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Area residents and organizations are invited to review the Lincoln Trail District Health Department’s 2024-2026 Community Health Improvement Plan.

Health Department Public Relations Officer Melissa Phillips says the improvement plan, or CHIP, is the product of the Community Health Assessment that concluded in 2023.

“We have done focus groups, we’ve had community sessions, so this is all the way from national level data, state level data to actually talking to our citizens, boots on the ground folks, and what came to the top we dumped into two different buckets, two different areas of focus, and we called those ‘Connected Communities’ and ‘Behavioral Health and Wellness,’” Phillips said.

“Connected Communities” looks at topics such as safer environments, expanding reach of the health department’s mobile unit, pedestrian safety, and addressing adverse childhood experiences. “Behavioral Health and Wellness” looks at topics such as substance use prevention along with Tobacco Free Community and Recovery Ready Community designations.

Phillips says the health department will need community support to achieve the goals laid out in the CHIP.

“We need partner agencies to buy into this,” Phillips said. “We need our citizens to buy into this, so this tool will just help our community see what the plans are and how they can help.”

Phillips says she encourages organization and business leaders as well as area residents to explore the CHIP.

“There are links to all the data that we use, and it’s broken down by county, and there’s also a resource map in there,” Philips said. “So if you’re wondering ‘where’s the prescription drop box in my community? How do I find a lactation consultant? How do I find out about affordable housing?’ get in there and explore that resource map.”

The CHIP can be found at www.ltdhd.org, and feedback can be submitted by emailing community@ltdhd.org.

The Hardin County Teen Court is inviting all area high school students and their parents to attend an open house and mock trial at the Hardin County Justice Center Thursday night beginning at 6:30 p.m.

“Teen Court is an arm of the Administrative Office of Courts for Juvenile Court,” said Hardin District Judge Kimberly Winkenhofer Schumate. “We train local high school students, freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors to be the attorneys, the bailiffs, the clerks and the jury in the sentencing phase of actual juvenile cases.”

While Thursday night’s event will show a demonstration, actual Teen Court proceedings are real cases with individuals facing delinquent charges.

“Traditionally, Juvenile Court has no jury of your peers, but in Teen Court, you can actually have the opportunity to have other teens decide what are consequences, and how can you learn from those mistakes and be able to grow and move forward,” Judge Schumate said.

Judge Schumate says all area students willing to put in the required time are welcome.

“Teen Court is a chance for students from all of our area high schools, both public and private, and homeschool students to gather together, and we generally train about 100 local area students, and it’s just an opportunity to do something that you may not have ever had a chance to do before,” Judge Schumate said.

Interested students unable to attend the open house may also sign up at the first Teen Court training session, which will also be held at the justice center on September 5. Contact Judge Schumate’s office at 270-766-5004 for more information.