DOVER — The Delaware Division of Public Health (DPH) is seeking input from Delawareans on a draft version of a statewide assessment identifying the primary health needs of First State residents. DPH worked with a broad range of non-profit and medical partners, and community-based and government agencies to create the draft Statewide Health Assessment (SHA) document.

The SHA is an examination of the health of our population. Data gathering for a needs assessment to develop this document began in 2016. The data, pulled from a variety of sources including focus groups, were used to identify local and statewide trends for the identification and prioritization of strategies. The ultimate goal of a SHA is to develop strategies to address critical health needs and identify challenges and assets in the state in a comprehensive way.

All results were compiled and analyzed collectively to paint a collective picture of Delaware’s health. This comprehensive process yielded the following four top-level priority areas of focus:

1. Chronic Disease: specifically -heart disease, diabetes, and asthma
2. Maternal and Child Health: specifically – teen pregnancy, premature births, and low birth weight
3. Substance Use/Misuse: specifically -the opioid epidemic, accidental overdose, and smoking/e-cigarette use
4. Mental Health: specifically – mental health diagnoses (especially in youth), suicide/suicidal ideations, and impact of trauma.

The plan is posted at http://www.dhss.delaware.gov/dhss/dph/files/shna.pdf. Comments can be submitted at http://www.dhss.delaware.gov/dhss/dph/files/shaform.pdf. The deadline for submissions is Tuesday, July 31, 2018.

Residents are encouraged to provide feedback about the information presented in the draft SHA. After receiving public comments, DPH will organize partners again to develop strategies and goals to address Delaware’s major health needs.

“It’s important to hear from residents about our draft plan for the health and well-being of Delawareans,” said DPH Associate Deputy Director, Cassandra Codes-Johnson. “We want to know what’s important to you. All residents should have the opportunity to provide input on the issues that are closest to their hearts.”

A person who is deaf, hard-of-hearing, deaf-blind or speech-disabled can call the DPH phone number above by using TTY services. Dial 7-1-1 or 800-232-5460 to type your conversation to a relay operator, who reads your conversation to a hearing person at DPH. The relay operator types the hearing person’s spoken words back to the TTY user. To learn more about TTY availability in Delaware, visit http://delawarerelay.com.

Delaware Health and Social Services is committed to improving the quality of the lives of Delaware’s citizens by promoting health and well-being, fostering self-sufficiency, and protecting vulnerable populations. DPH, a division of DHSS, urges Delawareans to make healthier choices with the 5-2-1 Almost None campaign: eat 5 or more fruits and vegetables each day, have no more than 2 hours of recreational screen time each day (includes TV, computer, gaming), get 1 or more hours of physical activity each day, and drink almost no sugary beverages.

WILMINGTON, Del. – In support of a movement to transform how health care is delivered and paid for in the state, Delaware was one of eight states chosen to participate in a National Governors Association initiative to harness data systems to inform health policymaking. Joining Arkansas, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Vermont and Washington, Delaware’s team will receive guidance in creating a strategic plan for data analytics in support of policy and decision-making in its Medicaid program.

Over the course of the 16-month project, Delaware’s team will receive technical assistance and engage in cross-state learning to help advance its capacity to use and analyze data in the Medicaid program within the Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS). About 230,000 Delawareans are served by Medicaid, the shared state and federal health insurance program for people from low-income households, seniors eligible for long-term care and individuals with disabilities.

“This NGA data initiative will help us grow our ability to analyze how Medicaid dollars are spent, the health of the populations we serve and how well the health care system is doing in meeting the care needs of our clients,” said Governor John Carney. “Harnessing data is an important way to measure and evaluate our progress as we shift from a health care system that is based on volume of care to one that this based on health outcomes of patients.”

In January, DHSS’ Division of Medicaid and Medical Assistance (DMMA) signed value-based purchasing contracts with its two managed care organizations (MCOs) – Highmark Health Options Blue Cross Blue Shield Delaware and AmeriHealth Caritas Delaware. As part of the contracts, seven key client care measures will be monitored, including management of diabetes cases, asthma management, cervical and breast cancer screenings, obesity management, timeliness of prenatal care and 30-day hospital readmission rates.

Medicaid data also will be an important component of Delaware’s work on health care spending and quality benchmarks. In February, Governor Carney signed Executive Order 19 creating a 13-member Advisory Group to make recommendations to DHSS Secretary Dr. Kara Odom Walker on health care cost and quality benchmarks across Delaware’s health care system, including employer-based coverage, Medicare and Medicaid. Secretary Walker will provide her formal recommendations to the Governor this summer. Beginning in 2019, Delaware will measure the total cost of health care, the first step in increasing transparency in how health care dollars are spent.

“Our Medicaid team has launched several initiatives to improve the quality of care for our Medicaid clients, to address the social determinants of health and to encourage value-based payments,” said DHSS Secretary Walker. “The NGA assistance will offer us support as we plan, implement and evaluate these special efforts. We need data to develop baselines, track progress and analyze the results.”

Staff from the National Governors Association will provide in-state visits and ongoing technical assistance throughout the project including research, consultations, facilitating meetings with experts, sharing examples from other states and reviewing state plans.

The Delaware team is led by Elizabeth Brown, Medical Director for the Division of Medicaid and Medical Assistance, and includes Steve Groff, Director of DMMA; Steven Costantino, Director of Health Care Reform for DHSS; Troy McDaniel, Director of Information Systems for DMMA; and Joe Bryant, Health Policy Advisor for Governor Carney.

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Delaware has received a $500,000 grant to improve upon previous work that allowed the state to expand its K-12 Education Data Warehouse and Insight Dashboard to include birth through pre-kindergarten data. The grant is the second from the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation designed to help the state better integrate existing data systems.

This funding will help the Delaware Department of Education address a persistent problem: Currently there is not a common definition of educational data that is used in Delaware information systems. This work will enable Delaware to establish a common vocabulary for commonly used education data elements, through adoption of the Ed-Fi data standard, to support the effective exchange, comparison and understanding of this data as students transition through the education system.

“Teachers, school and district leaders and policy makers all need reliable data to help identify and address student needs,” Secretary of Education Susan Bunting said. “This is important behind-the-scenes work that makes that possible, and we are grateful to the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation for its support in helping our state strengthen our system so we ultimately can better meet student needs.”

Lyria Zeh, technical program officer from the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, said, “We’re excited to continue our work with Delaware in helping them integrate their existing data systems. It’s so important for teachers to have actionable data at their fingertips to help them be even more effective in their classrooms.”

Media Contact: Alison May, alison.may@doe.k12.de.us, 302-735-4006

Grant will help Delaware support high-risk youth and families in Wilmington, and bolster work of Family Services Cabinet Council

WILMINGTON, Del. – Governor John Carney announced on Wednesday that Delaware has received an 18-month training and technical assistance grant from the University of Pennsylvania’s Actionable Intelligence for Social Policy (AISP) Integrated Data System Learning Community to help develop an integrated data system across state agencies.

The system will help Delaware coordinate services and support young people and families in Wilmington who are at high risk of violence, and bolster the ongoing work of the Family Services Cabinet Council. Delaware was among six county and state governments to receive the technical assistance grant.

“We re-established the Family Services Cabinet Council to make sure that state agencies are working together more effectively, coordinating services on behalf of Delaware families we serve, and delivering results,” said Governor Carney. “The Council is helping confront some of our most challenging issues – including ways to break the school-to-prison pipeline, expand job training, and reduce crime in our neighborhoods. An integrated data system will help us more effectively target our resources, and reach the kids and families who need our help the most.”

“We are excited to be awarded this technical assistance grant from UPenn’s Actionable Intelligence for Social Policy,” said Dr. Kara Odom Walker, Secretary of the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services, and a board-certified family physician. “This is the technical expertise we need to help make an integrated data system a reality in Delaware, and to help us support the young people in Wilmington who are at high risk for street violence and their families. Being able to see the full picture of the services that young people and their families are receiving and their interactions with the system will help us develop interventions that are coordinated and appropriate for each family.”

Delaware’s Department of Health and Social Services will join other state agencies in working with the AISP Learning Community to plan for the implementation of an integrated data system that will establish linkages across multiple stand-alone government data systems. The technical assistance, which will begin in March 2018, will include in-person training, an online learning platform, and a full evaluation of the AISP program at the end of the 18 months. The training will cover governance of integrated data system, legal agreements, data integration and linking procedures, and identifying and carrying out research priorities.

The Data Working Group of the Family Services Cabinet Council, chaired by Secretary Walker, is comprised the eight FSCC agencies including the Department of Technology and Information (DTI). The working group is engaged in the early stages of the development of an integrated data system, drafting necessary data sharing agreements, and creating a vision for the system. The data working group is carrying forward the recommendation of the CDC report on gun violence in Wilmington. The working group also is partnering with CompassRed, a Wilmington-based data and analytics company, to identify the data needed for analysis to provide actionable, data-driven information back to DHSS that can be used to provide the right services to the right families.

“The goal is to increase collaboration between state social service agencies by developing the capacity to link and share data between agencies,” said James Collins, Chief Information Officer for the State of Delaware. “This will enable predictive analytics to better reveal which families and individuals are most at risk and deliver relevant information to social service agencies so they can respond more quickly with appropriate resources.”

The other county and state governments awarded Actionable Intelligence for Social Policy technical assistance grants are Baltimore and Miami-Dade counties and the states of Georgia, North Carolina and Vermont.

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Related
Governor Carney Hosts Discussion on Wilmington with the Family Services Cabinet Council
Governor Carney Announces Family Services Cabinet Council Summer Initiative
Governor Carney Reestablishes the Family Services Cabinet Council

During the online holiday shopping season, the Delaware Division of Revenue is joining with the IRS, other state tax agencies and the tax industry to mark “National Tax Security Awareness Week.” From November 27 through December 1, we’d like to remind people to be vigilant with their personal information. While you are shopping for gifts, criminals are shopping for credit card numbers, financial account information, Social Security numbers and other sensitive data that could help them file a fraudulent tax return.

Cyber criminals seek to turn stolen data into quick cash, either by draining financial accounts, charging credit cards, creating new credit accounts or even using stolen identities to file a fraudulent tax return for a refund. Anyone who has an online presence should take a few simple steps that could go a long way to protecting their identity and personal information.

Here are seven steps to help with online safety and protecting tax returns and refunds in 2018:

• Shop at familiar online retailers. Generally, sites using the “s” designation in “https” at the start of the URL are secure. Look for the “lock” icon in the browser’s URL bar. But remember, even bad actors may obtain a security certificate so the “s” may not vouch for the site’s legitimacy.
• Avoid unprotected Wi-Fi. Beware of making purchases at unfamiliar sites or clicking on links from pop-up ads. Unprotected public Wi-Fi hotspots also may allow thieves to view transactions. Do not engage in online financial transactions if using unprotected public Wi-Fi.
• Learn to recognize and avoid phishing emails that pose as a trusted source such as those from financial institutions or the IRS. These emails may suggest a password is expiring or an account update is needed. The criminal’s goal is to entice users to open a link or attachment. The link may take users to a fake website that will steal usernames and passwords or an attachment may download malware that tracks keystrokes.
• Keep a clean machine. This applies to all devices — computers, phones and tablets. Use security software to protect against malware that may steal data and viruses that may damage files. Set it to update automatically so that it always has the latest security defenses. Make sure firewalls and browser defenses are always active. Avoid “free” security scans or pop-up advertisements for security software.
• Use passwords that are strong, long and unique. Experts suggest a minimum of 10 characters, but longer is better. Avoid using a specific word; longer phrases are better. Use a combination of letters, numbers and special characters. Use a different password for each account. If you can’t remember all your passwords, use a password manager, which securely stores the passwords for you.
• Use multi-factor authentication. Some financial institutions, email providers and social media sites allow users to set accounts for multi-factor authentication, meaning users may need a security code, usually sent as a text to a mobile phone, in addition to usernames and passwords. For added protection, some financial institutions also will send email or text alerts when there is a withdrawal or change to the account. Generally, users can check account profiles at these locations to see what added protections may be available.
• Encrypt and password-protect sensitive data. If keeping financial records, tax returns or any personally identifiable information on computers, this data should be encrypted and protected by a strong password. Also, back-up important data to an external source such as an external hard drive. When disposing of computers, mobile phones or tablets, make sure to wipe the hard drive of all information before throwing it away.

There are also a few additional steps people can take a few times a year to make sure they have not become an identity theft victim. Receive a free credit report from each of the three major credit bureaus once a year. Check it to make sure there are no credit changes that don’t look familiar. Create a “My Social Security” account online with the Social Security Administration which can be used to see how much income is attributed to your SSN annually. This can help determine if someone else is using your SSN for employment purposes.

The Division of Revenue, the IRS, and the tax industry are committed to working together to fight against tax-related identity theft and to protect taxpayers. Visit the “Taxes. Security. Together.” awareness campaign, or review IRS Publication 4524, Security Awareness for Taxpayers for additional information.