BACKGROUND:

It goes without saying that children are our most precious resource.  Their innocence and optimism gives us hope to what lies ahead for this country.  However, locally, this innocence and optimism was shattered by the events of September 11^th and what happened earlier this year with the school shootings at Santana and Granite Hills high schools.  The effects on our children are not yet known, but we should anticipate that the life they had before these events is no longer the life they live.  As a body that has public health as its mandate, we have a responsibility, working with existing collaboratives, to make San Diego the healthiest and safest region in America for its children.

What this will take is a long-term commitment from the County working in a collaborative fashion with existing stakeholders in the community that deal with children’s health and safety on a regional basis, such as Children’s Hospital and other healthcare providers. Goals such as assuring that all providers deliver optimal healthcare utilizing agreed upon guidelines; that all residents have access and awareness to the most current child health information; and, assure that all children are ready to learn.  Certain strategies will be needed in order to achieve these goals.  They include, implementing region-wide best practices and a measurable quality improvement program; fully informing consumers and connecting all schools to health care providers. 

More specifically, the programs this effort is seeking with regard to child safety and health include: Safe at Home, for parents who are in need for up to date information, using either the telephone or computer, to answer questions regarding psychological stresses and fears of children; Safe in School, where school nurses are involved working with families to better prepare children for school and to educate about harm reduction; and, Safe in the Region, which encourages better safety coordination among the health care providers, so we are able to respond to emergencies and other long term health needs.

The County cannot do this alone nor all at once.  In fact, the County allocated a $50,000 grant for Children’s Hospital to develop a better integrated system for children’s health and safety.  This program will need resources, like the tobacco settlement dollars, and time to develop.  It will work in phases.  The first phase will focus on child safety, such as helping children cope with an emergency situation, like September 11^th or the school shootings.  The second phase will focus on children’s health and how we can optimize care and school readiness.

I urge your support of this initiative.

Respectfully submitted,

RON ROBERTS

Supervisor, Fourth District