Members present: Amy Falcon, Dawn Trent, Juan Baez, Debbie Snapp, Christa Roy, Ethel Schneweis, Cindy Jacobs, Larissa Craig and Sharon Erickson. 
 
Members present by phone: Meeting conducted through Google Meet. 
 
Call to order and approve agenda: Amy Falcon. 
 
Review and Approval of Minutes: The minutes were approved.    
 
Fiscal agent Financial Report: The financial report was not available for the meeting.  
 
Agenda Item 1: Public Awareness: Amy led a discussion regarding renewing the advertising contracts for the new year. It was decided to order more hand sanitizers with our supply money.       
 
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: Nothing to report.    
 
Agenda Item 4: Data Collection: Nothing to report.  
 
Agenda Item 5: KDADS update: Juan reported the following from KDADS:
 

• The task forces and coalition have until June 30th to spend down their budgets as outlined in their action plans. Monies can be spent after this if they are invoiced by this date. Anything not spent by June 30th will go back to the state. The task forces and coalition are encouraged reach out to their respective specialist for support
• Registration is open to both the Midwest Conference on Problem Gambling and Substance Abuse as well as the National Conference on Problem Gambling. Early bird deadlines are on May 24th and 25th. The task forces would usually be able to send three people to the Midwest Conference. This year they can send more. They would also usually be able to send two people to the national conference. This year they can send three. Both conferences are virtual this year
• The task forces and coalition continue to have fiscal reporting due by the 10th of every month. They are encouraged to turn them in as close to this date as possible to ensure they are paid in a timely fashion
• Apps, Traps, and Roadmaps: Trends in Youth Gaming and Prevention Strategies will take place on Friday, May 14 from 9am-12pm. This event is sponsored by the Kansas Coalition on Problem Gambling. The featured speaker will be Julie Hynes, Executive Director of the Oregon Council on Problem Gambling and national prevention expert. There will be no cost to attend, but registration is required
• Sports betting legislation in Kansas did not move forward this legislative session. 28 states and 2 jurisdictions have passed. In 2020, twenty states took in $21.5 billion in sports wagering
• Contracts for FY22 are currently being worked on
• Responsible gaming week is September 19-25, 2021. The task force can work with the casino on promoting this. 

 
Old Business: Amy led a discussion regarding the Midwest Conference as well as the National Conference. There are currently three people attending the Midwest Conference and we are able to register more. There are two people attending the National Conference and we can register one more.     
 
New Business: Amy led a brief discussion about having a mini conference at some time this next year. Ideas for this will be discussed at the next task force meeting. The casino reported they are having their first big concert tomorrow night and expect to be busy. 
 
Next Meeting Reminder: June 10, 2021
 
Time of Adjournment: 2:30 p.m. 

March Madness reaches its annual crescendo this month. An estimated $10 billion in bets will be placed on the NCAA basketball championship games. Calls to the Kansas Problem Gambling Helpline (1-800-522-4700) will spike an average of 30%, too. How timely that March is also Problem Gambling Awareness Month.

The Southwest Kansas Problem Gambling Task Force with the National Council on Problem Gambling want to help problem gamblers. The Problem Gambling Awareness Month campaign theme “Awareness + Action” is about taking specific actions. It's about 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 the criteria for a 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.

The Problem Gambling Awareness Month Message
Problem Gambling Awareness Month (#PGAM2021) is designed to raise awareness: there are prevention, treatment and recovery services available for those adversely affected by gambling. The grassroots campaign, #AwarenessPlusAction, brings together a wide range of stakeholders in southwest Kansas: 

• Boot Hill Casino and Resort
• Southwest Kansas Area Agency on Aging
• Catholic Charities
• The City of Dodge City
• Hope and Healing Counseling
• Southwind Broadcasting
• Ford County Extension Office
• DCCCA 
• Compass Behavioral Health

These entities are working collaboratively to let people know that hope and help exist in southwest Kansas.

“Across Kansas, groups like ours are taking all kinds of specific actions," said Amy Falcon who coordinates the task force. "We are hosting conferences, screening and training days, city proclamations, casino giveaways and other awareness initiatives. We want to reach people who can make a difference in ensuring that problem gambling services are widely available and accessible. Our goal is always to bring awareness to our communities that there is no-cost treatment available to anyone who needs it." 

If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, your best bet is to get help. For confidential help, call or text the Kansas Problem Gambling Helpline at 1-800-522-4700 or visit ncpgambling.org/chat. 

​For more information about problem gambling and how to increase awareness and action on problem gambling, go to www.swks-problemgambling.org/.

About the Southwest Kansas Problem Gambling Task Force
The Southwest Kansas Problem Gambling Task Force was founded in 2008 and is neither for nor against gambling. The mission of the Task Force is to help those affected by problem gambling and to reduce the harmful effects of problem gambling. Members work to raise public awareness, provide prevention and education programs, and ensure that resources are available to problem gamblers, families and communities. 

About the National Council on Problem Gambling
NCPG is the national advocate for people and families affected by problem gambling. NCPG is neutral on legalized gambling and works with all stakeholders to promote responsible gambling. For information on NCPG’s 35th National Conference on Gambling Addiction & Responsible Gambling, visit www.ncpgambling.org/conference. 

Members present: Amy Falcon, Dawn Trent, Juan Baez, Debbie Snapp, Richard Falcon, Amanda Boles, Ethel Schneweis and Christa Roy .
Members present by phone: Meeting conducted through Google Meet.
Call to order and approve agenda: Amy Falcon.
Review and Approval of Minutes: The minutes were not available for the meeting.
Fiscal agent Financial Report: The financial report was not available for the meeting.

Agenda Item 1: Public Awareness: Amy led a discussion regarding the ongoing advertising contracts currently in place. Those include the B&B Movie Theater in Dodge City as well as the YMCA in both Dodge City and Garden City. A discussion was led regarding a contract with a sports radio station due to upcoming sports betting legislation. Christa Roy will proceed with getting more information about this.

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: Nothing to report.

Agenda Item 4: Data Collection: Nothing to report.

Agenda Item 5: KDADS update: Juan reported the following from KDADS:

• The KPC Advocacy Week will take place on January 25-29. In years prior, it was a day and it took place in the state Capitol. With Covid-19, it has shifted online
• There will be an online Meet-Up for KPC Advocacy week where other prevention stakeholders will be able to attend and learn about problem gambling. Legislators are also likely to attend. Representatives from the task forces will facilitate the discussion.
• The problem program organized a planning meeting with the task forces and coalition that will take place on Thursday, January 21st at 1pm.
• The Midwest Conference on Problem Gambling and Substance Abuse has put out their call for proposals on their website. The deadline to apply is February 1st.
• There will be a webinar put on by the National Council on Problem Gambling on Tuesday, January 19th at 12pm central. It will be on getting ready for Problem Gambling Awareness Month. Attendance is free of charge, but registration is required.
• In November, three more states passed sports betting expansion legislation. This makes it so that over half of the states in the country plus Washington D.C have done so. We will keep an eye of potential legislation introduced in Kansas and pass that information on.
• The National Council on Problem Gambling has put out their National Conference on Problem Gambling schedule. The pre-conference will be June 16-17 and 23-24. The main conference will be on July 14-15 and 21-22. The theme will be “Embracing Change Together”.
• A save the date will be forthcoming from the Kansas Coalition on Problem Gambling for the virtual training that Dr. Esther Maddux will be doing on the financial aspect of problem gambling. It will be split into two days, one day in the afternoon and in the morning of the next day.

Old Business: Nothing to report.

New Business: 2021 Grant Deliverables: A discussion was held regarding where to use the giveaway items we currently have. Suggestions were, the casino, the home show in May and possibly Cinco de Mayo on May. However, it was reported that the Cinco de Mayo event wasn’t successful in the past. A discussion was held regarding Problem Gambling Awareness Month in March. Christa Roy reported she will make sure the radio ads are changed during that month. The task force has made the decision not to try to hold a mini conference this year for awareness month. There was a discussion regarding using videos previously created on our social media platforms during the month of March as well.

Next Meeting Reminder: February 11, 2021

Time of Adjournment: 2:30 p.m.

Members present: Amy Falcon, Dawn Trent, Juan Baez, Debbie Snapp and Larissa Craig.
 
Members present by phone: Meeting conducted through Google Meet.
 
Call to order and approve agenda: Amy Falcon.
 
Review and Approval of Minutes: The August 2020 minutes were distributed and approved.   
 
Fiscal agent Financial Report: The financial report was not available and will be reviewed at the October 2020 meeting.  
 
Agenda Item 1: Public Awareness: Amy led a discussion about the advertising contracts that have been renewed this fiscal year. Those include the B&B Movie Theater in Dodge City as well as the YMCA in both Dodge City and Garden City. These were put on hold during Covid. The YMCAs have reopened and the movie theater is getting ready to reopen.    
 
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: Juan reported that there was a survey sent out regarding the National Problem Gambling Conference. They are going to make a decision this month on whether to continue with the in person conference or make it virtual.   
 
Agenda Item 4: Data Collection: Amy reported that the paper community surveys will be delivered to Shannon sometime next week so he can make his final analysis.
 
Agenda Item 5: KDADS update: Juan reported the following from KDADS:

• Responsible Gaming Education Week is next week. The theme is “have a game plan”. There are materials on the American Gaming website. The casino will also be displaying information.
• The South Central Kansas Task Force is having a mini conference on September 24-25, 2020. Everyone is encouraged to attend.
• If the task force wants to have some sort of workshop/conference, the process of using an online platform is still being worked on and that the coordination and details need to go through Carol.

 
Old Business: See public awareness section for old business.  
 
New Business: 2021 Grant Deliverables: The new deliverables were received by Amy.
 
Next Meeting Reminder: October 8, 2020
 
Time of Adjournment: 2:30 p.m.

​PROBLEM GAMBLING TASK FORCE MEETING MINUTES
August 13, 2020
 
 
Members present: Amy Falcon, Dawn Trent, Amanda Boles, Shannon Dick, Juan Baez and Christa Roy.
 
Members present by phone: Meeting conducted through Google Meet.
 
Call to order and approve agenda: Amy Falcon.
 
Review and Approval of Minutes: The June 2020 minutes were distributed and approved.   
 
Fiscal agent Financial Report: The financial report was not available and will be reviewed at the September 2020 meeting.  
 
Agenda Item 1: Public Awareness: Amy led a discussion about the giveaway items that have been ordered and received. The notepads and antimicrobial pens have been received but the spray hand sanitizers and smaller sticky notepads won’t be available until November. Amy led a discussion regarding renewing the advertising with the movie theaters and the YMCA. The task force agreed to move forwards with renewing those accounts since the YMCA has re-opened in both Dodge City and Garden City. Shannon reported that the theater in Dodge City was getting ready to reopen and the theater in Garden City has already reopened.    
 
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: Amy led a discussion regarding the National Problem Gambling Conference and reported that Debbie Snapp attended one day and Amy Falcon attended a different day. There will be an in person conference in Washington D.C. from November 4-6, 2020 as long as it is safe to do so regarding the Covid 19 situation.  
 
Agenda Item 4: Data Collection: Shannon Dick led a discussion regarding his analysis of the data collected through the community surveys. He discovered some significant findings, which he explained during his presentation. He would like to confirm some information prior to concluding his analysis. It was agreed that the information will be very beneficial in guiding goal setting for the task force.    
 
Agenda Item 5: KDADS update: Juan reported the following from KDADS:
*The Kansas Prevention Collaborative has lots of trainings available. These are not mandated but are available, free of charge, for the task forces.
*The National conference on problem gambling is questionable at this time due to the Covid 19 pandemic.
*The Kansas Prevention Conference will be held virtually from October 14-16, 2020. Juan will be presenting at this conference.
*There is a Kansas Opioid Conference November 11-12, 2020
*Responsible gaming education week is the week of September 13-19, 2020. The theme this year is, “Have a game plan – bet responsibly”. There will be materials available to promote this.
*Recordings of the NCPG virtual symposium will be available to those who were registered through August 28, 2020.
*The task force’s initial payments should be coming soon if they have not arrived already.
*There have been increases in calls to the helpline.
*Since Covid 19, there has been a 40% increase in time spent online, which might indicate the task force look at more ways to advertise online.
 
Old Business: See public awareness section for old business.  
 
New Business: 2020 Grant Deliverables: The new grant year began July 1, 2020. Amy and Debbie will continue to work on grant deliverables.   
 
Next Meeting Reminder: September 10, 2020
 
Time of Adjournment: 2:30 p.m.
 

Members present: Amy Falcon, Richard Falcon, Larissa Craig, Dawn Trent, Amanda Boles and Christa Roy.
 
Members present by phone: Meeting conducted through Google Meet.
 
Call to order and approve agenda: Amy Falcon.
 
Review and Approval of Minutes: The May 2020 minutes were distributed and approved.   
 
Fiscal agent Financial Report: Amy reviewed the financial report.  
 
Agenda Item 1: Public Awareness: Amy led a discussion about the give away items to be ordered. The only decision left was the color of the item. The task force did not have a preference on the color of the pens. Amy will place the order with EmbroidMe. Amy will have all of the advertising renewed by the end of the month.   
 
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: The National Problem Gambling Conference will be divided into two separate formats. The first is a digital symposium from July 20-23, 2020. Amy and Debbie are each attending one day of the symposium. There will be an in person conference in Washington D.C. from November 4-6, 2020 as long as it is safe to do so regarding the Covid 19 situation.  
 
Agenda Item 4: Data Collection: Shannon Dick is in the process of analyzing the community survey data.   
 
Agenda Item 5: KDADS update: There was no update from KDADS as Juan was unable to attend this month’s meeting.
 
Old Business: See public awareness section for old business.  
 
New Business: 2020 Grant Deliverables: Amy continues to work on completing the grant deliverables to close out this fiscal year.  
 
The task force members provided updates regarding their agencies. Richard Falcon with Compass Behavioral Health reported they are very busy with crisis calls. There has been one suicide in Ford County this year. If it continues this way until December, it will be the lowest number of suicides in a year since 2012. They are expecting a second wave of crisis calls in October-November. They will open their doors for in person appointments on July 1, 2020.
 
Dawn Trent with Boothill Casino and Resort reported they are using thermal imaging and masks when a distance of six feet isn’t possible. They have been consistently busy. The café moved to the restaurant area and is open from 11:00-3:00 pm and the restaurant is open from 5:00-10:00 pm with a smaller menu.
 
Christa Roy at Western Kansas Broadcasting is working from the office. She reported that people are trying to get opened back up. There is a Spanish dance scheduled for July 2020.
 
Amanda Boles at SWKAAA reported that they are seeing people by appointment only.
 
Amy Falcon at Catholic Charities of Southwest Kansas reported that they are seeing people by appointment only. The Behavioral Health department is conducting appointments primarily through telehealth with a few in person. They continue to process applications for people in need due to the Covid 19 pandemic.
 
 
Next Meeting Reminder: August 13, 2020 (there will be no July meeting)
 
Time of Adjournment: 2:30 p.m.