The SNAP-Ed PDT held their annual face to face meeting in Washington, DC recently. Their time together was spent discussing ways to recognize, support, and expand the work that Land Grant University SNAP-Ed programs do with regard to policy, system, and environmental (PSE) impacts. Below is a summary of the meeting:
The SNAP-Ed Program Development Team, representing all Extension Regions, recently met in Arlington, VA to share and plan for the upcoming year. Highlights of the meeting and the last year:
- We recognized that a great deal of policy, system and environmental (PSE) work is happening in Extension now, but not all states have the understanding or skills needed to engage in this work. We are offering PSE professional development and technical assistance over the next few months to aid our colleagues in Extension.
- We prepared a template to gather data for a new report from Land-Grant Universities about their SNAP-Ed outcomes, both direct education and PSE work. Past national reports have positioned us well. The next report for SNAP-Ed through the Land-Grant University System, which will include data for 2015, will be the first to reflect programming since the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act (HHFKA) of 2010 transitioned SNAP-Ed to a competitive grant and emphasized nutrition education and obesity prevention. This national report will propel Extension, once again, to be seen as effective leaders in SNAP-Education. The previous report from 2010 can be accessed online…. http://nifa.usda.gov/resource/snap-ed-2010-national-lgu-report.
- We presented a webinar to highlight the report: Aligning and Elevating University-Based Low-Income Nutrition Education through the Land-Grant University Cooperative Extension System, which was prepared as part of a project funded by NIFA’s Institute of Food Safety and Nutrition at the request of two former ECOP Chairs, Douglas Steele and Daryl Buchholz, to facilitate increased visibility and improved alignment of EFNEP and SNAP-Ed through the Land-Grant University Cooperative Extension System.
- We developed a PowerPoint to assist SNAP-Ed coordinators in communication with lawmakers.
- We surveyed and shared findings on university responses to changes in grant processes, funding, and agency relationships resulting from HHFKA.
- We presented at the annual national SNAP Directors meeting and shared information about SNAP-Ed through LGUs.
- We submitted a manuscript to the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior that defines terminology used in SNAP-Ed to help develop common language that is understood across all implementing agencies. The manuscript has been reviewed and accepted, subject to revisions.
- We met separately with NIFA and with ECOP and Cornerstone. They helped us understand the needs for strengthening communication and programmatic understanding among SNAP-Ed Coordinators, administrators, and the PDT.
- Team members provided input into the FNS SNAP-Ed Guidance, some of which was included in that document.
- We acknowledged the relationship of the PDT with the Regional Nutrition Education Centers of Excellence. Three PDT members are from host institutions for the centers and one is a center PI.
The PDT committed to the following action items for the next year:
- Hold webinars on:
- Policy, System and Environmental Approaches to SNAP-Ed
- Measuring Collective Impact
- Community Development Competencies and How They Apply to SNAP-Ed
- Refine and distribute a list of talking points on the value of the LGU SNAP-Ed program.
- Produce the fourth National LGU SNAP-Ed Report of Impacts using the template we recently prepared.
- Communicate with Extension Directors/Administrators through a monthly insertion to the “Monday Minute”. Be available to meet with ECOP at least annually.
- Explore ways for the PDT to be involved with the implementation of Cooperative Extension’s Framework for Health and Wellness.