OB-CAFA Background

Upon receiving initial funding from The California Endowment in 2002, Alta Bates Summit Medical Center’s Ethnic Health Institute (EHI) established Oakland/Berkeley Community Action to Fight Asthma (OB-CAFA) with the mission to reduce environmental asthma triggers for school-age children in Oakland and Berkeley through local and regional policy/systems change. In order to most effectively work towards this mission, OB-CAFA worked with three pilot schools during its first three years of funding to produce policy change that could be used as a model for broader systems change at the district level. This approach enabled OB-CAFA to work with principals and school staff, to form a solid base of support for change, and to build skills and credibility before approaching district staff. Subsequently, over the past three years, OB-CAFA has worked to pass and implement district-wide policies.

The OB-CAFA project is supported by an Advisory Board consisting of 15 members representing a broad constituency of individuals from community-based organizations, public health departments, health plans, community members, schools, and other government agencies. The Board members are key in advising OB-CAFA staff on its strategic plan, advocating for OB-CAFA’s policy goals, and serving as a voice for OB-CAFA in the community. The Advisory Board meets every other month and the role of each member is to contribute their experience, expertise, perspective and key external relationships to the thinking and planning of the project. OB-CAFA staff actively participates in numerous organizational and community meetings, which continues to build critical awareness around the asthma issue in our community and which further builds OB-CAFA’s reputation as a convener, catalyst, and advocate for policy change.

Over the last six years, through its work with the advisory board, schools, and a broad range of community partners, OB-CAFA has developed and strengthened relationships with key individuals to further its policy objectives. Relationships have been built and continue to evolve specifically with representatives from community organizations, the Alameda County Public Health Department, the City of Berkeley Public Health Department, administrative and educational leaders at Berkeley and Oakland Unified School Districts, as well as staff from the State of California Department of Health Services. Due to the strong network afforded by its diverse relationships, OB-CAFA has achieved a variety of accomplishments in schools.

Summary of Accomplishments in Schools

OB-CAFA has become a trusted, well-known local resource. By producing the Tools for Schools promotional DVD, “What’s in Your Air? Creating an Asthma-Friendly Environment in Your School,” OB-CAFA was able to draw important attention to the need to address asthma and indoor air quality (IAQ) in Schools while promoting EPA’s Tools for Schools Program. The DVD was created in collaboration with students and staff from Madison Middle School in East Oakland, where OB-CAFA sponsored a celebration and film premier of the DVD. The Tools for Schools video is now posted on the EPA’s Region 9 website at //epa.gov/region09/air/indoor/index.html, and to date a total of 1,092 DVDs have been distributed to schools, community members, and other partners.

In the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD), where asthma prevalence/incidence is among the highest in the county and where OB-CAFA has had the most success, the OB-CAFA Coordinator supported the adoption of an asthma policy by providing public comment on asthma rates in Oakland to OUSD School Board members and the State Administrator. In June 2005, the OUSD Asthma Policy was successfully adopted. In addition to the asthma policy, OB-CAFA has been a key player in the broader development of the OUSD Wellness Policy. The OB-CAFA Coordinator has worked to develop and amend administrative regulations for the wellness policy and advocated for incorporating IAQ components into the policy, while participating on the Safe and Healthy School Environment Committee. The OUSD Wellness Policy was adopted in June 2006.

Subsequently, the OUSD Coordinated School Health Council (CSHC) was formed to implement the Wellness Policy. OB-CAFA participated in monthly CSHC meetings to advocate for the implementation of the IAQ components of the Wellness Policy. The OB-CAFA Coordinator submitted and presented a proposal to CSHC to develop an IAQ classroom tool. This proposal was subsequently designated as a Wellness Policy priority and OB-CAFA staff formed an IAQ Implementation Ad Hoc group to develop IAQ guidelines for the classroom.

OB-CAFA developed two versions of IAQ guidelines for classrooms and distributed a total of 2,863 posters to schools, community members, and other partners. One version was created for OUSD classrooms to highlight and expand upon key IAQ portions of the Wellness Policy with the goal of making the policy language universal and easy to implement in classrooms, while another version was created for other school districts and community partners to use as an outreach tool and to help improve IAQ.

Additionally, the OB-CAFA Coordinator has led an effort to pilot one school in OUSD to leverage Williams Settlement Emergency Repair Program (ERP) funds for facility repairs in order to reduce environmental asthma triggers and improve indoor air quality. Over the last year, OB-CAFA utilized its strong network and expertise to convene a group of stakeholders to discuss coordination and sequencing of planned site modernization plans, repairs, and submission of a Williams Settlement ERP application for Oakland High. The application was submitted to the Office of Public School Construction (OPSC) and the district is currently waiting to hear the grant outcome.

More recently, OB-CAFA partnered with Alameda County Public Health Department’s Community Assessment, Planning and Education (CAPE) Unit to develop an asthma report card– data from which will be crucial in continuing outreach and awareness activities. The report card can be found under the data and reports section at //www.acphd.org.

In order to be effective and successful in building strategically upon these prior efforts, OB-CAFA will narrow its focus to work specifically with OUSD over the next 20 months. This has been OB-CAFA’s primary focus area since the project’s inception, the area in which the project has developed the most expertise, and the area that most effectively builds upon the momentum of the project’s recent accomplishments. OB-CAFA will build upon and expand its key contacts within schools, make use of lessons learned working in the school environment, and work to sustain the years of educational and policy work carried out within the district.

Moving forward, OB-CAFA’s overall policy goal will be to take the implementation of the IAQ components of the OUSD Wellness Policy to the next level in order to institutionalize district-wide efforts to reduce environmental asthma triggers. The OB-CAFA Coordinator will work with the new OUSD Program Manager of Coordinated School Health on the following objectives:

• Guide and support the infrastructure development of the CSHC so that it establishes a clear purpose, structure and goals;

• Establish a permanent IAQ Subcommittee of the CSHC; and

• Assist in the formation of a school-site based council dedicated to Wellness Policy implementation and ongoing monitoring.

For more information, please contact Mindy Landmark, OB-CAFA Project Coordinator, at 510-869-8226 or landmam@sutterhealth.org.

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