The Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities (DoBS) is partnering with the Pennsylvania Food Merchants Association (PFMA) to provide voluntary training for convenience and grocery store employees to help identify and prevent seniors from being victims of gift card scams.

The training is part of an ongoing initiative by the department to partner with professionals and professional organizations to recognize and report elder financial exploitation and will focus on assorted scams that involve the purchase of gift cards. The training will help store employees spot potential victims of scams and what they can do to help stop the transactions.

“Elder financial exploitation is a scourge on our commonwealth that has not yielded with the challenges posed by COVID-19,” said Tina Kotsalos, Director of the Investor Education and Consumer Outreach Office. “We are thrilled to work with our partners to reduce exploitation through gift card scams and help inform consumers about how to protect their assets.”

“The PA Food Merchants Association is pleased to collaborate with DoBS on this and future training to help combat a continuing problem in Pennsylvania,” said Alex Baloga, president and CEO of PFMA. “We value the opportunity to educate our members about the risks and scams that their customers are facing.”

Gift card scams are a common tactic used by scammers and has grown in frequency over the past several years. Scammers will often instruct victims to make payment for a fictitious debt or fee via payment by gift card because the funds are difficult to trace once the card number and pin are provided to a third party.

Anyone who has been instructed to make payment via gift card should immediately cease contact with the caller and alert local law enforcement using a non-emergency number or report the activity to the Pennsylvania State Police by emailing tips@pa.gov.

The department uses its innovative, research-based programs to train medical doctors, lawyers, social workers, senior service providers, and other professionals who have contact with older Pennsylvanians to recognize and report financial abuse.

Learn more about the free programs and presentations available or contact us to request a program tailored to your specific needs.

Visit the commonwealth’s Responding to COVID-19 guide for the latest guidance and resources for Pennsylvanians or the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s dedicated coronavirus webpage for the most up-to-date information regarding COVID-19.

Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding announced the opening of the 2020-21 PA Farm Bill’s $500,000 Farm to School Grant Program to improve access to healthy, local foods and increase agriculture education opportunities for children pre-kindergarten through fifth grade.

“The future of Pennsylvania agriculture relies on developing an agriculture literate society, and that begins with our very youngest Pennsylvanians,” said Redding. “It’s so important that we talk to young kids about where their food comes from and foster an appreciation for the role of agriculture in their everyday lives.

“The best way to do this is to improve childhood access to nutritious, local foods, which is exactly what this $500,000 Farm to School Grant Program is here to do,” said Redding.

The Pennsylvania Farm Bill Farm to School Grant Program aims to enrich the connection communities have with fresh, healthy food and local producers by changing food purchasing and education practices at schools and early childhood education sites.

Any school district, charter school, or private school with pre-kindergarten classes, kindergarten, or elementary through fifth grade – regardless of offering in-person, virtual, or hybrid instruction models – is eligible to apply for up to $15,000. Eligible applications should include:

• A list of Pennsylvania farmers who have agreed to supply products from their farms;
• Nutrition and agriculture education, including integration into regular classroom subjects;
• Training of teachers and other educational staff on nutrition and agriculture education;
• Inclusion of parents, caregivers, and community groups in educational activities; and
• Field trips to Pennsylvania farms or other direct agricultural experiences which teach children about sources of food and Pennsylvania agriculture.

Redding was joined by state Representatives Danilo Burgos and John Hershey, champions for the Farm to School legislation in Governor Tom Wolf’s initial Pennsylvania Farm Bill, and Rick Sayles, project coordinator for the Steelton-Highspire School District Farm to School project from the last round of funding.

With their $15,000 Farm to School grant, Steelton-Highspire has worked to launch their Environmental & Agricultural Technology (EAT) Enrichment Project with a goal to address student food insecurity by increasing knowledge of food and agriculture disciplines such as horticulture and STEM. The district acquired contracts with local farmers and agribusinesses such as Strites Orchard, Chartwells, Stocks on Second, and Penn State master gardeners to plan activities for students that simultaneously provided access to fresh, local food and provided opportunities to learn more about how food gets from farm to school.

As the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted traditional learning models, the district adapted its programming with weekly pop-up learning lunches and a produce stand manned by EAT project students. The district was also able to coordinate small group “Fruit & Fun” events with Strites Orchard, where K-5 students enrolled in an after-school program picked and donated more than 800 pounds of produce for the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank.

“Our Farm to School grant has allowed us to increase agriculture education programing and provide an opportunity for students to apply their learning to their every day life,” said Sayles. “The Steelton-Highspire School District is grateful for this opportunity to better our students lives and the entire school community.”

The PA Farm to School Grant Program is now open and accepting applications through March 30, 2021.

The PA Farm Bill is a comprehensive set of programming and funding for Pennsylvania’s agriculture industry. With the third round of funding proposed in Governor Wolf’s 2021-22 budget, the PA Farm Bill will continue to strengthen the resiliency of the industry so many rely on to sustain life.

For more information about the Pennsylvania Farm Bill visit agriculture.pa.gov/pafarmbill. The Department of Agriculture is actively working to roll out grant programs for the 2020-21 funding. The Ag and Youth Grant Program and Commonwealth Specialty Crop Block Grant Program are open now with their application periods closing on March 5, 2021. The Urban Ag Grant Program opened on March 1 and has an April 16, 2021 deadline.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development is accepting applications for projects that prioritize strategic investments to grow the economy and build prosperity in rural communities.

Strategic Economic and Community Development (SECD) funding may be used to develop and implement multi-jurisdictional or multi-sectoral strategic community investment plans. Rural Development implements SECD by reserving funds from the appropriations for covered programs.

The deadline to approve and obligate funds for the Community Facilities Direct Loan and Grant Program is June 30, 2021. All Community Facilities Guaranteed Loan applications must also be received prior to this date. In Pennsylvania, projects will be limited to renovations and equipment procurement because of the short application window.

In Pennsylvania, contact your local county loan specialist with questions or additional information.

To apply for SECD funding, applicants must meet all requirements and application deadlines for the program to which they are applying. In addition, applicants must submit Form RD 1980-88, “Strategic Economic Community Development (Section 6401).” Applicants applying for SECD funding through a loan guarantee program may submit forms under the OneRD Guarantee Loan Initiative application guidelines. All SECD direct loans and grant applications should be submitted through a local area loan specialist.

This funding is awarded on a competitive basis. Consideration of proposed projects will be based on:

1. How well the project supports multi-jurisdictional plan,
2. Whether the plan contains evidence of collaboration among multiple stakeholders,
3. Whether the project leverages applicable regional resources; and
4. Whether the plan includes clear objectives with measurable metrics.

For additional information, see page 1918 of the January 11, 2021, Federal Register.

If you’d like to subscribe to USDA Rural Development updates, visit our GovDelivery subscriber page.

The Rural Health Value team recently updated its Catalog of Value-Based Initiatives for Rural Providers. Includes one-page summaries of various HHS value-based programs appropriate for rural participation.

Catalog of Value-Based Initiatives for Rural Providers. Summarizes rural-relevant, value-based programs to help rural leaders and communities identify Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) value-based programs appropriate for rural participation. Covers programs implemented by HHS, primarily by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and its Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation. Recent catalog additions include 1) Community Health Access and Rural Transformation (CHART) Community Transformation and Accountable Care Organization Tracks 2) the Radiation Oncology Model, and 3) the Value in Opioid Disorder Treatment Model. (Updated 2021)

Link:  https://ruralhealthvalue.public-health.uiowa.edu/files/Catalog%20Value%20Based%20Initiatives%20for%20Rural%20Providers.pdf

A new resource collection website, AID in PA, has recently launched. The site was created in partnership with the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services Office of Developmental Programs, PA HCQUs, ASERT, and Temple University. The site provides resource collections designed specifically for the ID/A communities, their parents and caregivers, professionals and the communities across Pennsylvania. The site is home to a variety of topics.

AID in PA began in response to the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. ODP knew it was a time of particular need for the ID/DD/A communities of Pennsylvania. The original goal was to arm self-advocates and those who support them with the necessary information to navigate and cope with a global health crisis, but has since grown to offering guidance and support through a multitude of challenges facing the ID/DD/A communities such as healthy sexuality and trauma support and recovery.

Explore the resources available on the AID in PA site.

From the PA State Data Center

According to analysis of the 2019 American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS), women accounted for at least 80 percent of graduates in eight degree fields with at least 10,000 graduates.

Of those 25 years of age and over with a Bachelor’s degree or higher, nine-out-of-ten graduates of Communication Disorders Science, Early Childhood Education, Nursing, and Family and Consumer Science are women. Women accounted for less than 20 percent of graduates in six degree fields with at least 10,000 graduates, mainly engineering fields.

Click here to see female representation across all degree fields with at least 10,000 graduates.