By Crystal Swann
June 28, 2010

Chaired by Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline, the Children, Health and Human Services standing committee met June 12 to discuss the importance of autism awareness, wellness and prevention, childhood obesity, drug abuse prevention as well as to consider policy resolutions.

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) are a group of neurologically based developmental disabilities that can impact a person's functioning across a wide range, from very mild to severe. Individuals with ASD are not different in appearance, but they may communicate, interact, behave and learn in ways that are different from typical peers. Within the state of Illinois, TAP engages more than 30 community partners to offer evidenced based local programs and services including community planning, services for individuals and families as well as training and technical assistance to first responders and others.

Georgia Winson, Chief Administrator for The Autism Program of Illinois, noted that cities could utilize the tools developed by TAP to help them develop similar training and awareness programs in their city departments and community settings to enhance the accessibility of public spaces for children with ASD. "The CDC reports that one in 110 children could be diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder," stated Winson.

In Chicago, the program was helpful with training airport personnel on how to interact and react to children with ASD. The training is critical to making the air travel experience more enjoyable for the child and the family, remarked Lally Daley, Ph.D. Candidate, DePaul University and program support for The Autism Program (TAP) of Illinois.

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health (Science and Medicine) Dr. Anand Parekh shared the latest strategies on prevention and wellness including the $650 million investment in 44 communities focused on obesity prevention and tobacco cessation. While citing the youth behavioral statistic, Parakh noted that only 18 percent of high school students are physically active and only one in five of them are getting the recommended daily allowance of fruits and vegetables. Parekh encouraged the mayors to all participate in First Lady Michelle Obama's "Let's Move Cities and Towns" initiative, but signing up and choosing one action from the four pillars.

"Let's Move Cities and Towns" announced by the First Lady and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius earlier in the meeting places an emphasis on the unique ability of communities to address the problem of childhood obesity locally by highlighting that mayors and elected officials can provide critical leadership bringing communities together and spurring action. The plan encourages prospective cities and towns to support and take action on the four pillars of the Let's Move! Initiative:

1. Help Parents Make Healthy Family Choices

2. Create Healthy Schools

3. Provide Access to Healthy and Affordable Food

4. Promote Physical Activities

For more information on the initiative and to sign your city up as a "Let's Move City," go to the website www.letsmove.gov.

The Children, Health and Human Services Standing Committee joined with the Criminal and Social Justice Standing Committee to participate in a discussion with R. Gil Kerlikowske, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy at The White House. Kerlikowske shared the latest report from the Office of National Drug Control Policy on strategies to reduce drug use. The 2010 Strategy highlights a collaborative and balanced approach that emphasizes community-based prevention, integration of evidence-based treatment into the mainstream health care system, innovations in the criminal justice system to break the cycle of drug use and crime, and international partnerships to disrupt transnational drug trafficking organizations.

• Commemoration of the Passage of the Americans With Isabilities Act — urges mayors to renew their commitment to the ADA and to pay special attention to ensuring that the information and services provided via the Internet or other types of information technology are accessible to people with disabilities.

• Building a National Comprehensive Youth Development Strategy — calls a comprehensive youth development strategy as a major step forward by our nation to remain productive and competitive and to promote economic and social mobility

• ESEA Reauthorization – Supporting Afterschool and the Education of the Whole Child — urges Congress to protect and expand afterschool funding and oppose any cuts to this much-needed program.

• Designation of September as National Child Awareness Month — calls on mayors to recognize the efforts of Festival of Children Foundation and resolve to designate the month of September as National Child Awareness Month.

• Designating September as National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month — supports the designation of National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month to raise public awareness and mobilize the country to address childhood obesity; recognizes the importance of preventing childhood obesity and decreasing its prevalence in the United States.

• Ending Childhood Obesity Within a Generation — urges mayors to raise awareness of the racial and ethnic, socioeconomic and regional disparities which impact the high rates obesity across populations and work to address those disparities in their cities.

• Veteran Burial — calls on the Veterans Administration to provide burial transportation to a national veteran's cemetery for honorably discharged indigent veterans without next-of-kin who die as a result of a non'service related illness or who die outside of a VA hospital facility.

• Volunteer Generation Fund — calls upon Congress to provide $10 million for the Volunteer Generation Fund in FY2011; and that Congress should ensure both nonprofit organizations and state service commissions are eligible to apply for funding, as specified in the original Serve America Act.

• Wellness in Real Estate — encourages mayors to create comprehensive policies and programs to encourage wellness and healthy lifestyles through education and community outreach efforts, and mayors as the chief executive officials to consider key wellness factors when developing real estate, schools and public buildings.

• Providing Permanent Health Monitoring, Treatment and Compensation for People Who Responded to or Survived the 2001 Terrorist Attacks on America — urges Congress to pass legislation that would permanently fund a monitoring and treatment program for Americans who can prove they were exposed to the WTC disaster.

• In Support of the 2010 National Drug Control Strategy — endorses the new approach to drug control reflected in the National Drug Control Strategy and applauds the strategy's call for strengthening prevention in local communities, endorsing the importance of integrating substance abuse treatment into mainstream healthcare, expanding support for recovery, addressing the cycle of drug use, crime, delinquency and incarceration; and seeking to disrupt domestic drug trafficking and production while strengthening international partnerships.

• Accessibility for Persons with Autism Spectrum Disorders — states that The U.S. Conference of Mayors is committed to work with all appropriate organizations to increase access and engagement for individuals with autism spectrum disorders through comprehensive training and support initiatives.

• Improving Treatment and Preventing Drug-Related Harms Among Returning Veterans of the United States Armed Forces — urges immediate policy changes to improve the health, reduce the likelihood of accidental death, and preserve the freedom of those who have served in our armed forces; state and federal governments to modify sentencing statutes and improve court-ordered drug diversion programs to better treat veterans who commit nonviolent drug-related crimes.

• Supporting Sports-Based Youth Development as Catalyst for Social Change — recognizes that sports-based youth development programs provide quality empowerment opportunities to help children and communities build and sustain healthy and safe cities, and adopts as its policy the pursuit of access for all American youth to quality sports programs.