Sustainability resources – 4/5/10

Q: The Utah Tobacco Prevention and Control Program is taking an in-depth look at sustainability, both at a systems level and at a very micro-level. They would like to go beyond financial sustainability (sustaining grant funding and finding replacement grants) to determine what changes can be made at a systems level, at a program level, and within each project of their workplan so that every aspect of the program is as sustainable as possible when the money runs out. They are hoping to start with their existing school projects and then look at each aspect at a systems level and break them down to each individual project within a workplan to see what is sustainable and what isn't. They will look at strategies such as utilizing champions, instituting systems changes, and charging fees to make programs self-sustaining.
 
Have any other state tobacco programs done this type of analysis? Are there any resources, leads, or documents that might be of use that states would be willing to share?

A:

1. California: The Center for Civic Partnership developed a Sustainability Toolkit (can be ordered from here) that does a fantastic job addressing these issues on many levels.
    
2. South Dakota: You might want to point Utah to an American Legacy publication regarding sustainability.
    
3. West Virginia: The West Virginia Division of Tobacco Prevention contracts with West Virginia University’s Prevention Research Center for assessment of the effectiveness of prevention and reduction efforts. Since 2001, the Center’s tobacco-specific Evaluation, Oversight, and Coordination Unit has provided technical assistance to each DTP program and administration, and tailored, autonomous feedback and independent evaluation monitoring for each intervention.
    
   The WV Health Statistics Center employs an epidemiologist solely dedicated to the efforts of the Division of Tobacco Prevention. As a result, surveillance/data and evaluation is more comprehensive.
    
   These partnerships ensure that our tobacco prevention and cessation efforts are founded in science, responsive to communities, and accountable to state policy makers.
    
   Please click to access our annual report from last year and our DTP Year 1 Annual Action Plan and Report.
    
   Partner Responses:
    
   CDC Office on Smoking and Health: OSH provided supplemental funding for states in 2008 for one-day state sustainability planning meetings that Judy Stephany Ahern facilitated.  A handout used for those trainings, developed by Washington University Center for Tobacco Policy Research with OSH funding (when they were at St. Louis University), was "Framework for Assessing Sustainability of State Tobacco Control Movements".  Score sheets are also enclosed. Hope this is helpful.

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