The 5th annual National Drug Facts Week, sponsored by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) will be held January 26 - February 1, 2015.  This weeklong health observance is an opportunity for teens to learn the facts about drugs and addiction from scientists and other experts. There are opportunities to host and promote an event for teens during the week of January 26 - February 1, 2015, and to help shatter the myths about drugs.

NIDA staff can help you order science-based materials to complement your event, brainstorm activity ideas, partner with other organizations, and get your event nationally recognized by adding it to the official 2015 map for National Drug Facts Week. For more information on how to plan an event follow this link. You can also follow NIDA on Twitter @NIDAnews and on Facebook at Drug Facts.

of Area Agencies on Aging (P4A), the County Civil Service Workgroup was formed. The purpose of the workgroup is to identify, share, discuss and resolve any questions or issues counties may have about merit service employment policies, practices or procedures.

The workgroup has met on three occasions and has discussed a variety of topics including, but not limited to the following:

County representatives involved in the merit service employment process are strongly encouraged to participate in the workgroup process by submitting comments, questions or suggestions prior to the next scheduled meeting in February 2015.

For more information on the above topics, a full copy of the official statement from the workgroup, or to submit comments, please contact Julia Jackson, CCAP Health and Cooperative Programs Manager, jjackson@pacounties.org or Brinda Penyak, CCAP Deputy Director, at bpenyak@pacounties.org.

The Pennsylvania Health Law Project (PHLP) has expanded and updated its Medical Assistance Eligibility Manual. This manual describes eligibility for Pennsylvania's Medicaid Assistance (or Medicaid) program in plain language. Readers will learn Medicaid coverage "categories" as well as the program's income and resource counting rules. The manual is intended for health care advocates and the general public, and can be found here.

This past summer, the National Association of Counties (NACo) unveiled its latest map interactive tool, the County Explorer available at www.naco.org/countyexplorer. It is a one-stop-shop for county data and profiles for each and every of the 3,069 U.S. counties, while incorporating city-county searches and other queries. This is an upgraded version of the previous NACo database County Intelligence Connections (CIC), with the addition of familiar "Find a county" searches available on the NACo website.

The map is available for free to NACo members and other users interested in county information. It is easy to access either going through the regular NACo website at www.naco.org/countyexplorer or going directly to explorer.naco.org. The interactive allows the users to map county data from more than 70 datasets and 500 county indicators for the latest year available. The indicators range from county finance and demographics to the number of bridges and roads in a county.

The USDA has released a revised version of its guidebook on funding opportunities, incorporating the 2014 Farm Bill.

The 86-page guide, available as a free download or for sale as a printed document, was produced in collaboration with the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute (MFAI), the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT), and the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC). It was authored by Margaret Krome (MFAI), George Reistad (MFAI), and NSAC's policy staff.

The Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (SARE) provided principal funding for the production and distribution of the guide.

While it contains all the farm and ranch assistance programs you'd expect from the long overdue farm bill approved by Congress this year, the available funding isn't just for big ag producers. Small towns and city folks will find programs that support urban agriculture and forestry, local foods, farmers' markets, farm to school initiatives, biofuel development, and a variety of grassland, wetland and woodland conservation grants.

In order to familiarize the next administration and the transition teams with important county issues, CCAP has developed a number of backgrounders and other resources covering core county government and human services functions. We encourage members who have a connection with Gov.-Elect Wolf's team to reach out to those individuals share this information, and to let them know you are available to serve as a resource and to answer any questions they may have.

The backgrounders and resources can be obtained in several ways:

• An overview of core county government functions, as well as key county government and human services backgrounders, are available at CCAP's Gubernatorial Familiarization Campaign web page (accessible at www.pacounties.org, then click on Government Relations/Legislation) 

• These materials have also been compiled on a CD, along with a welcome letter from CCAP and links to CCAP's priorities, the County Platform and additional information on the CCAP website. We will have copies of the CD available at the CCAP Fall Conference, Nov. 23-25, and members can also request to have copies mailed to them by contacting Government Relations staff at 717-526-1010 or PACountiesGR@pacounties.org.

A list of transition team members can be found at CCAP's Gubernatorial Familiarization Campaign web page (accessible at www.pacounties.org, then click on Government Relations/Legislation). This list will continue to be updated as more information becomes available.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Lisa Schaefer, Director of Government Relations, at 717-526-1010 x 3148 or lschaefer@pacounties.org, or Adrienne Hodson, Government Relations Association, at 717-526-1010 x 3118 or ahodson@pacounties.org.

For more information, or to register for a course, visit the PA Local Government Training Partnership website.

Registration is now open for the following NACo webinars:    

The Excise Tax on High Cost Health Insurance and Your County
February 12, 2015 
2:00 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.

In addition to these webinars, there are recordings of webinars from the past six months on a range of topics. To access these recordings, or for additional details and registration information, please click here.