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13 <br /> <br />Quintana Stewart said she has submitted a report for the Board’s review, and briefly <br />discussed the following: <br />• Successfully filled the Board of Health Strategic Plan Manager vacant position (Beverly <br />Scurry) <br />• Successfully recruited, interviewed and selected a new Board of Health representative <br />(Bruce Baldwin, Johanna Birckmayer, Jennifer Deyo) <br />• The Board was very pleased with their ability to use their community project support <br />fund, and were able to support two staff members from the Orange County School <br />system to attend the action based learning kinesthetic classroom national workshop. <br /> <br />Concerns and Emerging Issues <br />• The Board plans to continue to focus on social determinants of health in the coming <br />year, including working with the Family Success Alliance (FSA). <br />• The Board will monitor and continue to work on mental health and substance abuse, <br />especially the opioid crisis. <br />• The Board is planning a community forum to facilitate the drinking water fluoridation <br />topic, as requested by OWASA last fall. <br /> <br />Commissioner Burroughs said Commissioner Rich previously asked about vaping, and <br />asked if there was a timeline for the BOH response to this issue. <br />Quintana Stewart said a draft policy has been completed, and the BOH is currently <br />waiting and doing a political scan. She said the BOH is scheduled to talk about it next month. <br />Commissioner Rich asked if the Health Department can start communicating to high <br />school kids that vaping is not something they should be doing, and warning them of the <br />dangers. <br />Quintana Stewart said there is a senior educator who presents at the schools, and it <br />would be wise to garner more partnerships with the school systems. <br />Commissioner Rich asked if there have been lessons from the Family Success Alliance, <br />and, if so, are those lessons being applied to the rest of the County. <br />Quintana Stewart said some best practices have been developed through the work of <br />the FSA. She said the FSA is beginning its strategic planning process, which will include <br />discussions about spreading the work out beyond the FSA zones. She said this process has <br />yet to be determined specifically. <br />Chair Dorosin said he heard of a statewide report on children, and Orange County <br />scored very well in many categories, but scored poorly on low birth weight babies. <br />Quintana Stewart said she will research this report, and some of their case management <br />programs do work with these clients through pregnancy and infancy. She said determinants of <br />health definitely affect birth weights. <br />Commissioner Price said it could have come from the North Carolina Association of <br />County Commissioners (NCACC), who compiles data from around the state. <br />Commissioner Rich asked if the Health Department is doing a better job of handling <br />undocumented residents and refugees who may be fearful of approaching the department, <br />despite needing help. <br />Quintana Stewart said the Interpreter Supervisor is doing very well at keeping the <br />Department in touch with the immigrant population, and a message of welcome and safety is <br />repeated to these groups; however, missed appointments have increased. <br /> <br />• Board of Social Services: Tamara Dempsey-Tanner, Chair/Lindsey Shewmaker, DSS <br />Unit Manager <br />Tamara Dempsey-Tanner reviewed the following information: