Preventing Substance Misuse Continues to be a Top Priority in Los Angeles County

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Three new contracts awarded to Institute for Public Strategies

LOS ANGELES, February 2, 2022 – The Institute for Public Strategies (IPS) has been awarded three new contracts aimed at reducing alcohol and drug problems in Los Angeles County.

The contracts will expand IPS’s prevention efforts in LA since 2012, engaging communities to prevent substance misuse by addressing its root causes. IPS will target alcohol, cannabis, methamphetamine and prescription medication misuse on the Westside of Los Angeles. The project in West Hollywood will focus primarily on preventing methamphetamine use in the LGBTQ+ community, which is disproportionately impacted by meth-related harms.

The new three-year contracts will begin July 1, 2022. IPS’s approach to reducing drug- and alcohol-related problems will include community education, network and coalition building, influencing policy, and changing institutional practices.

IPS is known for its 30-year history implementing population-level prevention programs to improve community health outcomes throughout the U.S. IPS’s substance use-focused prevention programs concentrate on the underlying factors that initiate and elevate substance use, including ease of access, the built environment, community trauma, and lack of childhood opportunity.

“We are eager to continue and expand our work in LA County,” IPS Vice President of Organizational Development, Sarah Blanch said. “We will be integrating more youth into our coalitions and expanding community prevention efforts to create conditions that make problematic substance use less possible and less likely. The best way to accomplish this is by partnering with communities.”

IPS will be integrating multiple community sectors into its LA projects, including policymakers, city staff, faith groups, schools, youth, nonprofits, and social services agencies.

“At IPS, we empower local stakeholders to proactively address community risk factors that contribute to the misuse of alcohol and drugs,” said Blanch, who also oversees the LA office at IPS. “We are committed to partnering with communities to create positive change.”

IPS works alongside communities to build power, challenge systems of inequity, protect health and improve quality of life. IPS has a vision for safe, secure, vibrant and healthy communities where everyone can thrive.

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Contact:
Paul Levikow
Institute for Public Strategies
(619) 476-9100 ext. 112
plevikow@publicstrategies.org

IPS Wins Sierra Health Foundation Grant

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New program will support the Latinx immigrant youth community in the San Diego border region

SAN DIEGO, December 1, 2021 – The Institute for Public Strategies announced it has received a grant to address substance use in the Latinx immigrant youth community along the Mexican border.

The grant comes from Elevate Youth California, a project of The Center at Sierra Health Foundation under contract with the California Department of Health Care Services. IPS is one of 61 community-based and tribal organizations in California to get a portion of more than $52 million funded by revenue generated from Proposition 64, which legalized adult non-medical use of cannabis.

“The project will develop the Youth in Action coalition to critically analyze the social contexts and injustices that negatively affect their development and explore historical divestment in their communities,” IPS Project Manager Brittany Hunsinger said. “The youth in the 12 to 26 age range will identify and champion policies, systems and environmental factors that establish equitable investments in their neighborhoods.”

Youth in Action will be focused in San Diego neighborhoods along the border and Barrio Logan, as well as the cities of Chula Vista, National City and Imperial Beach, as part of IPS’s Partnership for Success (P4S) coalition. The youth will have adults ready to mentor them as activists, building social connection and community cohesion.

“Along with their parents, they will learn about how their behavior and decision-making related to alcohol and drugs are influenced by the context in which they live,” Hunsinger said. “They will also explore concepts including community trauma, toxic stress, Adverse Childhood Experiences, the impact the war on drugs has had on them, prevention, and possibly harm reduction strategies, if appropriate.”

The Youth in Action members will participate in a Resident Leadership Academy, which provides leadership, advocacy, and youth-led participatory action research training. They will be empowered as leaders and change agents, actively defining their own needs. IPS will maximize their autonomy, voice, and choice in all stages of the program. IPS will recruit immigrant youth and young adults, documented or not, who are interested in social justice and advocacy.

The group gatherings will consist of healing circles to provide youth a safe space to listen to each other’s stories and cultivate a peer support network.  A trip to Sacramento may also be part of the experience as the Youth in Action learn how to become civically engaged and address lawmakers while advocating for themselves and others in their communities.

“Elevate Youth California prioritizes youth leadership and invests in healing and community growth,” said Chet P. Hewitt, president and CEO of Sierra Health Foundation and The Center. “Our new partners will work directly with youth to improve the environment of communities impacted by the war on drugs, which has led to inequity in our health systems and the criminalization of youth in low-income communities and communities of color. California’s youth are talented, capable and ready for this investment.”

IPS works alongside communities to build power, challenge systems of inequity, protect health and improve quality of life. IPS has a vision for safe, secure, vibrant and healthy communities where everyone can thrive.

 

Contact:
Paul Levikow
Institute for Public Strategies
(619) 476-9100 ext. 112
plevikow@publicstrategies.org

Transgender Remembrance Day, November 20

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The Institute for Public Strategies acknowledges and mourns the loss of transgender and gender diverse lives this past year, many of whom are often nameless. We commemorate Transgender Day of Remembrance to bring awareness to the violence committed against transgender and gender diverse people who are endeavoring to live their lives authentically. We commit to advocating for more policies that facilitate their security, inclusivity, and livelihoods.

According to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), 2020 was the most violent year for transgender and gender diverse people. And yet, 2021 is on its way to being even deadlier. HRC has already documented 38 murders in our nation against transgender or gender diverse people. Most were Black or Latinx transgender women.

Data show that transgender people disproportionately face homelessness, unemployment, lack of access to health care, and lack of access to food. On top of that, LGBTQ+ advocates are combating a record number of bills against transgender children. It is evident that to this day, none of our systems – local, state, or nationwide – offer sufficient protection for our transgender community.

The violent increase of transphobic hate crime in 2021 is not acceptable. We must work together to change this reality. It is our responsibility to keep our communities safe, and as a nation we can no longer stand idly by while members of the transgender community face violent and systemic discrimination. If we want to preserve our democracy, we must ensure rights and liberties extend to all members of society.

IPS works alongside communities to build power, challenge system of inequity, protect health, and improve quality of life. IPS has a vision for safe, vibrant, and healthy communities where everyone can thrive.

Vaccination is Our Best Path to Ending the COVID-19 Pandemic

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As a public health nonprofit agency working in many diverse communities, we aim to help mitigate the impacts of the COVID-19 virus, which has hit under-resourced communities the most. A focus on prevention not only makes good sense, but in the case of vaccination, saves lives.

Data show not only higher COVID-19 impacts in communities of color but also, after the first vaccines became available in the U.S., we clearly saw the highest hospitalizations and deaths in states, counties and communities with the lowest vaccination rates.

The delta variant is roughly twice as contagious as the initial strain of COVID-19 and has a much higher viral load. As COVID-19 cases rise across the country, pediatric cases are rising alongside adult cases.

Here are the facts about COVID-19.

We believe in collective responsibility and collective impact. These values are crucial to community health, now more than ever, as the pandemic continues. We can all prevent even more sickness, death and longer-term health disparities by advocating for vaccination.

The best way to protect yourself and your loved ones is to get vaccinated, which will reduce your own risk and help protect your community against the chance that the coronavirus will mutate into dangerous variants.

Anyone can now text their ZIP code to GETVAX (438829) in English or VACUNA (822862) in Spanish to get the contact information of three locations near them with available vaccines.

Institute for Public Strategies to Present Community Power and Equity Case Study at APHA Annual Conference

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SAN DIEGO, August 2021 – An Institute for Public Strategies (IPS) program manager has been selected to present this year on health inequities in communities of color at the prestigious American Public Health Association (APHA) Annual Meeting and Expo in Denver.

The APHA event is the largest and most influential gathering of public health professionals, with this year’s theme of “Creating the Healthiest Nation: Strengthening Social Connectedness.” Tens of thousands of participants will attend online and in Denver in October 2021. IPS Program Manager Maurina Cintron of Los Angeles County will present a case study on community power and equity with a focus on the Los Angeles Drug and Alcohol Policy Alliance (LA DAPA), a city and countywide group of public health professionals, community members and 30 organizations working to implement policies that reduce substance-related harms.

The group was founded in 2012 to empower communities of color in the City of L.A. to reduce dramatic health inequities in their neighborhoods. For generations, people of color in L.A. have been held back by laws limiting their potential in education, employment, politics, housing, and health.

“I will showcase how LA DAPA, with our community partners and collaborators, was able to quickly rally around conditions that were creating alcohol-related harm, such as the over-proliferation of alcohol retailers in historically disadvantaged communities of color,” Cintron said.

This session will provide a roadmap for integrating social justice into coalition work. Los Angeles’ retail alcohol environment has contributed to higher rates of crime and violence in low-income areas because of historic, entrenched zoning practices. Utilizing a framework that combined extensive assessment, intentional organizing, media, and targeted advocacy with policymakers, LA DAPA has emerged as a powerful, thriving, community-based organization that is affecting systemic change.

IPS works alongside communities to build power, challenge systems of inequity, protect health and improve quality of life. IPS has a vision for safe, secure, vibrant and healthy communities where everyone can thrive.

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Contact:
Paul Levikow
Institute for Public Strategies
(619) 476-9100 ext. 112
plevikow@publicstrategies.org

 

IPS wins Los Angeles County Department of Public Health grant to combat dangers of second hand smoke in multi-housing units

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LOS ANGELES, April 2021 – Institute for Public Strategies Los Angeles announced it has received a grant to address the harmful effects of second hand smoke and help eliminate its dangers in multiunit housing, such as apartment buildings and condominiums, through prevention and policy.

The grant’s objective is to create “a social milieu and legal climate in which tobacco becomes less desirable, less acceptable, and less accessible for current and potential future tobacco users.” Funding for the grant comes from the California Tobacco Control Program.

Although California has made great progress in eliminating second hand smoke in the workplace, for the many Californians who live in multiunit housing, breathing second hand smoke drifting from neighboring units, balconies, and outdoor areas is an ongoing and real health problem. Smoke can seep under doorways and through wall cracks.

“The U.S. Surgeon General has concluded that eliminating smoking in indoor spaces is the only way to fully protect nonsmokers from second hand smoke exposure,” IPS Program Manager Maurina Cintron said. “Separating smokers from nonsmokers and ventilating buildings doesn’t eliminate smoke exposure, but the voices of organized community members can.”

Although local public housing authorities have adopted smoke-free housing policies mandated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, this represents only a small percentage of the available rental housing. A vast majority of renters who live in privately owned multiunit housing remain unprotected against second hand smoke.

Under the new grant, IPS will seek to create policy and social norms change around exposure to tobacco smoke through a broad range of community engagement services in the City of Los Angeles including community meetings and events; educational presentations to community groups; local coalition building; publications; social media; meetings with local policy makers; public hearings; and informational community forums to raise awareness and garner support to reduce second hand exposure to smoke in multiunit housing in the City of Los Angeles. A major component of the initiative will be to build a community based coalition of advocates focused on policy that will reduce residents’ exposure to second hand smoke.

IPS works alongside communities to build power, challenge systems of inequity, protect health and improve quality of life. IPS has a vision for safe, secure, vibrant and healthy communities where everyone can thrive.

 

Contact:
Maurina Cintron
Institute for Public Strategies
(310) 215-9924 x134
mcintron@publicstrategies.org

Chula Vista Downtown

IPS community organizer appointed to Chula Vista Redistricting Commission and high school district bond oversight committee

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SAN DIEGO, February 2021 – Institute for Public Strategies (IPS) South Bay Community Organizer Stelle Andrade has been named the youngest member of the City of Chula Vista Redistricting Commission and was selected to serve on the Citizens Bond Oversight Committee for the Sweetwater Union High School District.

The redistricting commission is tasked with drawing new boundaries for Chula Vista City Council districts following the 2020 U.S. Census. The bond oversight committee is charged with fiscal responsibility of bonds being spent by the Sweetwater Union High School District in San Diego County’s South Bay region. The appointments come on the heels of Andrade’s serving as an election site manager for the San Diego County Registrar of Voters during the 2020 Presidential Election.

“At a young age I always wanted to be involved in the community,” Andrade said. “I have always had the idea that I wanted to help.”

Andrade said her involvement on the redistricting commission goes hand-in-hand with her work as a community organizer for the Southern California-based nonprofit.

“The commission stresses the importance of representation, not just the communities of color but also people of different ages,” Andrade said. “This type of inclusion is vital to me, and I am delighted to have a seat at the table.”

Andrade’s work on the bond oversight committee feeds her desire to be a lifelong learner. “I find it interesting because the committee’s work is unchartered territory for me,” she said. “We discuss the school district’s funds and how to properly and responsibly manage them. I don’t have a strong knowledge in that area yet, but I’m learning.”

To read Stelle’s full interview, please click here.

IPS works alongside communities to build power, challenge systems of inequity, protect health and improve quality of life. IPS has a vision for safe, secure, vibrant and healthy communities where everyone can thrive.

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Contact:
Paul Levikow
Institute for Public Strategies
(619) 476-9100 ext. 112
plevikow@publicstrategies.org

Advancing Equity Examples

Institute for Public Strategies announces the addition of two new board members

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SAN DIEGO, December 2020 – Southern California based nonprofit Institute for Public Strategies (IPS) is pleased to announce the addition of two new members to its board of directors.

Dana Sherrod

Dana Sherrod

Dana Sherrod is a public health leader in Los Angeles and Sara Cooley Broschart is the Public Health Liaison for the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board. They were recently approved unanimously to join the IPS board.

Sherrod is a visionary whose work centers on health equity, gender, and racial justice. She serves as the perinatal equity manager with the Public Health Alliance of Southern California – a coalition of the executive leadership of eight Southern California health departments. Sherrod leads a multi-sector hospital quality improvement project aimed at reducing Black infant and maternal health inequities among some of Los Angeles’ most prominent delivery hospitals. It’s a homecoming of sorts for Sherrod, who served as part of the IPS Los Angeles team for about two years. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Public Administration and a Master of Public Health from San Jose State University.

“I am truly honored to join the IPS board of directors and serve in this capacity. This year perhaps more than ever has demonstrated the urgent need to advance community-driven solutions to advance equity,” Sherrod said. “I believe that together, the incredible IPS leadership, staff, and board will accomplish many notable successes, and I am excited to contribute to the transformative work ahead.”

Sara Cooley Broschart

Sara Cooley Broschart

Broschart has more than 10 years of experience as a substance abuse prevention leader at local, regional and state levels. In Washington, she uses her public health expertise to advise alcohol and marijuana regulators on policy and best practices as well as develops innovative methods to engage community voices in rule making activities. Broschart earned a master’s in Public Health (Epidemiology) from the University of Arizona and spent five years in a doctoral program (Cultural Anthropology) at the University of Michigan.

IPS’ Board of Directors is made up of dedicated leaders from across the nation with diverse backgrounds.

“These new board members will contribute through their highly applicable skill sets to the communities where we work. In addition, this is exactly the diversity, equity and inclusion we continue to seek for the IPS Board of Directors,” Board Chairperson and IPS Founder James Baker said. “Their experience, education and demonstrated leadership abilities are a great addition to the dedicated group of professionals who keep IPS moving forward through constantly changing conditions on the ground.”

IPS works alongside communities to build power, challenge systems of inequity, protect health and improve quality of life. IPS has a vision for safe, secure, vibrant and healthy communities where everyone can thrive.

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Contact:
Paul Levikow
Institute for Public Strategies
(619) 476-9100 ext. 112
plevikow@publicstrategies.org

IPS to present on community transformation model, GIS as an equity indicator at the APHA’s prestigious annual conference

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SAN DIEGO, October 2020 – Two Institute for Public Strategies (IPS) directors have been selected to present this year at the American Public Health Association (APHA) Annual Meeting and Expo, the largest and most influential gathering of public health professionals. The October event brings together the public health community to experience “robust scientific programming, networking, social events and more,” according to the event website.

Craig Reed, program director of the San Diego County Binge and Underage Drinking Initiative (BUDI) and Meredith Gibson, media director at IPS, will appear at the virtual conference on Oct. 28, 2020. This annual conference expects to draw more than 12,000 participants throughout the U.S. around this year’s theme, “Creating the Healthiest Nation: Preventing Violence.”

Reed will lead two workshops, including Community Change: Utilizing a Dynamic Model for Integrated Approaches, where he will present the IPS Approach to Community Transformation (ACT) Model. The ACT Model is a framework for creating upstream community change, combining five interrelated strategies including data and research; community organizing; media advocacy; policy and systems change; and sustainability.

Reed’s other workshop is Media Advocacy: The Art of Influencing Positive Change.

“It’s important to put the tools we’ve developed and refined into the hands of others so that those working to make their communities more vibrant and better places to live have what they need to succeed,” Reed said. “We’re helping to raise the bar for public health as a whole so they look not just upstream, but at how different community conditions interact with each other.”

Gibson’s presentation is on Place Matters: Promoting Health Equity for Latino Communities in San Diego’s South Bay. It focuses on Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping and how it relates to the childhood opportunity index — a measurement of the quality of resources and conditions that matter to children. It also explores the hardship index — a measurement of six socioeconomic indicators, each classified into three groups and overlaid on a layer representing the percent of Latinx population to create a dynamic data dashboard.

The resulting maps show that areas with low childhood opportunity and high hardship also have a large percentage of Latinos, and demonstrate where policy, infrastructure, and health interventions would be most beneficial.

“The conference will be a way for us to showcase our advocacy work at IPS by focusing on equity and how we are using data and technology to inform our decisions,” Gibson said. “I’ve been thinking about how to incorporate GIS into our work and using story maps and data dashboards provide excellent visualization tools to reach a broad public health audience.”

Typically, many of the conference presentations are focused on the latest research, but there aren’t that many that cover upstream prevention and what this approach looks like on the ground, according to Reed.

“To effectively change community conditions, you can’t just look at one thing like alcohol in isolation,” Reed said. “You have to understand how that item is connected to other community elements and ensure the work you’re doing takes those additional elements into consideration.”

IPS works alongside communities to build power, challenge systems of inequity, protect health and improve quality of life. IPS has a vision for safe, secure, vibrant and healthy communities where everyone can thrive.

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Contact:
Paul Levikow
Institute for Public Strategies
(619) 476-9100 ext. 112
plevikow@publicstrategies.org

Focus Areas

Institute for Public Strategies unveils next generation vision, mission, core values under new CEO/President

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New corporate website also launched in October 2020 at www.publicstrategies.org.

SAN DIEGO, October 2020 —The Institute for Public Strategies (IPS), a San Diego-based public health organization, has led upstream prevention projects across the United States and in Mexico since 1992. IPS currently directs multiple government- and foundation-funded projects throughout Southern California, with offices in San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Bernardino Counties.

IPS’s new mission – created with an understanding that most health disparities stem from unjust community and social conditions — is to work alongside communities to build power, challenge systems of inequity, protect health, and improve quality of life.

Brenda SimmonsEquity is listed first among IPS’s core values, which also include diversity, empowerment, systems change, results, and integrity.

“Equity is not a path forward, it is the path forward,” CEO/President Brenda Simmons said. “We are committed to transforming the social determinants of health so that all individuals, regardless of their race, culture, economic circumstances, sexual orientation, gender identity, or educational attainment, have the opportunity to live their best lives.”

Simmons was promoted to lead IPS in April 2019 after founding CEO/President James Baker transitioned to the chairman of the board of directors.

Simmons joined IPS in 2003 as a community organizer in San Diego County and worked her way up the ranks. Her broad range of experience includes leading state-, county-, and city-wide projects in places like Montana, Los Angeles, and West Hollywood, as well as managing the IPS-led San Diego-Tijuana Border Underage Drinking Project, a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) model program.

The Montana native has been involved in projects focused on substance abuse prevention, community revitalization, and child sex trafficking. Simmons earned a Master’s in Communication at San Diego State University and a Bachelor’s in Communication at the University of Montana.

“The Institute for Public Strategies partners with communities to advance quality of life,” Simmons said. “Together, we work to transform the conditions and systems that perpetuate inequity, poor health, and lack of opportunity in order to create vital, thriving, and inclusive communities.”

The new IPS vision is for safe, secure, vibrant, and healthy communities where everyone can thrive.

Launched in 1992, IPS originally focused on providing media advocacy services and training and technical assistance. Over time, IPS began operating its own projects, performing prevention implementation on large research initiatives and providing technical assistance and training to many government agencies and program operators across the nation.

IPS has emerged as a leader in program design and implementation of “environmental” or “upstream” prevention in the public health and safety field, having worked in dozens of state-, county-, and community-level projects, including the Community Trials to Reduce Alcohol Trauma project and the American Medical Association-led A Matter Of Degree (AMOD) – a college-community alcohol and binge drinking prevention program.

IPS’s expansive body of innovative work continues today. IPS has over 35 employees and offices in multiple California cities, as well as in Montana.

“What IPS is most proud of now is our community partnerships with other like-minded agencies doing similar work, as well as with our funders,” said Simmons. “These partnerships allow us to do our best work and to make a difference.”