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Intimate Partner Violence
Domestic/intimate partner violence (IPV) is a pervasive problem in virtually all countries, cultures, classes and income groups. It is a complex and multifaceted problem with individual solutions that are appropriate for different people in different socio-cultural contexts.WIC Can Help end the cycle of domestic violence by becoming familiar with resources.
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When Breaking News is Bad for Your Health
It seems like there's no such thing as a boring news cycle anymore, and there's increasingly evidence that the anxiety of today's headlines isn't so great for our health. Check out more information and tips on coping.
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Shopping at Amazon?
Support CWA without spending anything extra by using
AmazonSmile!
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Did someone share this with you? Sign up here to get the CWA Flash directly!
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Vote!
Election day is two weeks from today - are you ready? This is an incredibly important election in California, as we are not only choosing our next Governor, but also will vote on a Senate seat, several members of Congress, state Senate and Assembly, CA Supreme Court, and other state offices, as well as 11 propositions. This website provides information about early and absentee voting, voter-identification requirements, and other information, while here you can find information on candidates and ballot measures. Make sure to form a plan for voting and that you afford adequate time to submit your ballot.
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Congress to Investigate U.S. Maternal Mortality
After learning from an Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health report that women giving birth in the U.S. are more at risk of dying than their mothers were, and that there is a considerable racial disparity in maternal mortality, the House Ways and Means Committee has launched an investigation into rising death rates among mothers during and after childbirth. The investigation will work to determine why maternal mortality and morbidity rates are rising in America and what federal agencies, states, and hospitals are doing and can do to address this issue.
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Public Charge Comment Period Open
CWA is working with PIF partners to ensure effective media coverage, rally individuals and organizations to submit comments, and provide trainings and technical assistance on public charge details. Recently CWA and PIF Partners worked with PBS Newshour and the Washington Post to cover the impacts of Public Charge. The public comment period remains open on the public charge proposal, which would penalize immigrants for accessing public benefit programs, including Medicaid and SNAP. There are currently over 20,000 comments, and we encourage individuals and agencies to offer their comments here until December 10, 2018. The comment period is the most important time for WIC staff to engage on this issue. DHS specifically requested feedback on the question of whether to include ANY public benefit program in a public charge determination. There remains a risk that WIC can still be included in public charge review. We urge WIC staff and other health and social service providers to forcefully reject this proposal and demand the explicit exclusion of WIC from any rule. Furthermore, we urge the WIC community to share with DHS the public health consequences of including programs like Medicaid and SNAP in a public charge determination and how that would impact WIC families. Remember: Regulatory commenting is not lobbying. ACTION: See NWA's template comments- but remember to customize them before submission, as comments MUST be unique to be counted. Also check out NWA's comment guidance for concerned participants, as well as FRAC's public charge comment toolkit for different stakeholder groups. Finally, submit a comment. Contact Sarah to arrange a public charge training or webinar for your organization.
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Fall Convening Updates
There will be so much valuable information when we meet in Sacramento!
Mon. Nov. 5:
State WIC Training Day-Hear from and engage with the Organizational Change Management team, 3 Sigma consultants and WIC staff on progress and plans for the WIC Card and WIC WISE
Tues. Nov. 6:
Morning: A packed agenda! Safe sleep, opioids & WIC families, sexual orientation and gender identification training and innovative local agency strategies. Afternoon: CWA Education Day:
Connecting WIC and Engaging California Families,
Learn about the
Smile, California oral health campaign to improve access to care, WIC Workforce Retention and Planning, and Horizontal Integration- how to better link WIC agencies with other programs.
Wed. Nov. 7:
8am-12pm WIC Capitol Education Day (see info above and in the Flash)
Continuing education units, CEUs for RDs and CERPS for lactation, will be provided for Mon. and Tues.
ACTION: Register if you have not done so, and check back for presentations.
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WIC Capitol Education Day
With the election on Nov. 6 falling the day before Capitol Education Day, on Nov. 7, it will be an interesting day in Sacramento. Attendees can expect to find some jubilant offices, others experiencing disappointment and others might be out for the day. We ask all attendees to continue to reach out to make appointments and plan to visit your representatives. We will be meeting in the lovely 15th floor conference room of the California Dental Health Association with a beautiful view of the capitol and downtown Sacramento. In addition to visiting offices, a number of experienced capitol staff and advocates will be invited to meet with WIC Ambassadors in the CDA conference room and share their experiences and viewpoints on key topics for 2019 and beyond, such as health care, women's and children's issues, their own career paths and issues education. ACTION: Register! Questions? Sarah will help you!
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WIC and FQHC Partnership Highlighted
It was a full room of interested attendees for Mary Sammer, WIC Director and Michelle Gonzalez, Chief Strategy and Development Officer, North County Health Services and Erin Garcia, formerly Community Medical Centers WIC Director, currently Director of Patient Education and Programs, for their presentation, FQHC-WIC Partnerships: Expanding the Care Team to Address Social Determinants of Health at the annual CPCA conference. A growing number of health centers are focusing on provision of social determinants of health and WIC is a natural partner. Their presentation showcased collaboration and new ways to work with health centers.
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Pumping at Work May Contribute to Pay Inequity
Despite improving lactation accommodation policies, many working moms feel that they get stigmatized or penalized for pumping at work. A survey from breast pump provider Aeroflow, found that half of the 773 women had concerns breastfeeding at work could impact their career growth. Unfortunately, data indicates that they may be right. Recommendations that infants be breastfed during the first year are at odds with the15 percent of U.S. workers who get paid time off to care for newborns, so most working moms need to pump at work. A 2012 study quantified breastfeeding data and long-term earnings for mothers with children born from 1980 to 1993, finding that women who breastfed for at least six months suffered more severe and prolonged earnings losses than mothers who breastfed for less time or not at all. Lactation accommodations are a necessary step, but a cultural shift is needed to ensure parents do not have to sacrifice infant feeding goals or career goals in favor of the other.
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Caesarean Births Have Almost Doubled Globally Since 2000
Globally, the number of babies born through caesarean section (C-section) almost doubled between 2000 and 2015 - from 12 percent to 21 percent of all births - according to a Series of three papers published in The Lancet and launched at the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) World Congress in Brazil. While the life-saving surgery is still unavailable for many women and children in low-income countries and regions, the procedure is overused in many middle- and high-income settings. It is estimated that 10-15 percent of births medically require a C-section due to complications, suggesting that average C-section use should lie between these levels. However, the Series authors estimate that more than one in four countries in 2015 had lower levels (28percent, 47/169 countries), while most countries used C-section above the recommended level (63 percent, 106/169 countries).
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Lactation Rooms Now Required at U.S. Airports
Commercial airports will now be required to provide lactation rooms at each passenger terminal building of the airport, thanks to the passage of the Friendly Airports for Mothers Act (FAM) of 2017. The act was included in the five-year reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration that president Trump signed on Oct. 5. Although many airports already have such rooms, now all large- and medium-sized airports are required to provide them at each terminal. Read more about the additional requirements here. The bill makes grants available to airports to help them with renovations.
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Loving Support of Excellence Award Applications
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, has opened applications for the "Loving Support of Excellence" program. This award was developed to recognize and celebrate local WIC agencies that provide exemplary breastfeeding programs and support services. Local WIC agencies that have operated a peer counseling program for at least one year and meet all of the required core components of the WIC Breastfeeding Model for peer counseling are eligible to apply. The application period is open until Friday, December 14.
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Reports on WIC Food Package and Program Participation
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service has published a report on the WIC Food Package, "Fiscal Year 2014 WIC Food Package Costs Final Report." The report supplements FNS administrative data on food package costs by estimating the average monthly food costs for each WIC participant category and food package type. Additionally, FNS released "WIC Participant and Program Characteristics 2016: Food Package Report," Since 1988, FNS has produced biennial reports on WIC participant and program characteristics. This information is used for general program monitoring and managing WIC information needs such as estimating budgets, submitting civil rights reports, identifying research needs, and reviewing current and proposed WIC policies and procedures.
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Report on Access to Maternity Care
March of Dimes has released a report titled, "Nowhere to Go: Maternity Care Deserts Across the U.S." A maternity care desert is a county in which access to maternity health care services is limited or absent, either through lack of services or barriers to a woman's ability to access that care. This report begins to identify these areas by looking at the availability of hospitals, health care providers, and means to pay for that care through health insurance.
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