1. TOBACCO PREVENTION
Youth Tobacco Prevention Program: Oregon has the
highest sales to minors in the nation, in fact 22.5% of
Oregon retailers illegally sold to minors in 2013. Upstream,
and partners, conducted a comprehensive tobacco retail
assessment of 528 retailers in Multnomah County to learn
more about how tobacco products are promoted and sold in
the community. Requiring retailers to have licenses would
result in curbing youth tobacco access and use. Oregon is
one of only 11 states in the US that does not have a retail
licensing ordinance or laws.
Multnomah County E-Cigarette Ordinance passed!
Upstream, and partners, participated in multiple
briefings and hearings to set an age restriction of 18 on
the use of e-cigarettes, and to restrict the use of e-cigs
in bars, restaurants, and other workplaces. The County
Commission voted in favor of both polices in March 2015
and then they were passed as statewide policies by the
Oregon legislature in May 2015.
Tobacco Policies Upstream is supporting:
• House Bill 2546 - Prohibits sale, distribution and minor
possession of e-cigarettes as well as bans use indoors.
• Senate Bill 417 - Requires all tobacco retailers statewide
to be licensed by OLCC (Upstream’s retail assessment
will be used to make a case for this statewide policy).
• House Bill 5039 - Tobacco Master Settlement
Agreement funding (TMSA) allocation – Advocating
for $13 million of settlement to go towards statewide
tobacco prevention, physical education grants and
healthy communities.
• House Bill 2555 - Increases state-wide cigarette tax.
• Senate Bill 415 - Prohibits distribution, selling or
allowing to be sold, flavored tobacco products in
Oregon.
Summary of Upstream Public Health’s 2015 Policy and Program Goals
UPSTREAM’S CHILDREN’S HEALTH INITIATIVES
bold ideas
innovative policies
smart action

2. SCHOOL HEALTH & NUTRITION
Ban Junk Food Marketing in Schools:
In 2007, Upstream led a coalition of partners to
successfully ban the sale of junk food in Oregon
schools. That means no soda, monster cookies, or
candy bars in school cafeterias, student stores or
vending machines. However, companies have used a
loophole in the law to still have a presence in schools
-- through marketing.
Junk food companies spend nearly $2 billion dollars
each year advertising to kids, mostly promoting
unhealthy foods. Some of that marketing currently
happens in schools. Advertisements in the halls and in
classrooms are still tempting kids to crave unhealthy
foods. These ads are undercutting our investments in
healthier foods and our attempts to instill healthy food
habits in our kids.
Upstream proposes that if a food cannot be sold in
Oregon schools, it shouldn’t be advertised there, either.
HB 3363 would align marketing standards to existing
nutrition standards for what foods and beverages can
be sold in schools.
Strengthening Farm to
School & School Gardens
(F2S):
Over 80% of Oregon’s
children don’t eat the
recommended amount
of fruits and vegetables.
Since 2007, Upstream has been leading the push to
bring Farm to School and School Garden Programs
to Oregon. We successfully advocated for a pilot
program in 2011 and expanded the program in 2013
so that 170,000 kids in 19 school districts throughout
Oregon are now benefiting. F2S initiatives start with
two simple ideas of bringing local, “farm fresh” food
to school lunches and teaching kids about where our
food comes from through establishment of school
teaching gardens. In 2015 Upstream and partners
are advocating for 5 million dollars so that thousands
more kids in Oregon have access to farm fresh school
lunches and access to school teaching gardens (HB
2721).
Upstream also coordinated the 2nd
Annual School
Garden Summit in January 2015 that was attended
by over 300 teachers, school administrators and
volunteers from around the state. They gathered to
learn, network with one another, and improve their
school gardens.
DENTAL HEALTH
Upstream supports
HB 2021 – Funding
for a pilot project that
requires Oregon schools
to provide fluoride
varnish and dental health education for K-12 students.
And HB 2024 is about certifying certain health
workers to provide, and get reimbursed for, early
childhood basic preventive dental services.
Upstream’s Early Childhood Dental Wellness
Initiative: Over 50% of kids already have a cavity
by 3rd grade and 40% of kids under the age of two
drink a soda or more a week. Upstream is working
to establish a successful dental health pilot program
that includes providing dental health screenings and
services within licensed childcare facilities located in
the Tri-County area.
Over the next two years, Upstream Public Health will
be working with 60+ childcare centers serving 3,500
low-income children ages six months to five years old
who are enrolled in licensed childcare programs. We
will target those childcare centers that have at least
50% of their recipients living at < 200% of poverty or
below and/or are receiving state assistance. Services
will be offered to children right within childcare
centers and will include:
• Screenings, varnishes, and tooth brushing, and
other best practice recommendations from the
American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry.
• We will also educate childcare staff and thousands
of parents on the importance of dental care and on
the negative impact of sugar-sweetened beverages,
which are a major cause of tooth decay.
UPSTREAM’S CHILDREN’S HEALTH INITIATIVES (continued)
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3. UPSTREAM’S OTHER INITIATIVES
At the end of the project’s second year (December
2016) Upstream will present evaluation results to
legislators and local policy makers as evidence of
the pilot’s success so that a policy can be passed that
requires this dental program to be implemented in all
licensed childcare centers located in the Tri-County
area and eventually the entire state.
HEALTHY TRANSPORTATION
Upstream wants to make sure that Oregon has healthy
transportation options for everyone, especially those
in underserved communities. Oregon currently faces
over a $100 million shortfall in transportation funding
which means less money for walking, biking and
public transit. We will be advocating, together with
our partners, to make sure that Oregon has healthy
transportation options like reduced-cost transit
passes available for thousands of Oregon youth and
improved transit service and bicycle and pedestrian
infrastructure near schools.
Specifically, we are working to pass HB 2979 the Youth
Transit Initiative, which would provide high-school-
aged youth with better access to transit so they can
reach educational, extracurricular and employment
opportunities. This bill will fund free, or reduced-fare,
transit passes for students attending public secondary
schools and increased transit service in the vicinity of
public secondary schools.
Within the next 3-5 years, TriMet will construct and
begin service on the Powell Division High Capacity
Transit corridor. This new Bus Rapid Transit line
will run from downtown Portland, past downtown
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Gresham, connecting PSU, Portland Community
College, Mount Hood Community College, and a
dozen secondary schools located a mile or less from
the improved transit service.
We are working to improve transportation & health
outcomes for dialysis patients in the tri-county area
and securing dedicated Safe Routes to School funding
in the Portland metro area.
OREGON HEALTH EQUITY ALLIANCE (OHEA)
Upstream is on the Steering Committee for OHEA
which is a coalition comprised of culturally diverse
social justice organizations that are committed
to improving health and wellbeing by using
community-driven strategies to promote education,
advocacy, and policy change.
OHEA: 2015 Policy Priorities
• Health Care for All Children HB 3517– Ensure
ALL children have a healthy start in life.
• Basic Health Plan HB 2934 – Health care for all
including currently ineligible legal permanent
residents.
• Comprehensive Women’s Health SB 894 – Fill
gaps in Oregon law that disproportionately
impact minority women.
• Paid Sick Time SB 454– Law that would allow
Oregonians to earn sick time while working.
• End Profiling HB 2002 –
Laws protecting minorities
in regards to searching,
stopping and questioning
them.
• Ban the Box HB 3025 -
This bill will help create fair
chances for all people with previous arrests or
conviction records to compete for jobs
• Ban Junk Food Marketing in Schools HB 3363 –
See School Nutrition section.

4. HEALTH IMPACT ASSESSMENTS
Upstream conducts health impact assessments
to look at how people’s health will be affected by
proposed policy and project decisions. Included in
these assessments are ways to minimize harm and
maximize health benefits. HIAs inform what policies
we advocate for, create, or ask to be revised to improve
population health.
Upstream is currently conducting a Health Equity
Impact Assessment that would look at health, social
and economic equity impacts of a potential tobacco
retail license in Multnomah County; the policy is a
public health best practice.
We are working with national partners to develop
a screening tool for Health In All Policy projects in
order to help health practitioners understand how to
complete their work based on HIA values
Chronic Absenteeism
We know that nearly one in four children in Oregon
are missing a month or more of school each year.
This is one of the highest rates in the nation. Chronic
absenteeism affects performance and achievement,
which results in lower graduation rates and higher
dropout rates.
Upstream is currently looking for funding to conduct
a research project that will help us understand
how public health professionals and community
organizations can help schools address child health
issues and best prevent students from dropping off
the trajectory toward success because of chronic
absenteeism.
UPSTREAM’S OTHER INITIATIVES (continued)
240 N. Broadway, Suite 214
Portland, OR 97227
503.284.6390
www.upstreampublichealth.org
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