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.

By Tim Marema

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On March 10, HRSA’s HIV/AIDS Bureau (HAB) will observe National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. This is a critical opportunity to shed light on the impact of HIV on women and girls and encourage discussions about HIV testing, sexual health, and the availability of HIV prevention or care and treatment services.

HIV disproportionately impacts Black women and transgender women in the United States, and they often face stigmas related to HIV status, gender, gender identity, and ethnicity. While the rate of HIV diagnoses in women has decreased in recent years, thousands of women are still diagnosed with HIV each year. HRSA HAB is committed to helping women diagnosed with HIV get the care, treatment, medication, and support services they need through the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP). In 2019, more than 148,000 women received services through the RWHAP, and nearly 88% of women receiving RWHAP HIV medical care were virally suppressed.

Learn more about the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program.

Telehealth.HHS.gov has added a new best practice guide on telehealth for behavioral health care. Behavioral health – like other areas of health care – has changed significantly due to the COVID-19 public health emergency. It is now easier for mental health providers to offer and get reimbursed for telebehavioral health services. Telehealth can also make behavioral health services safer and more private and convenient for patients who can access care from their home. Find resources in the telebehavioral health best practice guide on getting started, developing a strategy, billing, preparing patients, and more.

Children living in rural communities may experience unique challenges that impact health outcomes. The Rural Health Information Hub (RHIhub), the University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center, and the NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis created a toolkit to help rural organizations with implementing early childhood health promotion programs in their communities.

Check out the toolkit.