Virginia Department of Health
Division of Injury & Violence Prevention News
November 30, 2006

The Division of Injury & Violence Prevention's (DIVP) E-Newsletter
provides an update of events, news, and developments in injury and
violence prevention. Most items are linked to websites, including the
VDH website, for more detail.

Calendar Notes
¨ Nurturing Healthy Sexual Development™/A Program of Prevent
Child Abuse Vermont
Thursday, December 7, 2006, 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM in Harrisonburg, VA

The Nurturing Healthy Sexual Development training helps participants
better understand the sexual development of children, and how to
respond to children's sexual behaviors and questions in ways that
promote healthy development. This training also recognizes that a
crucial component of nurturing healthy sexual development is
protecting children from sexual abuse. Participants will gain an
understanding of the scope of child sexual abuse and the relationship
between healthy sexuality and child sexual abuse prevention. This
training is a prerequisite to the Care For Kids training.
¨ Care For Kids/Early Childhood Healthy Sexuality Education &
Abuse Prevention Program
Friday, December 8, 2006, 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM in Harrisonburg, VA

The Care For Kids program prepares early childhood educators and other
adults to be proactive in preventing child sexual abuse through
healthy sexuality education. Care For Kids is a comprehensive,
community-based approach to prevention that provides early childhood
educators, parents and other professionals with information,
materials, and resources to communicate positive messages about
healthy sexuality to young children. Training participants will learn
how to implement the program in their community and provide workshops
for local childcare providers to teach the Care For Kids children's
curriculum. Childcare providers will be certified to teach this
curriculum after completing the training.

These trainings are sponsored by Citizens Against Sexual Assault
(CASA) in Harrisonburg, VA. Visit http://www.casaonline.net or more
information about the trainings and to download the registration form.
You may also contact CASA at (540)434-2272 or stritea@....
Registrations are due Thursday, November 30th, but will be extended
for VDH electronic newsletter readers to Friday, December 1st.

News and Information
¨ Two Organizations Awarded Get Alarmed, Virginia! Grants
Using funding from a cooperative agreement from the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, two organizations received awards to
implement the Virginia Department of Health, Division of Injury and
Violence Prevention's Get Alarmed, Virginia! smoke alarm installation
and fire safety education program for 2006/2007. The Appalachian
Agency for Senior Citizens and Stafford County Department of Fire and
Rescue each will receive $45,000 to implement projects in their local
communities between November 1, 2006 and September 29, 2007.

Stafford County Department of Fire and Rescue, located 40 miles south
of Washington, D.C., will canvass pre-1980 constructed townhouse
communities, mobile home parks, and converted motels throughout the
County and ensure that these homes have working smoke detectors and a
fire escape plan. As part of their project, Stafford County will also
target low income Hispanic households who have traditionally been left
out of community-based injury prevention projects.

The Appalachian Agency for Senior Citizens is a non-profit corporation
and the designated area agency of aging serving four rural counties in
southwestern Virginia; Buchanan, Dickenson, Russell and Tazewell.
Agency staff will by referral and appointment install smoke detectors
and provide fire safety education for their clients (seniors) and
among low income households with children ages 4 and under.

Both organizations will rely on their Fire Safety Coalitions, the
Virginia Department of Fire Programs, and the Division of Injury and
Violence Prevention to effectively market their projects to target
audiences; recruit participants; and implement and evaluate their
projects throughout the year. Approximately 1,195 combined households
will be recruited and 3,187 detectors will be installed. Learn more at
http://www.vahealth.org/civp/fire/getalarmedva.asp

¨ Over 1100 Youth Show Increased Knowledge of Water Safety
Through a competitive grant awarded by the Virginia Department of
Health, Division of Injury and Violence Prevention, SAFE Kids of the
Central Shenandoah Valley developed and implemented a water safety
project to reduce the risk of drowning among children 14 and under in
Harrisonburg and Rockingham Counties. The SAFE Kids Splash into Water
Safety project occurred between January 2006 and September 30, 2006
and was able to reach at-risk youth and their parents in a variety of
ways. SAFE Kids implemented school and community – based educational
activities throughout the year that included the following:
o 45 youth between the ages of 3-14 completed swimming lessons
o 660 students participated in one or more Risk Watch water
safety lessons
o 1,100 youth and 400 parents received water safety education
at various community-level events (April Pools Day, the International
Festival and Rockingham County Fair)
o 7 display boards were created in English, Spanish, and
Russian and were prominently placed in highly visible areas at public
and private agencies and businesses in the community
o SAFE Kids translated two water safety tips information cards
into Russian in order to target this growing population.
o Age appropriate pre and post surveys were developed by SAFE
Kids and completed by project participants in order to measure any
increase in water safety knowledge and behavior.

SAFE Kids of the Central Shenandoah Valley will continue the Splash
into Water Safety project in subsequent years and they will compare
pre and post-survey data regularly in order to ensure that their water
safety educational activities and interventions are having a positive
and measurable impact in their community. For more information about
this project, please contact Ms. Cynthia Reeves at creeves@....
To learn about the other projects funded by DIVP during 2005-2006,
visit the Division's Local Community Injury Prevention Projects Web
page at http://www.vahealth.org/civp/community/index.asp.

¨ VDH Sponsors the First Train-the-Trainer on Health Care
Response to Intimate Partner Violence
On September 20, 2006, the Virginia Department of Health's Division &
Injury & Violence Prevention (DIVP) sponsored Virginia's first
statewide train-the-trainer on health care response to intimate
partner violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. The morning session
featured Dr. Jacquelyn Campbell of the Johns Hopkins University School
of Nursing. Dr. Campbell, whose research on intimate partner violence
has been published in a number of medical/health journals, gave a
keynote presentation on assessing lethality in domestic violence
cases. In the afternoon, 75 participants, including health care
providers, advocates, and social workers, attended workshops to teach
them how to use the RADAR curricula to instruct other professionals on
how to identify, assess, and manage victims of intimate partner
violence (IPV) in the health care setting. With this cadre of
certified trainers from various parts of the Commonwealth, information
and resources will be disseminated and shared with providers more
rapidly than before and providers will be better enabled to respond to
the needs of patients experiencing abuse from a partner.

For information about certified trainers in your community and/or to
request a workshop on IPV for your local health care providers,
contact Laurie Crawford, Medical Outreach Coordinator, at 804-864-7705
or laurie.crawford@....

¨ Violence Prevention Resources for Health Care Providers
The Virginia Department of Health's Division of Injury & Violence
Prevention has developed and made available a number of violence
prevention resources specific to the health care setting. In addition
to "F.I.S.T.S" cards, small and user-friendly tools to help providers
assess their patients' risk for youth violence, DIVP has a number of
resources to help providers better identify and respond to patients
experiencing domestic violence. These include: educational manuals,
posters, pocket cards, buttons, and resource cards for patient
waiting/examination rooms. To find out what resources are available
and/or download an order form for materials, go to
www.vahealth.org/civp/projectradarva/resources.asp

¨ The New National Consortium of School Violence Prevention
Researchers and Practitioners Issues a Position Statement on School
Shootings. This position statement has been endorsed by a large number
of national organizations and will be widely publicized in the news
media in the coming weeks. The statement is brief and can be
downloaded from the website www.ncsvprp.org.

¨ The Home Safety Council Helps Elementary Students Prepare for
Unexpected Emergencies
The Home Safety Council is introducing a new home safety education
program designed to help children learn how to work with their
families to prepare for unexpected emergencies. Produced in
partnership with the leading education publisher, Weekly Reader, Get
Ready with Freddie! has been distributed to more than 75,000
classrooms nationwide, free of charge.
http://homesafetycouncil.org/home/home_jan06_w002.aspx

¨ Teen Dating Violence, How Schools Can Help

The Virginia Child Protection Newsletter is sponsored by the Virginia
Department of Social Services and edited by Joann Grayson at James
Madison University. Volume 78 is titled Teen Dating Violence How
Schools Can Help. It is a 16 page newsletter dedicated to the subject
in Virginia. It is available for download at
http://psychweb.cisat.jmu.edu/graysojh/ (click on current issue)

Some of the other relevant topics in the back issues are:
- Volume 77 Maltreatment and Its Effects on Early Brain Development
- Volume 76 Sexual Abuse by Educators and School Staff
- Volume 75 Bullying in Schools
- Volume 74 Virginia Unveils Prevention Plan!
- Volume 71 Prevention: Best Practices
- Volume 68 Internet Crime Against Children

You may request a hard copy to be mailed to you free of charge also at
the site.

¨ Local Suicide Prevention Coalitions Continue to Emerge
The establishment of local suicide prevention coalitions is seen as
one of the best ways to ensure the continuation of suicide prevention
initiatives in communities. To date, five such coalitions have been
established: The Coalition for a Healthy Culpeper, The Bedford-based
Suicide Prevention Awareness, & Education (S.P.A.R.E.) coalition, The
Lenowisco Suicide Prevention Coalition (currently serving Lee, Scott,
& Wise Counties), the Richmond-based Family Advocacy Creating
Education and Services (F.A.C.E.S.) and the newest coalition, The
Regional Consortium of Preventive Care, serving the Greater Tidewater
Area. Plans are currently underway to formalize a statewide network
of suicide prevention coalitions in an effort to support existing
coalitions and to provide training and technical assistance for
establishing additional coalitions.

For more information feel free to contact Calvin Nunnally,Sr., Suicide
Prevention Manager, at the Virginia Department of Health , (804)
864-7736 or calvin.nunnally@....

¨ New Resources to Address Statutory Rape and Sexual Coercion of
Minor Teens within the Latin Community
Expanding on the "Isn't She A Little Young - sex with a minor don't go
there" campaign (http://www.varapelaws.org) the Virginia Department of
Health has three new efforts concerning the statutory rape and sexual
coercion of minor teens.

The "Gracias Papa" campaign consists of a set of three radio spots
that feature Latino fathers with daughters. The fathers talk about the
opportunities they want for their children and how older men should
not be dating younger teens. These are real fathers and the wording is
actually from an interview, not a script. The spots can be heard at
http://www.paramihija.com under "Recursos." Just click a name under
the radio. If you are interested in using the radio spots in your
community please contact Robert Franklin at 804-864-7739 or at
robert.franklin@....

The second resource is http://www.paramihija.com. This is a very basic
web page in Spanish discussing why statutory rape and sexual coercion
of minor teens by adults is a problem. On the web site you will find
warning signs of abusive relationships (borrowed from
http://www.ChooseRespect.org), radio spots, a brochure in Spanish that
discusses how to avoid sexual coercion (under "Recursos") and other
national links.

The last project Virginia is working on is a Fotonovela for young
Latina's addressing the issue of minor teens dating older adults. This
should be available by January 2007.

Please contact Robert Franklin, Male Outreach Coordinator at
robert.franklin@... for additional information on these
projects, questions or feedback.

¨ Child Safety Seat Check Activities
VDH has partnered or coordinated seven (7) seat check events since
July 2006. VDH partnered with Safe Kids Virginia to coordinate a child
safety seat installation and check event in Richmond. The event was
sponsored by Nationwide and the Richmond Urban League. Nationwide
purchased child safety seats for new parents that pre-registered for
the event. Thanks to Safe Kids Virginia, Fort Lee Police, Safe Kids
Tri-Cities chapter, Prince George Police Department, New Kent County
Sheriff's Department, Richmond Fire Department, Richmond Police
Department, Richmond Urban League, and Nationwide for making the event
a success. The Playroom in Chesterfield hosted two inspection events
in September and November. Thanks to Safe Kids Tri-Cities chapter,
Fort Lee Police, Diane Sinor, and Safe Kids Virginia for working with
us at the events. In September we did two presentations for the
Empowered Parenting Group in Fredericksburg followed by safety seat
inspections. VDH participated in the Metro Trips for Kids community
health fair in Fairfax County. The event was great and included a
kid's bike race, rodeo, and several other activities. Volunteers from
Fairfax County Police, Safe Kids Worldwide, Mike Sanderhoff from BMW
of Fairfax, and Jake Allen from Petersburg Fire Department did a great
job with the seat inspections. VDH participated in a Safe Kids
Virginia event at the VCU Health Systems in Stony Point. It was a cold
and windy day but we had a great turn-out and inspected twenty-one
(21) seats that day. Thanks to Safe Kids Virginia, Safe Kids
Tri-Cities chapter, Prince George Police Department, New Kent County
Sheriff's Department, Chesterfield County Police Department, and John
Messina for volunteering their time for the day. Speaking of cold and
windy, VDH participated in the Colonial Heights AAA seat check event.
Despite the cold weather, wind, and even snow we had a great day.
Colonial Heights Fire and EMS, Fort Lee Police, Safe Kids Tri-Cities
chapter, Prince George Police Department, Safe Kids Virginia, and VDH
all participated in the event. Each year AAA has a seat check event
the Tuesday before Thanksgiving to remind travelers that they need to
have their safety seats inspected before they hit the road. To view
the calendar of upcoming child safety seat check events visit
http://www.safetyseatva.org

¨ Permanent Safety Seat Fit Stations
Thank you to all of the Virginia Department of Health permanent
inspection stations across the state. All of your hard work and
dedication is much needed and appreciated in your communities. The
year started with seventy-four (74) stations, only fifty-six (56) were
still active, closing out the year with one hundred and one (101).
Great job! Visit http://www.safetyseatva.org to see the full list of
stations.

¨ Day Care Awareness Trainings
VDH offers a FREE ninety minute presentation to child care providers
and day cares on the basics of child passenger safety. The training
includes a seat inspection for parents and any vehicles that are used
to transport children. This year we had fourteen trainings across
Virginia. To learn more about this training contact Tobey Allen at
tobey.allen@... or 804-864-7747.

About the Division of Injury & Violence Prevention
The Division of Injury & Violence Prevention, formerly known as the
Center for Injury & Violence Prevention (CIVP), is a division of the
Virginia Department of Health that focuses on the prevention of
unintentional, intentional and self-inflicted injuries. Our strategies
for prevention include research & assessment, policy development,
training and community education, promotion and dissemination of
safety devices, public information and funding of local projects.
Visit www.vahealth.org/civp

Contact Us
Virginia Department of Health
Division of Injury and Violence Prevention
109 Governor Street, 8th Floor
Richmond, VA 23219
Phone: 804-864-7732 or 1-800-832-8333
Fax: 804-864-7748
Email: civp@...

If you would like to be added to DIVP's email distribution list so
that you get the E-Newsletter directly, please email
civp@... with "DIVP E-Newsletter" in the subject line.