Schools work with local, state agencies on wellness

CCS Partnership meets with senior Schwarzenegger aide; CSBA, state plan conference

At a January meeting with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s senior health policy adviser, CSBA Executive Director Scott P. Plotkin said that the education community is “thirsting” for the governor’s involvement in promoting children’s wellness and combating childhood obesity, and Plotkin offered the association’s help in establishing a “bully pulpit” from which the governor might engage educators and other interested parties.

The occasion was a meeting of the Cities, Counties and Schools Partnership, composed of CSBA, the California State Association of Counties and the League of California Cities. The group promotes the development of public policies that build and preserve communities by encouraging collaboration among California’s 478 cities, 58 counties and more than 1,000 boards of education.

Herb Schultz, the governor’s point man on health policy, invited CCS Partnership leaders to the governor’s suite of offices in the Capitol, where he  affirmed that obesity prevention is a priority for the governor and that Schwarzenegger’s goal is to “transform the norm” by offering incentives for healthier environments at work, school and at home for all Californians. Schultz also said that the CCS Partnership’s goal of healthy, active children is “part and parcel of the governor’s [health care] initiative.”

Also present at the meeting was Luan B. Rivera, CSBA immediate past president, who is chairing the CCS Partnership this year. Characterizing the meeting as “very positive,” Rivera said it provided an opportunity for creating a constructive connection between the CCS Partnership and the governor’s office.

“We were all looking for encouragement for continuing dialogue,” Rivera said. “I felt like it was a very encouraging meeting.”

Two issues are high on Rivera’s list of priorities for the Partnership this year: children’s wellness and childhood obesity. The Partnership’s work on these issues began in 2005 when it established the Conditions of Children Task Force. During that first year, the task force discussed multiple issues facing children and their families. The 2006 task force chose a single focus—understanding childhood obesity and creating an action agenda for addressing it.

Now, Rivera said, the Partnership will work “to begin disseminating information and sharing it with communities so they can proceed with recommendations from the task force.”