Quarterly Program Report

1Q and 2Q FY 16-17

Board Meeting January 19, 2016

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Section I: Strategic Plan Overview

Strategic Planning Timeline 2011 - Present • Oct 2010 Facilitated Planning Retreat

• Strategic Plan developed for 2010-16

• Dec 2013 Northstar and DHS host State Summit on Problem Gambling which provides additional insight to inform NPGA activities and coordinate with State program

• April 2014 NPGA Board appoints Strategic Planning Committee to examine the 2011-16 plan, and determine a process to review new information and update plan

• July 2014 SWOT completed by Full Board and results sent to Strategic Planning Committee

• Committee presents discussion and ideas to full Board for approval in 2016.

• Exec Director to compile the final results and plan document

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From the Strategic Planning Committee General Observations and Recommendations July 2015

The existing strategic plan is comprehensive and consistent with our mission. It also overlaps well with the critical issues that emerged from the state summit. • Recommendation: Continue to strengthen current work and focus on doing a few

things well rather than trying to do everything. When people think of Northstar there needs to be no struggle defining who we are and what we do. • Recommendation: While our mission is to focus on the topic of problem gambling, we

must also continue to strengthen the awareness of Northstar as an agency. Multiple audiences, whether individuals, families, professionals, lawmakers, or the media will help broaden general awareness in the state when they understand what Northstar is and what we provide.

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Awareness and Education has been our primary focus • Recommendation: It would allow us to better focus awareness efforts by

identifying primary goals within defined audiences as opposed to using modest budgets to do “general awareness”. This area should be closely coordinated with DHS.

NPGA, as the Minnesota affiliate to the National Council, can continue to learn from and collaborate with NPGA and other affiliates. • Recommendation: NPGA should monitor the National Council strategic

plan and see what directions might be taken from that, particularly in the area of reserve fund and endowment funds. Also explore strategies and tactics that are being successfully used (or tried and discarded) by other Affiliates.

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Our ability to plan has primarily been driven by estimated funding allocations from the state. • Recommendation: A strategic goal for NPGA should be to establish alternative

funding options and establishing a stronger reserve fund. This includes expanding corporate sponsorships and also work with DHS on the timing of information related to funding and plan appropriately to avoid last minute decisions on how to allocate State funds.

Northstar has an established online presence and much of the future work for Northstar can build off that capacity. • Recommendation: Online communication and education opportunities abound

and a great deal can be accomplished online to support our mission and achieve goals within all areas, awareness, education, research and advocacy. Future growth will definitely incorporate more online programming, as consumers become increasing comfortable with both online and mobile technology.

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The tribal communities that operate casinos have varying attitudes and approaches to their role and responsibility in the area of responsible gaming programs. • Recommendation: Develop a proposal for the tribal leaders that will offer

Northstar as a resource and invite them to join in the efforts around responsible gaming. Work with MIGA as to the scope of the proposal and use their contacts to initiate a conversation. Considerations might be a basic problem gambling training for casino managers and supervisors, or some sort of assessment of current RGPs within each casino.

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Strategic Plan Notes

Strategic Threat? Importance of Planning

• Careful planning is an absolute must if we are to be the most effective in delivering

effective programming. Unfortunately the contracting stage with the Sate has

gotten ahead of a thoughtful planning stage for programs. The recent contracting

cycle that blended both funding streams (grant I and grant II) into one new

contract provided a very short window (once we were informed of the

appropriation dollars) to develop project plans and budgets for the remainder of

FY 15-16 and FY 16-17. This resulted in making more decisions about projects and

funding on the fly without the type of thought and analysis that should occur. A

critical success factor moving forward will be our ability to plan thoughtfully and

be prepared to flex rapidly to match the funding levels available.

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Contracted Grant Work Projects Per DHS Contract Amended 2016

Grant I: Operations and Program Costs (Office, staff, and ongoing projects each year)

1. Grantee will fulfill obligation as Affiliate of the National Council on Problem Gambling including service on subcommittees. Grantee will disseminate information and knowledge from the 35 National Council affiliates to organizations and individuals treating problem gambling throughout Minnesota (Ongoing)

2. Participate in the annual Holiday awareness campaign on lottery tickets with the Minnesota Lottery (Sponsored by the National Council on Problem Gambling). (December)

3. Maintain information website as a base of knowledge on the topic of problem gambling to serve multiple constituencies (Ongoing)

4. Maintain social media tools including but not limited to Facebook, Twitter and Linked In as ongoing awareness channels

(Ongoing)

5. Provide information and education resources on problem gambling at statewide behavioral health and addiction professional conferences. (Primarily Spring and Fall)

6. Produce and distribute monthly email newsletter, “Northern Light” to subscribers representing a range of individual and professional audiences. (Monthly)

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Grant II: Program Activities (Special Projects based on available funding)

7. Produce an education and awareness campaign for older adults based on earlier research.

8. Assessment of Problem Gambling Prevalence in clients counseled by non-gambling trained professionals.

9. Develop new materials for legal professionals to expand their knowledge of gambling problems

10. Provide scholarships to enhance qualifications of problem gambling counselors and/or introduce new professionals to the gambling counselor field.

11. Reprint materials: Maintain supply of educational materials for public distribution through reprints of material developed by Northstar and/or other sources, including the state of Minnesota.

12. Professional Education: Rule 82 Online training for Probation Officers 13. Research and produce gambling counselor training following a curriculum identified by the National Council on Problem

Gambling accredited training program and the state treatment and recovery sub-committee.

14. Annual Problem Gambling Awareness Month Campaign / March 2016

Contracted Grant Work Projects Per Amended Contract July 2016

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15. Develop and implement a community and professional education and awareness program focused on the northern 1/3 of Minnesota. The campaign will be multifaceted using all available technology, radio, and print and possible community events to strengthen the awareness in the northern part of the state as to the availability of treatment funding for problem gambling services.

16. Conduct two to four (2-4) presentations and awareness campaigns for Minnesota law enforcement, court personnel and corrections staff who have had little training or information on problem gambling. Activities include arranging attendance and conducting presentations at professional conferences, follow up and presentation scheduling for additional educational sessions, and distribution of appropriate educational materials.

17. Grantee will develop online continuing education training for gambling disorder professionals based on training standards recognized by the International Gambling Counselor Certification Board (IGCCB). Training content will be informed by the work of the treatment and recovery sub-committee of Minnesota Department of Human Services Problem Gambling Advisory Committee.

18. Grantee will develop a radio commercial for use as a public service announcement on problem gambling and to use for purchased radio airtime. Radio messaging will target demographics who are at exposed risk for problem gambling, including women, older adults and racial and ethnic communities.

19. .Grantee will develop and produce video of personal recovery stories highlighting stories of women, older adults, and racial and ethnic diverse persons in recovery from gambling addiction. Methods for distribution will include online, social media and in-person presentations.

Contracted Grant Work Projects Per Amended Contract July 2016

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20. Grantee will plan and host a 2016 Minnesota Conference on Problem Gambling to provide continuing education and to expand awareness and knowledge among Minnesota gambling disorder professionals. This conference will target professional gambling counselors as well as allied counseling professionals.

21. Grantee will conduct website update of the NorthstarProblemGambling.org website, which is used as the primary awareness and education tool on problem gambling. (update versus maintenance)

22. Grantee will provide six scholarships for the Studies in Gambling Addiction Certificate training to qualified applicants licensed as mental health professionals or licensed drug and alcohol counselors.

23. Grantee will provide scholarships for Northstar Problem Gambling Alliance members, professional counselors or State approved gambling addiction counselors who apply to attend the 2016 National Conference on Problem Gambling.

24. Grantee will provide responsible gaming training to casino employees and serve as consultants to tribal gaming groups

25. Grantee will develop new gambling awareness messaging strategy for online advertising throughout 2016 for use in varied media locations, and targeting specific audiences, using online, radio and print media.

Contracted Grant Work Projects Per Amended Contract July 2016

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26. Grantee will develop a new “fact sheet series” of problem gambling informational pieces using the theme “What x needs to Know about Problem Gambling”, with x referring to the target audience. Examples will include judges, doctors, and other target audiences and professionals to be determined.

27. Grantee will continue speaker’s network coordinator functions to include conference management, hosting booth at professional conferences with the aim of creating awareness, direct outreach through visits and presentations to community and civic organizations statewide.

28. CC. Grantee will purchase a new office computer and printer to ensure continued operation.

29. Grantee shall meet with the State quarterly to review progress. Grantee will cooperate with State to address any contract administrative issues or concerns.

Contracted Grant Work Projects Per Amended Contract July 2016

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Contracted Grant II Work Projects Completion Status @ Dec 31, 2016

Per Amended Contract 2016 (continuation of Grant II from 2014 )

Percent Est Comp

Project Complete Comments Date

7 Older adult education awareness 75% Research done, materials created, rollout Jan - Mar 2017 06/30/17

8 Assessment of PG in client pop / non-gambling profess 20% Survey still needs to be developed and conducted 06/30/17

9 New Materials for legal professionals 50% Needs copy edit and production 06/30/17

10 Scholarships for current and new gambling professionals 100% Used available funds combined into Northern project 12/31/16

11. Material Reprints as Needed 100% Initial funds exhausted, needs new budget 12/31/16

12: Rule 82 Online Probation Training 100% Turned over to Dept of Corrections 10/31/16

13. Research and produce gambling counselor training 0% Training for FY 15-16 Complete; Plans pending for current FY TBD

14. Annual Problem Gambling Awareness Month March 100% Completed March 2016; planning stages (funding) for Mar 2017 03/31/17

15. Northern MN Initiative 100% Ran fall of 2016 12/31/26

16. Conduct 2-4 awareness activities for jails, courts, etc 100% Downey at Corrections conference /John VE prisons and jails 06/30/17

17. Online Continuing Ed 25% Topic lists generated / funding dependent TBD

18. New radio commercial as PSA and Purchased 100% Completed as part of 2016 Awareness month 03/31/16

19. Develop and produce video clips 0% No action 06/30/17

20. plan/ host MN PG Conference 100% Conference held Nov 3-4, 2016 11/05/16

21. Website infrastructure update 90% Moved to new platform for flexibility 03/01/17

22. Six scholarships for NATI training 100% Funds exhausted in fall 2016 / 3 completions of process 12/31/16

23. Scholarships to professionals for National Conference 100% 3 people received $500 each to attend Conference in 2016 08/31/16

24. Responsible gaming training to casino employees 0% No action to date TBD

25. Message strategy for online advertising 100% Completed and in use for FY 16-17 12/31/16

26. Develop professionals fact sheet series 0% Low priority focus - may carry to FY 18 TBD

27. Continue Speaker's Network Coordinator functions 100% Is ongoing through the year (John Von Eschen) 06/01/16

28. New computer and printer for office 0 No purchase as of 12/31/2016 TBD

29. Meet monthly with DHS 40% Four meetings since July 1, 2016 06/30/16

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Activities & Results For 1Q and 2Q FY 16-17

First Quarter Highlights • Much time was spent in the 1Q preparing for the MN Problem Gambling Conference held Nov 3-4. With

an unexpected change in conference coordinators in June, staff were left to pick up many projects. Later in

the quarter we brought in a freelance specialist to take on some of the load. The overall result was an

excellent conference, attended by approximately 100 people, who provided glowing reviews on the

evaluation forms.

• All of our ongoing work: website, social media, outreach activities, that are funded via grant I continued as

usual during the quarter. (Stats follow)

• A major highlight was the completion and launch of the Rule 82 Online training module for the

Department of Corrections. This training module was directed by Northstar and produced via Rivertown

Communications. The training is based on the Rule 82 training Mike Downey has provided to probation

officers over the years. It was a major project and included curriculum development, added research on

the topic, and pre-release testing by Hennepin County Probation staff. The project took significantly

longer than originally planned but the result was excellent.

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Outreach Presentations and Events 1st Quarter Outreach Conducted

– 3 professional presentations - 53 attendees

– 11 community presentations - 425 attendees

– 1 professional vendor event - 75 attendees

– 5 community events (health fairs, etc) - 550attendees

Some of the outreach locations for the above included:

West Hills Lodge Men’s Group

Progress Valley,

Nuway Tx Center,

Pride Institute, Senior Recovery Center

Redwing Prison Transition Fair

Dakota County and Washington County Jails

Many of the above occurred in the twin cities, but some took place in outstate areas including, Red Wing, St Cloud, Owatonna, Nisswa, Moose Lake,

Stillwater, Hastings,

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Outreach Presentations and Events

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2st Quarter Outreach Conducted

– 4 professional presentations - 1225 attendees (MAARCH Conf)

– 17 community presentations - 450attendees

– 5 professional vendor event - 5000 attendees

– 2 community events (health fairs, jail transition fairs - xx attendees

2nd Q outreach locations include: MAARCH Conference, St Louis County Health and Human Services, NAMI, visits to treatment centers including Riverside, Freedom Counseling, House of Charity, Vinland, Fountain Center, Progress Valley, Nuway, Capitol Heights, Teen Challenge.

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Facebook Likes (Accum)

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Activities & Results For 1st and 2nd Q FY 16-17

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Activities & Results 1Q & 2Q 16-17 – Website

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Jan-16 Feb-16 Mar-16 Apr-16 May-16 Jun-16 Jul-16 Aug-16 Sep-16 Oct-16 Nov-16 Dec-16

Total Visitors

Unique Visits

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Activities & Results For 1Q-2Q FY 16-17

E-newsletter

2061 2106 2108 2118 2128 2133

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July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec

Sent

Opened

Sent: 2061 to 2133 Bounces: 525-650 Open Rate Net of Bounces 15% to 17.5% Goal: Grow list and Increase open rate.

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Advertising Approach and Placement Example (August 2016) – General Online Adv

Online Advertising Objective Generate quality web site visits from

people who spend more time on the website and access multiple pages

Google Adwords

Impressions: 2154

Clicks to Northstar web site: 148

Avg. pages viewed: 2.67

Avg. time on site: 3:27 (minutes)

Cost for month: $272.

Google Adwords Express

Impressions: 42,634

Clicks to Northstar web site: 681

Avg. pages viewed: 2.64

Cost for month: $428.

Examples of words and phrases used:

Gambling addiction, addicted to gambling,

problem gambling, compulsive gambling help,

quit gambling and others.

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Example: Northern Minnesota Awareness and Outreach Advertising Placement and Results August

2016 • Northern Campaign • Advertising objective: Create awareness/visibility of both the

issue of problem gambling and how to get help in northern Minnesota for the general community.

• • Online advertising on 4 newspaper web sites in Northern

MN. • virginiamn.com, hibbingmn.com, grandrapidsmn.com,

walkermn.com • Clicks to Northstar web site: 55 • Avg. pages viewed: 1.10 • Avg time on site: 0:05 (minutes) • Cost for month: $1,000. • • Northern Campaign • • Print advertising in 8 newspapers (4.8” x 5” black/white) • Grand Rapids Herald Review & Manney’s Shopper, Hibbing

Daily, Hibbing Manney’s Shopper, Chisholm Tribune Press, Mesabi Daily, Virginia Manney’s Shopper and The Pilot-Independent

• Dates published: August 3, 7, 10, 14, 17 • Distribution total each week: 72,054 papers • Total distribution for month: 144,108 papers • Cost for month: $1,846.

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• Print Restroom Posters • Seven locations nearest casino in

each area: Cass Lake, Walker, Deer River, Carlton, Red Lake, Onamia and Thief River.

• Dates published: July 1-31 • Distribution total: 49 locations (men

and womens) • • Vanity url MNGamblingHelp.org • Visits to vanity url (Northstar web

site): 21 • Avg. pages viewed: 4.82 • Avg. time on site: 4:04 (minutes • Cost for month: $3,150 • Total cost for month: $6696.00 •

Example: Advertising Placement and Results August 2016

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Northern Initiative

• The Northern Initiative included online advertising, some print advertising, posters (bathroom doors), outreach calls, and scholarships to the NATI online training program for professionals who were eligible and interested in becoming state approved problem gambling counselors. Approximately six people expressed interest. Three have completed or are about to complete the training. (Extended some deadlines). Note: DHS is not currently accepting applications for gambling providers. They are revising their process and have been for most of 2016.

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Rule 82 Role Out

Probation Officer Training Online Screen Shots

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Minnesota Conference on Problem Gambling 2Q Highlights: Conference Nov 3-4

• Registered Attendees: 100+

• Actual Attendance (Best Estimate): 93

• Registration Income: $2,933

Satisfaction of Attendees:

• 75% rated this program as Excellent

• 81% rated the materials as Excellent or Good

• 97% rated the relevance of the conference information as Excellent or Good

• 92% of the attendees said they gained A Lot to Some New Ideas at the conference

• 97% said they were Very Likely to Somewhat Likely to use the information they received

• Attendees expressed particular satisfaction with

• Speakers: Dr. Jon Grant, Mark Meier

• Facilities: Location and food

• Networking: Diversification of audience and networking time

Profession of Some Attendees -- Prison ministry director -- Pharmacist -- CD facility director -- Mental health counselor

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Conference Continued Areas of Improvement per attendees: • Expand the conference to more diverse audiences

• Include more conference speakers/tracks to choose from

• Include a track on sports gambling

• Hard copy of the presentations in a conference notebook

• Although we didn’t ask questions about the attendee’s technology expectations and satisfaction, we received a number of anecdotal comments about technology at the event to suggest that attendees have a very high level of technology expectations. That isn’t a problem, but it does need to be factored in the budget for future events.

“Bring back Jon Grant for a full day!”

“Mark Meier was fantastic. Gave me a new perspective.”

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Internal Financial & Operations Goals

• Build Six month cash operating reserve

• Stabilize finances so as to avoid, if possible, acceptance of any “advance” on the grant funds provided by the state.

• Standardize financial reporting requirements

• Document policies and procedures related to fiscal management

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Mgmt Goal Status

• Current cash reserve would cover about two months of operating costs (verify)

• We did not accept the 50,000 advance for the last contract cycle

• The Exec Committee continues to work on standard financial reports to best meet information needs

• Exec Committee has identified a variety of policy needs related to general operations and fiscal management. Some drafted, others yet to be developed.

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Moving Forward through 2017

Feb –March-April 2017 • Complete remaining grant II projects by June 30 or as determined in new

contract. (carry over potential

• Modify with DHS existing budget through June 30th • Develop a new work plan for funding to be received for FY 17-19. For new

contract to be in place by July 1 should complete plan in March. • Plan & execute National Awareness Month in March • Legislative involvement potential • Create a conference planning group and begin conference planning for a

March (or spring) conference in 2018. • Tentative Sept 15 full day training:

– Problem Gambling and the Criminal Justice System: Implications for Criminal Justice Forensic, Mental Health, and Legal Professionals, co-sponsored with Northstar and American Institute for the Advancement of Forensic Studies (AIAFS, Jerrod Brown of Pathways)

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Forward through 2017 Next contract inclusions for grant II funding:

– Annual Awareness Month

– Move more grant I program items to grant II

– Carry forward Casino training to a priority position

– Conduct training Sept 15 with

– Conference 2018

– Developing online education modules for continuing ed, community ed, etc.

We have tried to do too many projects over the past two calendar years which has caused

challenges for planning, assessing responses, compiling reports, and keeping on schedule.

The next contract must focus on doing fewer projects and doing them better.

END

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