Network Report

3/29/18

IT'S TIME TO BUILD A MOVEMENT.

Health Justice: Empowering Public Health and Advancing Health Equity

Join us to develop and share strategies to protect the health of our communities and most vulnerable populations. Now more than ever, the combined efforts of practitioners, policymakers, lawyers, advocates and researchers are needed to advance critical public health protections and address growing health inequities.

Early Bird Deadline Extension: Save $100 when you register by May 15!


    

Law and Policy Perspectives:
Food Insecurity and Aging out of the WIC Program

WIC is a highly effective program that helps address the food insecurity of young children. However, WIC benefits end at age five, the assumption being that children will start school and participate in the National School Lunch Program. However, thousands of children do not start school until age six, leaving a critical gap in benefits and creating negative effects on the food security of families.

  

Resources:
Fact Sheet: Legal Interventions to Increase Access to Naloxone in Indiana

Indiana has modified its law to increase access to the opioid overdose reversing medication naloxone by making the medication easier to access and encouraging individuals who obtain naloxone to summon emergency assistance in the event of an overdose. The law’s provisions, however, are less supportive of those activities than similar laws in many states.

    

Webinar:
Local Health Policy 101: Understanding Ordinances, Resolutions, and Proclamations

April 19, 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. EST

Reviewing and updating public health laws and policies is an essential part of public health. At the local level, this task falls to boards of health, health departments, city and county governments, and their legal counsel. All of the players must understand their role and their legal authority. This webinar will discuss resources and strategies for researching law and policy at the local level, and highlight examples of legal and policy innovations in small and medium-sized communities, as well as in the nation’s largest cities.  

  

Legal Technical Assistance Highlight:
Vaccination Requirements for "Baby-to-Work" Programs

A requester from North Dakota contacted the Network to determine whether it was legally permissible to implement a mandatory vaccination policy for their “Baby-to-Work” program, which allows participants to bring their infants (six months old and younger) to work and keep them at their workspace throughout the day. Additionally, they wanted to know whether they were legally required to include certain exemptions in such a mandatory vaccination policy.

Worth Sharing:
Electronic Cigarette Laws Dataset on LawAtlas

A new map was released on LawAtlas.org that shows the variation in laws that address electronic cigarette control. Electronic cigarettes, commonly known as e-cigarettes, are an alternative method to smoking traditional cigarettes by delivering nicotine to users in the form of vapor. The longitudinal dataset on LawAtlas.org shows U.S. federal and state laws that regulate the required age for purchase, possession, and use of e-cigarettes, product definitions for e-cigarettes, nicotine ingredient requirements and whether states include e-cigarette use in their definition of “smoking.” It also includes sale and use location restrictions, licensing requirements, as well as product packaging and online purchasing requirements.


Thank You!
Your interest in the work of the Network is important. Together, we can advance law as a tool to improve public health. Please forward the Report and encourage others to join the Network!

The Network for Public Health Law provides information and technical assistance on issues related to public health. The legal information and assistance provided in this document does not constitute legal advice or legal representation. For legal advice, readers should consult a lawyer in their state.