Planning Consortium

The Planning Consortium is our statewide advisory group that is providing guidance to program staff on a variety of components of our three-year planning program.  The Planning Consortium has met four times and has contributed significantly toward planning for an Environmental Health Tracking Network in California; especially toward our understanding of stakeholder perspectives and needs.  In future meetings, the Planning Consortium will facilitate the development of protocols and policies for an Environmental Health Tracking Network in California.  Examples include: accountability mechanisms, transparency policies, stakeholder involvement/public participation guidelines, data release guidelines, procedures for responding to community concerns/requests, etc. Click here for more information about the CEHTP Planning Consortium.

Needs Assessment Workgroup

The Needs Assessment Workgroup was convened to assist in the development and implementation of a needs assessment strategy.  Findings from the needs assessment will be used to inform the strategic plan for Environmental Health Tracking in California as well as to inform outreach/education and training activities.  The purpose of the Needs Assessment is to inform the development of a CEHTP Outreach/Education Strategy and Training Strategy by identifying and documenting stakeholder needs, issues, and concerns.  Specific objectives include determining:

Stakeholders' priority hazards, exposures, and health outcomes for environmental health tracking and related issues/concerns;

How to build stakeholder capacity;

Specific training needs of stakeholders; and

How to communicate Environmental Health Tracking information.

Click here for more information about the Needs Assessment Workgroup.

Alameda County Pilot Project Advisory Group

This workgroup consists of representatives from CBOs, NGOs, and local governmental agencies from Alameda County, as well as representatives from statewide organizations who are familiar with and interested in county-specific environmental health issues.  These representatives are interested in maternal and child health, asthma, air pollution, and/or environmental justice in Alameda County.   Participants are providing input regarding utility of the pilot project results (findings) and the best ways present and disseminate them.  Participants will attend meetings once every four months until April 2005, in which they review and discuss results and advise on the creation and dissemination of materials.  Additionally, participants are asked to provide feedback on draft materials and project activities in between meetings. Click here for more information about the Alameda County Pilot Project Advisory Team.

Central Valley / South Coast Pilot Project Advisory Group

This workgroup will guide us in our assessment of air pollution, pesticides, and health outcomes in the Central Valley and South Coastal air basins.  The team will also direct us in our efforts to create and disseminate materials to stakeholders in the most appropriate and accessible manner.  Lessons learned from the Advisory Team will inform the planning of statewide and national tracking networks.  This team will:

Guide the development of the project logic model and evaluation plan.

Identify broader stakeholder groups and determine their levels of participation and methods of communication.

Identify opportunities to expand the reach of the project if feasible (e.g. including additional data sources).

Review project findings and alert project staff to information needs.

Collaborate on the development of education and outreach materials and facilitate development of a dissemination strategy.

Click here for more information about the Central Valley and South Coast Pilot Project Advisory Team.

Outreach and Training Workgroup

This workgroup of the Planning Consortium is assisting CEHTP in increasing knowledge/awareness of and interest in environmental health tracking; identifying and fostering partnerships; and building environmental health tracking capacity.  This workgroup will be involved in the development of an outreach & training strategy for an Environmental Health Tracking Network in California.  This includes identifying:

Formats (including visualization and analysis) in which to present environmental health tracking information.

Communication needs in disseminating environmental health tracking information.

Technical assistance issues related to accessing and analyzing environmental health tracking information.

Training activities to support stakeholders in accessing, understanding, and utilizing environmental health tracking information.

This workgroup will also assist in planning and conducting a training activity for Local Health Agencies and Non-Governmental Organizations. Click here for more information about the Outreach & Training Workgroup.

Technical Workgroup

This workgroup is addressing and advising on information technology, data management, and technical issues pertaining to the planning of an Environmental Health Tracking Network in California.  Workgroup activities include holding a series of meetings or phone conferences to discuss the technical needs assessment, the architectural framework, and the development and deployment plan.  Expertise of this advisory group includes specialists or experts that are directly responsible for or knowledgeable in:  Cal/EPA and CDHS IT infrastructure and management, environmental hazard databases, health surveillance databases, geographic information systems (GIS), relational database management, web-based application development, surveillance systems from other disciplines, network and data security, and data exchange/translation. Click here for more information about the Technical Workgroup.

Evaluation Workgroup

This workgroup of the Planning Consortium is helping to develop and implement program evaluation strategies in order to (1) enhance the ongoing planning process; (2) identify impediments encountered and solutions applied to complete all required planning and pilot project components; and (3) evaluate the content, adequacy, and quality of proposed plans for an Environmental Health Tracking Network for California.  Specifically, this workgroup will assist in:

Reviewing program Measures of Effectiveness (baseline evaluation measures) for each specific component of the program;

Reviewing credible information about the program gathered by staff that helps answer questions about the program;

Developing agreed upon standards and methods by which to judge evaluation conclusions that reflect the values held by stakeholders, and draft recommendations based on those conclusions;

Ensuring that lessons learned from the evaluation are presented to stakeholders in a clear and useful format;

Identifying evaluation questions and tools.