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Wednesday, October 23, 2013  
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APAKane County Receives APA-IL 2013 Best Practice Award
Kane County Planning Cooperative is recognized

Kane County has been awarded the 2013 "Best Practice" Award from the Illinois Chapter of the American Planning Association for the implementation efforts of the 2040 Plan through the Kane County Planning Cooperative (KCPC). As you know, the KCPC is a collaborative effort between the County's Health, Transportation, and Development departments, and is the central core of the 2040 Plan's implementation strategies under the overarching theme, Healthy People, Healthy Living and Healthy Communities. 
 
Executive director of the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP), Randy Blankenhorn, expressed support for the KCPC by stating, "Kane County's integration of health, transportation and land use places Kane County at the leading edge of planning in the region and is the most effective way to plan for the future." 

County staff accepted the "Best Practice" award at the APA-IL Chapter Awards Reception on October 4 in Chicago. The award was presented to the County Board the following week (pictured below). 
 
            
PathwaysUpcoming KCPC Workshop- 
"Pathways to Healthier Communities"
Friday, November 15, 2013
8 a.m. - noon
The Lodge at Brewster Creek Forest Preserve

Come join a celebration of "pathways to healthier communities" that have been accomplished locally and learn about pathways you can launch in your community to improve health.  The workshop will include: 
  • Overview of the relationship between planning and community health
  • Local examples of "bright spots" related to improving community health through transportation, the built and natural environment, local foods, and employee wellness. 
  • Roundtable discussions focused around specific tools planners can use to improve community health. 
Please RSVP to Ellen Johnson if you plan to attend the workshop! (johnsonellen@co.kane.il.us; (630)232-3493) 

If your community has initiated policies, projects, or plans to improve community health, we'd love for you to share your community's "bright spot" at the workshop. Please contact us if interested. 

Click to learn more about the workshop! 
HIACall for Projects! 
Health Impact Assessment
County receives LTA grant to perform a HIA for a local municipality
 
Kane County has been awarded a 2014 Local Technical Assistance (LTA) grant from the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) to prepare a health impact assessment (HIA) for a Kane County municipality!  Kane County will partner with CMAP to perform the HIA, while also training CMAP staff in the HIA process and providing an example of HIA for the region. 

HIA is an emerging planning tool used to evaluate how a plan, program, or policy will affect the overall health of a population.  A HIA is designed to inform policy makers
before a plan, program, or policy is adopted.  The topic of study selected by the County and CMAP will be a municipal plan, program, or policy that directly implements CMAP's GO TO 2040 Plan and the Kane County 2040 Plan. 

Are you interested in utilizing HIA in your community?  We'd like to here from interested municipalities; please contact KC Development & Community Services Director Mark VanKerkhoff
 (vankerkhoffmark@co.kane.il.us; (630)232-3451)

Learn more about HIA and previous and potential applications at Health Impact Project.       
WTSDKane County Schools Celebrate International Walk to School Day
 
A record 60 schools in Kane County participated in International Walk to School day on October 9, an event that is sponsored locally by Kane County Fit for Kids Funders' Consortium.  All nine school districts in the county were represented, and Kane County schools made up 37% of all schools that participated in Illinois!  Organized by the Partnership for a Walkable America, Walk to School Day in the USA began in 1997 as a one-day event aimed at building awareness for the need for walkable communities. 
 
Kane County Board Chairman Chris Lauzen participated, as well as Mayor Dave Kaptain of Elgin, Mayor Jeff Schielke of Batavia, and  Mayor Tom Weisner's office of Aurora. Each school plans their own event and encourages parents and students to participate. 
 
This event reminds families that walking to school is a fun and healthy way to start the day and helps encourage a healthy lifestyle, one family at a time.  It also serves as a
reminder to municipalities that sidewalks, walking/biking paths, and walkable neighborhood designs are an important part of planning and make a difference in the health of residents.  Finally, it advances the goals outlined int he Fit Kids 2020 Plan, 2012-2016 Community Health Improvement Plan, 2040 Plan, and 2040 Transportation Plan.  
 
For more information, please contact Janie Maxwell (maxwelljane@co.kane.il.us).
 
The Batavia Fire Department took part in HC Storm Elementary School's Walk to School Week.
Kane County Board Chairman Lauzen walks with students from Fabyan Elementary in Geneva. 
HD2Health Department Seeks Public Health Accreditation
Site visit team impressed with County's integrated planning efforts

Kane County Health Department is pursuing Public Health Accreditation and has completed the final steps in the application process.  A three-person site visit team spent two days with department staff, Board of Health and Health Advisory Committee members, and community partners to learn more about the department and review the more than 300 documents submitted as evidence of meeting national Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) standards. 

Currently, only 19 local health departments nationwide have achieved accreditation.  The team was impressed with the County's integration of health, land use, and transportation planning and recognition that health is influenced by the built environment. 

National public health department accreditation has been developed because of the desire to improve service, value, and accountability to stakeholders.  Accreditation through PHAB provides a means for a department to identify performance improvement opportunities, to improve management, develop leadership, and improve relationships 
with the community.  The site visit was the culmination of nearly three 
years of hard work by the entire staff.  The Public Health Accreditation Board is expected to make a decision in March 2014.

For more information, please contact Jackie Forbes (forbesjackie@co.kane.il.us). 
Contact:
Kane County Planning Cooperative
Ellen Johnson, Land Use Planner - (630) 232-3493 - johnsonellen@co.kane.il.us or kcplancoop@co.kane.il.us


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