The State of Tennessee is seeking input on the State Health Plan through an on-line survey and through a series of public meetings. The first edition of the plan was released in 2009 and is available on-line here.
Tennesseans are invited to give their opinions for the 2010 edition of the State Health Plan. To give your opinion, click here to take the online survey. The survey results will be incorporated into the 2010 State Health Plan, a document of common goals and promising strategies to improve health and health care in Tennessee.
In addition, the Division of Health Planning will hold meetings across Tennessee to discuss goals and strategies for a state health plan. The following meetings have been scheduled with more to follow.
July 9, 10 am – 12 pm Murfreesboro, MTSU
July 13, 10 am – 12 pm Nashville, Tennessee State University
July 15, 1-3 pm Jackson, Tennessee Technology Center
July 16, 1-3 pm Martin, UT Martin
July 20, 10 am – 12 pm Memphis, UT Health Science Center
Additional meetings to be announced in:
Tri-Cities, ETSU
Chattanooga, UT Chattanooga
Cookeville, Tennessee Tech University
Knoxville, UT Howard Baker Center for Public Policy
The Plan establishes Five Principles for Achieving Better Health and outlines a public process for developing goals and strategies for each of the Five Principles. The following Five Principles for Achieving Better Health are based on the Division's enacting legislation:
The purpose of the State Health Plan is to improve the health of Tennesseans;
Every citizen should have reasonable access to health care;
The state's health care resources should be developed to address the needs of Tennesseans while encouraging competitive markets, economic efficiencies, and the continued development of the state's health care system;
Every citizen should have confidence that the quality of health care is continually monitored and standards are adhered to by health care providers; and
The state should support the recruitment and retention of a sufficient and quality health care workforce
Monday, June 21, 2010
Friday, June 18, 2010
Business Continuity Planning and Disaster Recovery
The recent widespread flooding that impacted over half of Tennessee's counties highlights the importance of having an up-to-date disaster recovery or business continuity plan. While many communities are still in the recovery process, those that are not may want to take this time to review and analyze their plans. There are many resources available on the Internet related to disaster recovery and business continuity. One detailed publication developed by the National Fire Protection Association sets standards for development and management of a disaster/emergency management plan and business continuity program. That resource is available here.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
May Revenue Report - Mixed News
State tax collections for May were less than budgeted, yet included positive growth in state sales tax collections. Finance and Administration Commissioner Dave Goetz reports that overall May revenues were $767.1 million, which is $18.6 million less than the state budgeted. May sales tax collections represent consumer spending that occurred in the month of April.
“May is the second consecutive month this fiscal year in which sales tax collections posted positive growth over the year before; and before April, we had not seen positive growth since May of 2008," Goetz said. “This is encouraging and we hope this marks the beginning of economic recovery for Tennessee. However, we will continue to closely monitor collections and do whatever is necessary to end this fiscal year with a balanced budget and leave the next governor with a balanced budget on a recurring basis.”
The general fund was under-collected by $16.5 million, and the four other funds were under-collected by $2.1 million. Sales tax collections were $6.1 million less than the estimate for May. The May growth rate was positive 3.70%. For ten months revenues are under-collected by $207.9 million. The year-to-date growth rate for ten months was negative 3.38%.
For more information, go here
“May is the second consecutive month this fiscal year in which sales tax collections posted positive growth over the year before; and before April, we had not seen positive growth since May of 2008," Goetz said. “This is encouraging and we hope this marks the beginning of economic recovery for Tennessee. However, we will continue to closely monitor collections and do whatever is necessary to end this fiscal year with a balanced budget and leave the next governor with a balanced budget on a recurring basis.”
The general fund was under-collected by $16.5 million, and the four other funds were under-collected by $2.1 million. Sales tax collections were $6.1 million less than the estimate for May. The May growth rate was positive 3.70%. For ten months revenues are under-collected by $207.9 million. The year-to-date growth rate for ten months was negative 3.38%.
For more information, go here
Department of Corrections Study on Recidivism
The Tennessee Department of Correction has discovered some encouraging news in its latest study on recidivism. The just released report shows that felons released from TDOC prisons are now less likely to return to custody.
The return rate for ex-felons dropped 3% in the latest survey. For 2005, the recidivism rate stood at 38.8% for offenders who had been out of prison for three years. That's compared to a 42% rate in 2001. While there is no recognized national average for recidivism, return rates range as high as 65% for individual states.
For Tennessee taxpayers, a 3% drop in return means an annual savings of $3,933,502.80 based on the $64.92 daily rate to house an inmate.
Even better news is that the TDOC is maintaining extremely low return rates for felons convicted of violent crimes such as murder, rape and assault. Three years after their release, these offenders were only 25% likely to return to prison compared to the nearly 44% return rate for those convicted of property offenses.
Unfortunately however, (as documented in an article from Nashville Public Radio found here) the rate went up for felons serving their time in county jails. Commissioner Gayle Ray says prisons have the advantage of programs to rehabilitate inmates. But she says not all county jails can afford to do the same.
“Counties are really strapped for the amount of money that’s given to jails, and especially some of the rural counties, they’re barely able to hire correctional officers, much less put in programs – They just don’t have those resources.”
The study also found recidivism was lowest among felons released after serving their full sentence, compared to probation or parole. The full report is available on the TDOC website here.
The return rate for ex-felons dropped 3% in the latest survey. For 2005, the recidivism rate stood at 38.8% for offenders who had been out of prison for three years. That's compared to a 42% rate in 2001. While there is no recognized national average for recidivism, return rates range as high as 65% for individual states.
For Tennessee taxpayers, a 3% drop in return means an annual savings of $3,933,502.80 based on the $64.92 daily rate to house an inmate.
Even better news is that the TDOC is maintaining extremely low return rates for felons convicted of violent crimes such as murder, rape and assault. Three years after their release, these offenders were only 25% likely to return to prison compared to the nearly 44% return rate for those convicted of property offenses.
Unfortunately however, (as documented in an article from Nashville Public Radio found here) the rate went up for felons serving their time in county jails. Commissioner Gayle Ray says prisons have the advantage of programs to rehabilitate inmates. But she says not all county jails can afford to do the same.
“Counties are really strapped for the amount of money that’s given to jails, and especially some of the rural counties, they’re barely able to hire correctional officers, much less put in programs – They just don’t have those resources.”
The study also found recidivism was lowest among felons released after serving their full sentence, compared to probation or parole. The full report is available on the TDOC website here.
Local Parks and Recreation Fund Grant Workshop
In the 2010-2011 budget, the General Assembly appropriated $3.7 million for the Local Parks and Recreation Fund (LPRF). On Wednesday June 30, 2010, the Department of Environment and Conservation will host a grant workshop at the Fleming Training Center at 2022 Blanton Drive in Murfreesboro on how to apply for these grants. The workshop will begin at 10:00 AM central time. The grants are intended to help communities create and expand parks and recreation services. These grants may also be used for trail development and capital projects in parks, natural areas and greenways. LPRF grants have a maximum possible award of $200,000 and require a 50% match. Each county and municipality may submit one application per grant cycle. Cities and counties may also apply jointly for one additional project. The department has begun accepting applications for grants from the LPRF and will continue to do so up until the application dealine of August 13. Grants recipients are expected to be announced this fall.
Household Hazardous Waste Collection Changes
The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation’s Household Hazardous Waste Program is making changes for the coming Fiscal Year and into the future to provide mobile collection service to a greater number of counties and to capture the most hazardous household chemicals throughout the State. In an effort to achieve this goal the HHW Program will no longer accept paint or electronics at the mobile collection events. These two categories of waste have comprised almost three-quarters of the material collected at these events in the past, but are considered minimally hazardous wastes. TDEC says experience indicates that when these two waste streams are diverted away from the mobile collection events, participation and idle times in long lines decrease tremendously. This makes these events more effective at recovering and disposing of the most dangerous household chemicals and wastes.
For paint, the State’s contractor will collect oil-based paint only, at fixed locations. They will continue to provide storage containers, box liners, and milk run pickup service. This service will continue to be provided at no cost to the County. Refer to the Household Paint Management Guidance and Policy on TDEC’s Web page for details. That policy can be found here.
The Household Hazardous Waste Program is available to discuss options that can best meet the needs of each County. If you would like to participate and need technical assistance in launching a local program for the collection of batteries, oil, paint, antifreeze and electronics, you can contact Paula Mitchell at 615-532-9265 or by email at paula.mitchell@tn.gov for more information. TDEC will be soliciting HHW requests for the fall season at a later date.
For paint, the State’s contractor will collect oil-based paint only, at fixed locations. They will continue to provide storage containers, box liners, and milk run pickup service. This service will continue to be provided at no cost to the County. Refer to the Household Paint Management Guidance and Policy on TDEC’s Web page for details. That policy can be found here.
The Household Hazardous Waste Program is available to discuss options that can best meet the needs of each County. If you would like to participate and need technical assistance in launching a local program for the collection of batteries, oil, paint, antifreeze and electronics, you can contact Paula Mitchell at 615-532-9265 or by email at paula.mitchell@tn.gov for more information. TDEC will be soliciting HHW requests for the fall season at a later date.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Session Adjourns - Legislative Conference Concludes
The lack of posts here are more a reflection on too much activity rather than too little over the last month. As the legislative session wound to a close, meetings often extended late into the day. Hopefully I can resume providing new information here now that my schedule is more normal.
The General Assembly adjourned for the year on Thursday, June 10th in the wee hours of the morning. Earlier that week, the TCSA Legislative Conference wrapped up in Gatlinburg on Wednesday morning. The conference was a success even though some legislators scheduled to speak were unable to attend due to the continuation of the legislative session. Thanks to all of you who attended and participated in the conference.
Over the coming weeks I hope to make more information about the outcome of the legislative session available to you here. As for association functions for the upcoming summer, I have already begun planning and development on our 8 TCCA regional meetings for this upcoming September and hope to have all dates and locations finalized soon. I will also be working with the UT County Technical Assistance Service on training sessions for newly elected county commissioners for the County Officials Orientation Program offered this upcoming August after the county election.
Thanks for your continued support of the association and its activities.
The General Assembly adjourned for the year on Thursday, June 10th in the wee hours of the morning. Earlier that week, the TCSA Legislative Conference wrapped up in Gatlinburg on Wednesday morning. The conference was a success even though some legislators scheduled to speak were unable to attend due to the continuation of the legislative session. Thanks to all of you who attended and participated in the conference.
Over the coming weeks I hope to make more information about the outcome of the legislative session available to you here. As for association functions for the upcoming summer, I have already begun planning and development on our 8 TCCA regional meetings for this upcoming September and hope to have all dates and locations finalized soon. I will also be working with the UT County Technical Assistance Service on training sessions for newly elected county commissioners for the County Officials Orientation Program offered this upcoming August after the county election.
Thanks for your continued support of the association and its activities.
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