this project.
Salem County Chamber of Commerce Mixer
Gloria and Cory were slated to attend a Salem County Chamber of Commerce mixer event in February,
but due to illness were unable to attend. They will be attending a similar event March 20 instead.
Prom Initiatives The Coalition is making great strides with the prom initiative. As prom season is fast approaching
SCRATCH would like to get the word out to parents about the Parents Who Host Lose the Most campaign. Last
year SCRATCH made great efforts to distribute the informational cards in Salem/Cumberland counties to make
parents aware of the penalties of hosting underage drinking parties. SCRATCH has started a new initiative with
the community targeting Pennsville Memorial High School. The Parents Who Host Lose the Most cards will be
sent out to all students through the school. One the back of the card will be a link to a survey with the key
informant interview questions about underage drinking. In exchange for parents completing the survey, they can
enter their child in a drawing to win a free tux, hair style, boutonniere or corsage. The Pennsville Memorial High
School principal agreed to circulate the prom card. Pennsville community businesses have also agreed to donate
flowers, hair styles, and a tuxedo. The drawing will be held about one month before the prom. This is a way to get
the information out to parents and to collect data at the same time. Pennsville High School will participate and
Ford Flower Shop in Pennsville will participate, donating a boutonniere and a corsage. We are also looking to get
a hair style and tuxedo donated. Cory is also talking with Jim’s Formalwear for a tux rental.
Coalition members also added that maybe we could get in contact with religious leaders such as Pastor
Ben Ocascio at Rock of Salvation Church to get some information put on radio shows about the dangers of
underage drinking.
Health Week at Cumberland County College Jessica from CCHCC has been collaborating with the Director of Student Activities at the Cumberland
County College, along with SCRATCH and the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office. The CCHCC was
planning on participating in their health week by doing presentations about prescription drug abuse. Due to low
participation from college professors, the CCHCC was unable to do the presentations during health week, but will
participate in Spring Fling in the spring. SCRATCH will also be tabling at the event.
Prescription Monitoring Program Training The coalition, along with Inspira and the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office, is planning a training
about the NJ Prescription Monitoring Program April 21 at the Cumberland County College. Cory was approached
by a Coordinator for Nurses with Inspira at a recent meeting saying that she could coordinate continuing
education credits for nurses. The flyer was updated to include the education credits for nurses. An updated flyer
was passed out to members with the updated information about the program offering 1 CE for nurses and one
AMA PRA Category 1 credit for physicians. The updated flyer will emailed to all members. Theo from Inspira
sent the flyer out to office managers at Inspira.
PRIDE Outreach This year middle schools will be targeted for the PRIDE survey. Three weeks ago Cory sent out the
PRIDE survey packets to principals of all middle schools in Salem County. It’s important to get approval before
the summer break.Ideally, permission slips will get sent out in the back to school packet. The main obstables of
administering the PRIDE survey in the past have been getting permission from the principals and getting parental
consent for students to participate. Cory has not heard anything back from schools from the initial mailing thus
far. The next step is to send a packet about the PRIDE survey to guidance counselors and SAC counselors and
contact school-based programs. Even though is not written into the SCRATCH grant that we administer the
survey, it is valuable data to prove that programs are needed.
Key Informant Interviews Members of the coalition have been asked to repeat the task of performing key informant interviews about
every four months. Alice used her pastor as her key informant. She found his responses interesting. Cory
explained to members that anyone that works or lives within the community can be a key informant and
interviewed. Cory will be attending Drug Court on Friday in Bridgeton to conduct a listening session and to give
the key informant questionnaire aloud. Another call will sent out to members to conduct another call for key
informant interviews. Cory thanked all members for their participation and their submissions thus far.
New Business Getting to know SCRATCH Members: Beth Thomas, Cumberland County Health Department
Beth spoke about what the County Health Department offers to families in the community. Beth deals
with Special Child health services from the ages birth to 21. The agency also has a hearing aid program,
prescription and pulmonary programs. Even children who are not citizens can benefit from some of the programs.
The department received a grant to reach out to families that have been affected by Super Storm Sandy. Beth
handed out booklets and brochures to members. The grant will be ending in June. Cory offered to hand out
information for the health department at upcoming health fairs and events.
Meeting with Assemblyman Andrzejczak
The meeting has been rescheduled for Tuesday March 17th in the Cape May Courthouse. This meeting is
part of a continued effort by the coalition to get better known with stakeholders in the region. Meetings with
legislators are brief, about 15 minutes, and a great opportunity to share all of our efforts and successes. Members
are asked to email Cory if they are interested in attending the meeting.
SHOP questionnaire and PFS Gloria asked members to again have the seniors take the prescription drug survey. She also handed out
posters on how to properly dispose of unwanted prescription medications. She is in the process of planning a
military conference in the summer. She will update us on developments with the conference at the next meeting.
Gloria thanked members for their participation in the prescription drug survey.
Member Roundtable Theodora Isekenegbe (Inspira): Theo passed out flyers for upcoming focus groups in Salem, Cumberland and
Gloucester Counties. The goal is to have as many community members attend as possible.
Jessica Kanady (The Southwest Council): Millville is getting a prescription drug box and Carney’s Point is on
the waiting list to receive their drop box.
Chelsea Welch (City of Vineland Health Department): Home Depot is hosting its annual car show on June 20th
from 11am to 2pm. Contact Chelsea at cwelch@vinelandcity.org to be put in contact with Home Depot about
tabling at the event.
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