As of Wednesday, 3/18, 2020, Gamblers Anonymous will have an accommodation for all Gamblers Anonymous members who have been told that their regular meeting facilities have been closed due to the current health emergency.

The Board of Trustees Telephone Conference Call Committee has been operating a weekly Telephone Conference Call meeting for the last 6 years. With the approval of the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, the committee has volunteered to hold daily meetings. Accordingly, there will be a telephone conference call meeting every day of the week at 9:00 PM New York Time, which is GMT -4, lasting for 2 hours. These will meetings are designated as approved Gamblers Anonymous meetings. These meetings are scheduled to continue for a 2-week period, but may be extended additional weeks, if required.

Below are the details to call in for all the meetings.

The telephone conference call platform we are using has local access telephone numbers for 74 different countries. If you are going to call from a foreign country, please use the appropriate email address to request the local calling numbers.

The Dis-EASE of Disordered Gambling: Pain, Fear & Vulnerability
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[Dodge City, Kansas] - Daniel J Trolaro, Assistant Executive Director of the Council of Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey will present a professional workshop and community event entitled “The Dis-Ease of Disordered Gambling: Pain, Fear & Vulnerability” at the United Wireless Center in Dodge City on April 6th. CEUs are available for those attending the professional workshop from 1 to 4 pm; anyone may attend the community event from 7 to 8 pm. Click here to RSVP for both events  or call 620-227-1562 by March 13th.

Using elements from his own life and journey, Trolaro will examine the '"DIS"ease' of gambling addiction as well as the importance of community and connection in the recovery process. "For those who struggle with problem and disordered gambling," Trolaro explains, "their drug of choice is a process—-rather than a substance—-which serves as a solution to a deeper problem that includes varying degrees of pain including physical, psychological, emotional, and for most financial. Pain resulting from trauma, PTSD, abuse, adverse childhood experiences and neglect that goes unresolved will continue to manifest itself in the downward spiral of gambling addiction." A comprehensive, holistic approach that treats the whole person from deep within can lead to a sustained and meaningful long-term recovery.

The workshop and community event are being hosted by the Southwest Kansas Problem Gambling Taskforce as part of this year's Problem Gambling Awareness Month campaign that is being held throughout the month of March. The campaign theme “Awareness + Action” is all about taking action and having conversations about problem gambling issues and directing people to the help they may need. Approximately 2 million U.S. adults (1% of the population) are estimated to meet criteria for gambling disorder. Another 4-6 million (2-3%) are considered to meet criteria for problem gambling. And yet for many residents of the US, gambling remains a hidden addiction.

Using the tagline #AwarenessPlusAction, Problem Gambling Awareness Month (#PGAM) is designed to help raise awareness of the prevention, treatment and recovery services available for those adversely affected by gambling. This grassroots campaign brings together a wide range of stakeholders, including public health organizations, treatment providers, advocacy groups and gambling operators. They work collaboratively to let people know that hope and help exist.

About Daniel J Trolaro
Daniel Trolaro graduated from The College of New Jersey with a BS in Finance and a concentration in Economics. He also holds his MS in Psychology from California Coast University. Dan has spoken at dozens of events around the country about internet and mobile device gambling as well as emerging trends in sports gambling Whether speaking on prevention strategies, treatment resources, responsible gaming or recovery resources, Dan discusses the concept of gambling, addiction switching, co-occurrence, and behaviors associated with this devastating addiction.

About the Southwest Kansas Problem Gambling Taskforce
Founded in 2008, the mission of the Southwest Kansas Problem Gambling Task Force is to raise awareness and provide education to individuals, families, and communities to reduce the harmful effects of problem gambling. The Task Force is neither for nor against gambling but concentrates on efforts to help those affected by problem gambling through public awareness, prevention, and education programs and ensuring resources are available to problem gamblers and their families.

For more information, contact Amy Falcon at 620-227-1590, or by email at afalcon@CatholicCharitiesSWKS.org

​Members present: Amy Falcon, Debbie Snapp, Larissa Craig, Juan Baez and Ethel Schneweis.  
 
Members present by phone: None.
 
Call to order and approve agenda: Amy Falcon. 
 
Review and Approval of Minutes: Amy passed out the minutes for September 2019 and they were approved.  
 
Fiscal agent Financial Report: The new budget has not been completed yet therefore the financial reports were not available today.  
 
Agenda Item 1: Public Awareness: Amy led a discussion about holding a conference in March, which is Problem Gambling Awareness Month. Juan reported that he talked to Dan Trolaro and he has agreed to speak at our event on Monday, March 30, 2020. He will do a 3 hour professional workshop in the afternoon and a 1 hour community presentation in the evening. He lowered his cost to 1500.00 plus expenses. Amy and Juan are working on a budget for the conference. There was a discussion about where to hold the conference. The task force agreed that the United Wireless Conference Center would be the best choice. Amy will talk with Christa Roy about obtaining sponsorships for the conference. Debbie suggested that we set up an online registration process in order to know how many attendees to expect. We will also be able to provide CEUs to those who need them.  
 
Amy reported that the school district responded to the request to send the fliers home with students. Since they have a large number of requests, they would like to add the flier to their online resources for parents. They also shared the Flier distribution policy. 
 
Debbie will talk with Sacred Heart Cathedral School about sending the fliers home with students. 
 
Agenda Item 2: Membership: There are no new members at this time. Amy had recruitment packets available for task force members to take with them. 
 
Agenda Item 3: Education: NA.
 
Agenda Item 4: Data Collection: Amy led a discussion about the community surveys. There have been 413 completed at this time, with 58 of those being done online. 
Amy will talk with Shannon to find out if we have reached our targets or if we need to reach out to more people. 
 
Agenda Item 5: KDADS update: The following was reported by Juan Baez: Once the budget is completed, we will get the new reporting form; they have created and distributed a new action plan form, which is due on November 1, 2019; the southeast task force has an event scheduled for 3-16-20; DCCCA is creating information around gaming for youth, young adults and parents; everyone needs to be entering data into the Community Check Box as well as completing the progress reports; the south central task force presented at the Prevention Conference along with Juan; Juan reached out to Liberal to share the community survey; Joy sent the community survey links to the Pratt Coalition and the Meade Coalition; Stephanie and Joann, providers in Wichita, will be providing some training to Beacon; we need to update our providers on the flier as Peggy Cecil is no longer at new Chance and there is a new provider in Liberal, we also need to add that Brenda Alarcon is bilingual.  
 
Old Business: See public awareness section for old business.  
 
New Business: 2020 Grant Deliverables: Amy is working on completing the new action plan that is due to KDADS on November 1, 2019. Debbie is working on completing the budget. Amy reported that there were 108 people reached on the Facebook page and it had 53 engagements this week. 
 
Amy provided the new helpline report completed by Shannon Dick and Debbie led a discussion about the data, which continues to show the high numbers of calls in Ford county. 
 
Next Meeting Reminder: November 14, 2019 
 
Time of Adjournment: 2:30 p.m. 

Members present: Amy Falcon, Debbie Snapp, Christa Roy, Larissa Craig, Cindy Jacobs and Abbey Martin.  
 
Members present by phone: None.
 
Call to order and approve agenda: Amy Falcon. 
 
Review and Approval of Minutes: Amy passed out the minutes for August 2019 and they were approved.  
 
Fiscal agent Financial Report: The new budget has not been completed yet therefore the July and August reports are not available.  
 
Agenda Item 1: Public Awareness: Amy led a discussion about holding a conference in March, which is Problem Gambling Awareness Month. The task force would like to move forward with this. Amy will ask Juan to contact the potential speakers identified by the task force, in order to inquire about their costs and dates available. Christa suggested getting sponsorships from businesses to help with the costs associated with the event as well as working with the Chamber and Economic Development. Abbey will talk with the Young Professionals group about the possibility of their participation as well. Cindy asked if this can be a regular line item in our budget each year. The task force agreed that this is something that can be listed as an awareness event as a line item. 
 
Amy had fliers available for the task force members to take with them. Abbey took some to post in the city offices. Amy will contact with school to inquire about sending the fliers home with the students. Amy will send an electronic copy to Abbey to put in the community newsletter. 
 
Larissa reported that the Golden Mesa Casino opened last month in Guymon, OK. 
 
Agenda Item 2: Membership: There are no new members at this time. Amy had recruitment packets available for task force members to take with them. 
 
Agenda Item 3: Education: NA.
 
Agenda Item 4: Data Collection: Amy led a discussion about the community surveys. There have been 252 completed at this time. Amy received the Survey Monkey links in both English and Spanish from Shannon and will send those out this week. Amy and another staff member from Catholic Charities are going to have a booth at the Latina Outreach and Leadership Conference on October 5, 2019, where surveys will be collected. 
 
Agenda Item 5: KDADS update: This update was not available. 
 
Old Business: No old business. 
 
New Business: 2020 Grant Deliverables: Amy led a discussion about the annual meeting with KDADS, the other task forces and the coalition, held in Wichita, KS on August 30, 2019. Debbie discussed the new format for financial reporting that will be more user friendly. Amy also discussed the action plan that is due to KDADS November 1, 2019. She is in the process of updating the strategies and will have this available at the October meeting for approval by the task force. The budget packet is due to KDADS by October 9, 2019. 
 
Debbie has sent the final helpline numbers to Shannon for his analysis. Once this is completed, it will be available to the task force. 
 
Next Meeting Reminder: October 10, 2019 
 
Time of Adjournment: 2:30 p.m. 

August 8, 2019
 
Members present: Amy Falcon, Debbie Snapp, Richard Falcon, Christa Roy, Larissa Craig, Juan Baez, Cindy Jacobs and Ethel Schneweis. 
 
Members present by phone: None.
 
Call to order and approve agenda: Amy Falcon. 
 
Review and Approval of Minutes: Amy passed out the minutes for June 2019 and they were approved.  
 
Fiscal agent Financial Report: Amy reviewed the final financial report for fiscal year 2019. The new budget has not been completed yet therefore the July and August reports are not available.  
 
Agenda Item 1: Public Awareness: Amy reviewed the status of media ads and other public awareness activities. The task force decided to purchase ad space with the YMCA in Garden City similar to the Dodge City ads. Amy will follow up with Monitor Productions to see if we can do the same with the Liberal YMCA. It was also decided to accept the proposal from Western Kansas Broadcast Center for radio advertising from October 2019 through June 2020 in the amount of 21,780.00. Amy discussed to upcoming events where booths will be set up: the resource fair at the Dodge City Community College on 8-14-19 and the Diocesan Stewardship Conference to be held in Dodge City on 8-24-19. We will purchase a 50.00 Visa gift card to be given away as an incentive for people to complete the community awareness survey.    
 
Agenda Item 2: Membership: There are no new members at this time. Amy had recruitment packets available for task force members to take with them. Amy added Brenda Alarcon, who is a provider at New Chance in Dodge City, to the email list. She was unable to attend today’s meeting. 
 
Agenda Item 3: Education: NA.
 
Agenda Item 4: Data Collection: Amy led a discussion about the community surveys. The English survey monkey is ready and the Spanish version is almost ready.  Amy reported that Catholic Charities had a booth at the Business Resource Fair on June 26, 2019, where 77 surveys were completed. Those who completed a survey put their name in a drawing for a 50.00 Visa gift card. Amy and other Catholic Charities staff will be manning a booth at the Resource Fair for DC3 on August 14, 2019 and at the Diocesan Stewardship Conference on August 24, 2019. We will be giving away 50.00 Visa gifts cards at these booths as well. Juan turned in a packet of completed surveys that he did at New Chance. Christa Roy turned in completed surveys from Manor of the Plains and the Senior Center as well. Prior to these being turned in, we have collected 121 surveys to date.
 
Agenda Item 5: KDADS update: Juan provided the following information: The contracts have all been signed and returned to the task forces and the 5% upfront payment should be coming soon. The budget is staying the same and as are the deliverables. This year, they structured things a little differently do make things easier: 8% for fiscal, 14% for the mobilizer, 3% for give aways and 25% for media/awareness. The mandatory yearly meeting will be held in Wichita on August 30, 2019 from 9:00 am – 3:00 pm. The due date of the action plan will be discussed during this meeting. Responsible gaming week is the week of September 15, 2019. There are free resources available on the website to promote this. Larissa from the casino will let us know what activities they plan to do that week and what we can do to support them. 10 states have expanded sports betting and New Jersey has now surpassed Nevada in this area. Most of the revenue comes from online sports betting. There was a hearing in Washington D.C. yesterday regarding loot boxes but Juan was not able to listen to all of it. The Golden Mesa in Guymon, OK was supposed to open the end of July but is not yet open. 
 
Old Business: 2019 Grant Deliverables: No old business. 
 
New Business: 2020 Grant Deliverables: Most of the advertising contracts have been renewed for the new grant year. Amy shared a proposal from Monitor productions, who manages the advertising for the YMCA. They asked if we would like to do the same advertising in Garden City that we do in Dodge City. They task force decided to approve this. Amy will contact Monitor Productions to get this started. Amy will also inquire about the Liberal YMCA. Amy also shared a proposal from Western Kansas Broadcast Center for radio advertising from October 2019 through June 2020. This was also approved by the task force. Amy shared the fliers that were created and each task force member took some to place in different areas. Amy will contact Sharon Stuart about getting permission to send these home with students in the school district. 
 
Debbie asked task force members to share their experiences with attending the Midwest Conference and the Nation Conference. There was discussion about the Midwest Conference being the best one so far, even though attendance was down. The National Conference did not seem to be as beneficial as it has been in the past. Two of the speakers were discussed from the Midwest Conference; Joseph Green and Dan Trolaro. Cindy Jacobs asked if the task force wants to pursue a conference for problem gambling awareness month. There was interest in doing this. The task force discussed the possibility of having Joseph Green and Dan Trolaro be the speakers at this conference. This will be discussed more at another meeting. 
 
Next Meeting Reminder: September 12, 2019 
 
Time of Adjournment: 2:30 p.m. 

June 13, 2019

Members present: Amy Falcon, Larissa Craig, Juan Baez, Abbey Martin, Cindy Jacobs and Misty Powers.
 
Members present by phone: None.
 
Call to order and approve agenda: Amy Falcon.
 
Review and Approval of Minutes: Amy passed out the minutes for April 2019 and May 2019 and they were approved.  
 
Fiscal agent Financial Report: Amy reviewed the financial report. Juan received an email from his fiscal department reporting a discrepancy in the amount we have left to spend and what the actual amount left. Amy will pass this on to the financial person.  
 
Agenda Item 1: Public Awareness: Amy reviewed the status of media ads and other public awareness activities. Amy is working on getting new invoices for media ads and completing new contracts.   
 
Agenda Item 2: Membership: There are no new members at this time. Amy had recruitment packets available for task force members to take with them.
 
Agenda Item 3: Education: NA.
 
Agenda Item 4: Data Collection: Amy led a discussion about the community surveys. The English survey monkey is ready but the Spanish version is not. Once that is ready, Amy will send the link out to the task force members to share. Abbey will put it in the community newsletter. Amy reported that the task force will have a booth at the Business Resource Fair on June 26, 2019, where the surveys will be available. Juan turned in a packet of completed surveys that he did at New Chance.
 
Agenda Item 5: KDADS update: Juan provided the following information: The FY2020 contracts were sent to the task forces this morning. Once they are signed, returned and processed, the 5% upfront money will be disbursed to the task forces. KDADS has done some restructuring. Andrew Brown is the new Director of Behavioral Health Services and under him are Charlie Bartlett, adult services and Gary Henault, youth services. Problem Gambling falls under adult services and Carol Spiker will report directly to Charlie. Juan also reminded the task force to spend down all of their money by the end of the month. The south central task force is having their mini conference on June 29, 2019 from 9:00 am – 4:00 pm. Dr. Wiley Harwell will be the speaker. The south central task force also arranged for Juan and Misty to be interviewed by KSN and this will air on June 25, 2019 at 12: 30 pm. Juan reported that the scope of work in the contracts will be the same as the previous year with the monthly financial report, quarterly extended financial report, quarterly report and yearly tasks. There will be 272 lottery machines placed throughout the state beginning in July. There is a high chance some will be placed in Dodge City. Juan reminded everyone to keep an eye out for children gambling.
 
Old Business: 2019 Grant Deliverables: Amy provided information regarding the status of the grant deliverables.
 
New Business: No new business.
 
Next Meeting Reminder: August 8, 2019 (The task force decided there will not be a meeting held in July, which follows the schedule of previous years.)
 
Time of Adjournment: 2:00 p.m.

May 9, 2019

Members present: Amy Falcon, Debbie Snapp, Ethel Schneweis, Larissa Craig, Juan Baez, Richard Falcon, Abbey Martin and Christa Roy.
 
Members present by phone: None.
 
Call to order and approve agenda: Debbie Snapp.
 
Review and Approval of Minutes: Minutes were not available and will be handed out at the June meeting.
 
Fiscal agent Financial Report: Debbie reviewed the financial report.
 
Agenda Item 1: Public Awareness: Amy reviewed the status of media ads and other public awareness activities. Amy is working on getting new invoices for media ads and completing new contracts. The giveaways (hot/cold packs and nail files) have been ordered.  
 
Agenda Item 2: Membership: There are no new members at this time. Amy had recruitment packets available for task force members to take with them.
 
Agenda Item 3: Education: NA.
 
Agenda Item 4: Data Collection: Amy led a discussion about dividing the community surveys between task force members. Shannon is finishing the survey monkey form so we will have an electronic survey. Brenda Romero from Catholic Charities is translating the survey into Spanish.
 
Agenda Item 5: KDADS update: Juan provided the following information: May 24th is the early bird deadline for registering for the Midwest Conference and the registration for the National conference is not out yet; the FY2020 contracts will be signed by 7-1-19; he reminded the task force to spend their money by June 30, 2019; there will be a mandatory meeting sometime in August for the new grant year; there are some upcoming webinars – Military Veterans and Research Perspectives and Neurobiology of gambling disorder; there are Kansas specific materials on gaming being developed; there is no official opening date for the Golden Mesa casino, possibly July; sports betting will not be happening this year.
 
Old Business: 2019 Grant Deliverables: Amy provided information regarding the status of the grant deliverables as well as the media that will be renewed and/or added.
 
New Business: Debbie shared a list of things the task force would like communicated to KDADS:

• Helpline data provided that allows a clear understanding of how many individuals referred by provider type (i.e. GA, KCPC, CMHC, etc.).
• Helpline data provided that allows for a clear understanding of why the person seeking help is calling (i.e. new referral, VEP removal, reengage in treatment, etc.).
• Number of individuals referred to treatment and actually entered treatment. (By gaming zone would be sufficient.).
• Number of individuals entered into treatment by county reported in the same manner VEP data is reported.
• Number of individuals who successfully completed treatment compared to the number who entered treatment. (An annual statewide number would be sufficient.).

• Assistance in developing additional provider and self-help resources, especially Gamblers Anonymous.

 
Debbie reported that she has asked Shannon to update the helpline data.
 
Next Meeting Reminder: June 13, 2019
 
Time of Adjournment: 2:30 p.m.

April 11, 2019

Members present: Amy Falcon, Debbie Snapp, Ethel Schneweis, Larissa Craig, Cindy Jacobs, Juan Baez, Richard Falcon and Claire Albert.
 
Members present by phone: None.
 
Call to order and approve agenda: Debbie Snapp.
 
Review and Approval of Minutes: Minutes were passed out and approved.
 
Fiscal agent Financial Report: Debbie reviewed the financial report.
 
Agenda Item 1: Public Awareness: Amy reviewed the status of media ads and other public awareness activities. The budget has been finalized and there is some money left to spend. This can be done on radio ads if needed. Some of it will be used for the fliers as well.
 
Agenda Item 2: Membership: There are no new members at this time. Amy had recruitment packets available for task force members to take with them.
 
Agenda Item 3: Education: NA.
 
Agenda Item 4: Data Collection: Amy led a discussion about the community survey. Amy talked to Shannon Dick about doing an online survey and he said he will create one. Amy handed out the paper surveys to everyone who wanted them as well as the cover sheet that needs to be completed with the surveys. There was discussion about where to hand these out. There is the possibility of having a booth at the senior expo and the Business Appreciation Lunch and Amy will check into these. Richard will give copies to his staff at Compass. Ethel suggested the Library have them available. Debbie will talk with Shannon Dick to see if he can help get them completed at Garden City Community College. Juan will work on getting them from the Liberal area. It was also suggested that they go out in the Chamber of Commerce newsletter in the areas that we belong to. Other suggestions included: Stewardship Conference in Dodge City, after any events that are held, any booths, Live Well Finney County, Dodge City Community College (Claire will help with this) and Liberal’s Coalition for Families. A soft deadline was set for completion by September 1, 2019. Debbie will also ask Shannon Dick to update the helpline information through 2018.
 
Agenda Item 5: KDADS update: Juan provided the following information: there is a Prevention Works meeting in Salina on 8-18-19 regarding environmental strategies; he reminded the task force to spend the money they have by the end of June; the Midwest Conference is June 19, 20 and 21 in Kansas City and we are able to send 3 people; the National Conference is July 19 and 20 and we are able to send 2 people; there were 5 accounts logged into the Cam Adair live stream with 20 people attending Wichita’s town hall meeting and 80 attending the professional workshop; there were 50 people attending Topeka’s town hall and 80 attending the professional workshop; there are some upcoming webinars from NCRG: Neurobiology and Gambling Disorder on April 24th and Gambling in the Military on May 22nd, there are 1.5 CEUs available for each of these; NAADAC is also doing a webinar the beginning of May regarding gaming.
 
Old Business: 2019 Grant Deliverables: Amy provided information regarding the status of the grant deliverables as well as the media that will be renewed and/or added.
 
New Business: None.
 
Next Meeting Reminder: May 9, 2019
 
Time of Adjournment: 2:30 p.m.

Members present: Amy Falcon, Debbie Snapp, Ethel Schneweis, Larissa Craig, Cindy Jacobs, and Christa Roy. 
 
Members present by phone: None.
 
Call to order and approve agenda: Debbie Snapp. 
 
Review and Approval of Minutes: Minutes were passed out and approved. 
 
Fiscal agent Financial Report: Debbie reviewed the financial report. 
 
Agenda Item 1: Public Awareness: Amy reviewed the status of media ads and other public awareness activities. Amy provided fliers promoting the Cam Adair live stream to the task force members. Several of the members requested an electronic copy, which will be sent to them. It was also suggested that we do an e-blast through the Chamber as well. The final budget will be presented at the next meeting now that the conference has been finalized. 
 
Agenda Item 2: Membership: There are no new members at this time. Amy had recruitment packets available for task force members to take with them. 
 
Agenda Item 3: Education: NA.
 
Agenda Item 4: Data Collection: Amy and Debbie led a discussion about the need for another community survey. Amy talked with Shannon Dick about this and he wanted to know if the task force wanted to change any questions, which they did not. Amy will talk with Shannon about the possibility of an online version of the survey as well as who to survey. 
 
Agenda Item 5: KDADS update: An update was not available as Juan Baez with KDADS was in Topeka. 
 
Old Business: 2019 Grant Deliverables: Amy provided information regarding the status of the grant deliverables as well as the media that will be renewed and/or added. 
 
New Business: None. 
 
Next Meeting Reminder: April 11, 2019 

Time of Adjournment: 2:30 p.m.