Want a Bigger Impact with Your Public Health Campaign? Partner with Other State Agencies that Share Your Goals
Excerpted from original story on GovLoop — a publication that serves a community of more than 300,000 government leaders by helping them to foster collaboration, learn from each other, solve problems and advance in their government careers.
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Across the country, state-run agencies create programs and resources to advance their missions — whether those are public health, higher education, child care, transportation or something else. Their goals typically center on supporting the health, happiness, prosperity and well-being of their states and residents.
During this process, clarity of purpose and collaboration are essential, as they seek to impact the same audiences from issue to issue: their states’ residents. However, cross-collaboration between departments can be elusive. It is inefficient and frustrating when the actions of one department or agency greatly impact the others. The solution comes in working to advance shared objectives across departments and programs, helping to achieve greater collective impact.
Colorado’s Department of Human Services (CDHS) and Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) are collaborating on a public health behavior change campaign that seeks to address the upstream factors that influence young people’s decisions to engage in healthy behaviors. The effort focuses on building stronger relationships among youth and between youth, their parents, and other adults in the community.
Visit GovLoop to see three strategies CDHS and CDPHE used to create a smooth process that helped to launch one of the most ambitious intra-agency public health campaigns in our state’s history, called Forward Together.
Diapers are a Basic Need that Too Many Colorado Families Can’t Afford
One in every three Colorado families with babies and toddlers need help meeting their diaper needs.
This is an issue with far-reaching impacts – the lack of access to clean diapers negatively impacts babies’ health and the ability of their caregivers to work and provide for their families.
That’s why we’re celebrating the fact that SB 21-027, Emergency Supplies for Colorado Babies and Families, has gotten the final OK from the Colorado legislature and $4 million for diaper assistance over the next two years. The vote of approval in the Senate was 19-13, and now the bill is headed for Governor Jared Polis’s desk.
SE2 is proud to support SB 21-027and we congratulate the bill’s sponsors, as well as the community-based partners that will be instrumental in getting diapers to families that need them. These partners include WeeCycle based in Aurora, The Nappie Project based in Loveland and others. An amendment was also added for a grant program to support food pantries and food banks.
SB 21-027 is a cost-effective solution to the urgent and ongoing need for diapers, which was made more visible by the economic strain of the pandemic on low-income families.
The funding from SB 21-027 will go to statewide community-based organizations, including WeeCycle and The Nappie Project, that are experienced with diaper distribution. These organizations buy diapers at a significantly reduced cost and have broad experience getting diapers to Colorado families that need them.
SE2 believes that we all have a role to play in giving the next generations of Coloradans a strong start, and that’s why we are proud to work on this project.
As parents ourselves and passionate supporters of access and opportunity for all Colorado families, we invite you to learn more about SB 21-027 and the positive impacts this legislation would have on our state’s most vulnerable children and families.
