DOVER, DE (Aug. 8, 2022) — The Delaware Division of Public Health’s (DPH) Physical Activity, Nutrition, and Obesity Prevention Program (PANO) is seeking mini-grant applications as part of the Advancing Healthy Lifestyles (AHL) initiative to improve community health and reduce chronic health conditions.  

PANO expects to award five to eight mini-grants ranging from $5,000 to $15,000 in September.  All applications are due no later than August 17. The project period will run from October 2022 to May 2023. PANO will award the mini-grants based on several criteria, including the project’s alignment with AHL outcomes and whether the applicant uses an equity-based approach. Mathematica, the technical assistance contractor on the AHL Initiative, will manage the mini-grant program and contracts on PANO’s behalf. 

“Good health begins with good habits and good nutrition,” said DPH Associate Deputy Director Cassandra Codes-Johnson. “Many chronic conditions and life-threatening illnesses can be prevented with diet, exercise and healthy habits. DPH is committed to ensuring that all Delawareans have access to the tools they need to lead longer, healthier lives.”

In January 2021, PANO began work on the AHL initiative by implementing suggestions from the Delaware Cancer Consortium’s (DCC) subcommittee in schools, youth-serving organizations, and in community-based organizations.

Through the AHL initiative, PANO seeks to reduce obesity and other chronic conditions while striving to achieve health equity among all Delaware residents. PANO aims to support programs aligned with the goals of the AHL initiative through its policy, systems and environmental (PSE) and health equity approaches. Community partners are uniquely able to provide outreach and education, as well as opportunities to improve physical activity, offer access to healthy food, and work towards maintaining a healthy weight. 

Grant Eligibility and Requirements

Applications should include a description of how the applicant will be flexible in response to changes in the COVID-19 pandemic and how projects will serve people who are disproportionately impacted by chronic disease and COVID-19. 

 

Who can apply? Eligibility for the mini-grants includes:  

• Municipalities, community-based organizations and/or non-profits 

• • Applicants must have a Delaware business license or proof of non-profit status and liability insurance 
  • If the applicant does not meet these requirements, the applicant may choose to partner with another organization to be their fiscal agent 

PANO hosted an informational session on the mini-grant applications on July 28, 2022. To view the recording or access the application, visit the Advancing Healthy Lifestyles | Healthy Delaware website.

 

Disparities in Obesity: Delaware 

According to the 2021 State of Obesity Report by Trust for America’s Health (TFAH), 36.5% of adult Delawareans were overweight and another 32.2% were obese in 2020. The report found Black Delaware adults disproportionately obese (43%) compared to white Delaware adults (33%). It also reported thirty-eight percent (38%) of Delaware adults over 65 years are obese. According to the CDC, obesity is a risk factor linked to at least 13 types of cancer. As Delaware’s population ages, the rising prevalence of obesity raises the likelihood of Delawareans living with and dying from chronic disease in the future.

 AHL Accomplishments to Date

• Established a partnership between the Boys & Girls Clubs of Delaware and public schools to pilot the Triple Play model, which seeks to improve students’ knowledge of nutrition and fitness, increase physical activities and strengthen students’ skills for engaging in healthy relationships 
• Engaged with three community partners the American Lung Association, University of Delaware – Cooperative Extension, and Delaware State University to support the implementation of partners’ health promotion models through financial support and intensive technical assistance
• Led the development and implementation of the Work for Wellness program, which supports the organizational capacity and implementation of healthy promotion activities in Delaware’s executive branch agencies and departments.

To learn more about the Advancing Healthy Lifestyles initiative, please visit https://www.healthydelaware.org/Community-Partners/Advancing-Healthy-Lifestyles.  

 

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Anyone who is deaf, hard of hearing, Deaf-Blind or speech disabled can contact DPH by dialing 711 first using specialized devices (i.e., TTY, TeleBraille, voice devices). The 711 service is free and to learn more about how it works, please visit 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. 

In the past three years, Delaware has reunited owners with more than $300 million in unclaimed property. On Friday, October 28, 2016 the Delaware Department of Finance will publish the names and addresses of approximately 169,000 owners of unclaimed property in the Delaware State News and the News Journal. The list will include the names of individuals who have had property reported to the Office of Unclaimed Property within the last year. The publication will provide owners with a variety of ways to recover their property.

Many people find it hard to believe they may have overlooked an investment or savings account, but the thousands of names published annually show that it happens more often than you might think. Unclaimed property can include forgotten bank accounts, un-cashed checks, insurance policy proceeds, stocks, dividends, and utility deposits and refunds. Most of these accounts are considered abandoned, and have been turned over to the state after years of inactivity. If you’re interested in being reunited with your property, visit our fast, safe, and secure website at https://delaware.findyourunclaimedproperty.com to complete your claim.

The agency continues to find new and refined ways to reunite owners with their assets as quickly and securely as possible. These enhanced features allow visitors to submit and check their claims status anywhere, at any time. Since the department unveiled its updated searchable website last year, it has rolled out a succession of improvements that make the process of recovering property more convenient for property owners. Owners who seek to recover property can now file claims using mobile devices and safely and securely upload documentation to claims processing staff.

If you’re interested in reconnecting with your property, “The web claim process is simple, and can be completed in a few minutes,” says State Escheator, David Gregor. “We encourage citizens to visit the website at any time to see if they may be entitled to recover property.”

For more information, please visit https://delaware.findyourunclaimedproperty.com, email escheat.claimquestions@delaware.gov, or call the Office of Unclaimed Property at (855) 505-7520.

 

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Leslie A. Poland
Public Information Officer
Delaware Division of Revenue
(302) 577-8522
leslie.poland@delaware.gov

In January, Lt. Gov. Denn spoke to the Greater Kent County Committee about how Delaware moves ahead after coming back from the worst economic crisis to hit the state since the Great Depression. In three editorials over the next few months, he will share his thoughts regarding the economy, controlling business costs and education.

The national Bureau of Labor Statistics put our unemployment rate in Delaware at 6.5 percent in November. That’s the best it’s been in five years — it essentially puts us back to where we were when the national economy crashed in late 2008. Some people say that number is deceptive because the labor force is smaller now, but the labor-force number goes up and down over time — our state labor force today is larger than it was in November, 2010.

How does that unemployment rate compare to our neighbors? Maryland is right around where we are at 6.4 percent — but with a full 25 percent of its non-farm workforce in recession-proof government work, compared to 14.7 percent of ours. Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate is 7.3 percent. New Jersey’s unemployment rate is 7.8 percent. New York’s is 7.4 percent. Connecticut’s is 7.6 percent. Rhode Island’s is 9 percent.

Are we the best in the country? No. Are we even close to satisfied with being the best in the region? Absolutely not — we won’t be satisfied until every Delawarean who wants work can find it. But as we look ahead to determine how we will build on our success, we should appreciate how far we’ve come and the better place from where we start.

When we are at our best in Delaware in creating economic opportunity, we are doing three things well. First, we are making our state an attractive place for anyone to do business. We recognize that no one — least of all government agencies — bats a thousand guessing winners and losers in these unpredictable economic times, and we have to make sure that the fundamentals of our economy are such that we are an attractive place to move and grow for all types of employers.

Second, while we are strengthening our overall profile as a state to do business, we need to be smart about those economic areas where we have, or could work to have, strategic advantages, and pay special attention to those areas.

And third, when there are particular companies that are interested in locating or expanding here and offer the real prospect of putting Delawareans to work, we need to be extremely responsive to them. We can’t lose our focus on any of these three areas — it doesn’t matter, for example, how nimble or responsive we are to potential new employers, if the underlying economic environment in our state isn’t attractive to them.

Working with Chairman Gary Stockbridge, I recently announced that the state’s Workforce Investment Board is seeking permission from the federal government to implement a new program that would dramatically increase the workforce training funds made available to small businesses willing to hire and train new employees, and all businesses willing to hire and train Delawareans who have been unemployed for long periods of time.

If approved by the United States Department of Labor, the new program will allow the state to pay 90 percent of a new employee’s wages if that employee is hired by a business of 50 or fewer people or the new employee has been unemployed for over 26 weeks.

The program would be funded with existing federal workforce investment funds. The subsidy would last as long as the employee was receiving specialized training from the employer, and employers participating in the program would be required to demonstrate a commitment to keeping employees in the workplace after the expiration of the grant.

The program already exists in Delaware, but because it requires a 50-percent salary match from employers, it is not widely used.

It is a great opportunity for us to give our small businesses another tool to hire new workers and give them valuable training, and also a way for us to incentivize hiring of some of our neighbors who have been out of work for a long time. The best part is we can do it using job-training money that we already receive from the federal government.

The fundamentals are easily stated but hard to do. The governor and I hear them over and over from employers. Employers want a well- educated and trained workforce — students graduating from high school, college graduates, and adults who have learned skills after finishing school. Employers want a low cost of doing business. They want to be in a state that has a good quality of life — where they and their employees will want to live. And they want a supportive government, not one that necessarily gives them everything they want but one that listens and understands that for business, time is money.

On those fundamentals, we have solid progress to report but still a lot of work to do together.

Matt Denn
Lieutenant Governor