Meet the Health and Community Concerns Commission

Health & Community CommissionCalifornia State PTAs Health and Community Concerns Commission addresses issues related to the support of the whole child within the home, school, and community through relevant programs and through advocacy at the state and local level. 

The commission has two areas of responsibility that overlap. They include promoting effective health education programs and services in schools and communities and addressing the many other community issues that impact our families and students. 

The topics that fall under the umbrella of community concerns address areas that touch young people outside of classroom learning, including:

  • Strengthening public services for children and families (e.g. child-care facilities and personnel licensing, coordination of children’s services, delinquency prevention, and family preservation)
  • Support for the most vulnerable children and families (e.g. child support, foster care, homelessness, missing and exploited children)
  • Keeping communities safe places in which children and families thrive (e.g. disaster preparedness, environmental protection, safety education, school safety)
  • Protecting young people from criminal activity (e.g. child abuse, youth violence, vandalism, gangs, and cults)

The topics that are related to health issues and education includes:

  • Supporting immunization legislation to protect vulnerable children
  • Promoting comprehensive health education taught by qualified personnel as an integral part of the core school curriculum
  • Supporting efforts to provide equal access to quality, affordable, basic, and preventive healthcare for all children, youth, pregnant women, and their families
  • Supporting solutions that enable all children with chronic illness or other healthcare needs to be safe in California schools, such as by promoting education of parents and school personnel on the complexities of disease management
  • Educating families to recognize the importance of a healthy environment and the potential dangers that environmental contamination poses for children’s developing minds and bodies
  • Bringing greater awareness of behavior-health issues and social/emotional development through collaborating with the school community and creating a full range of services to help all kids thrive
  • Advocating for statewide health programs, and actively participating on a wide variety of statewide committees addressing mental, physical, and environmental health issues

Local PTA members and leaders benefit from the work of the Health and Community Concerns Commission by having up to date and accurate, reliable resources at their fingertips in the Resource library and Health and Community Concerns web pages.  The commission is continually working to update our resources and provide trustworthy information for our members.

If you would like to share a resource with the commission, please refer to this page and email the commission at either health@capta.org or community-concerns@capta.org with your resource.  

The Health and Community Concerns Commission for the 2021-2023 term consists of the Vice President and 11 members of the California State PTA Board of Managers. Our volunteer leaders from across the state work to support collaborations among caregivers, schools, communities, institutions, agencies and organizations which are essential to the health, wellbeing and academic success of California’s children and youth.

Meet the Leadership Services Commission

The California State PTA Leadership Services Commission strengthens and extends the work of PTA in all arenas, and enhances the influence and public understanding of PTA, its purpose, and work. 

Commission  activities include: 

  • Opportunities for leadership development
  • Training for unit, council, and district PTAs 
  • Guidance  to unit, council, and district PTAs to help them in strengthening, organizing, reorganizing, or in rare cases disbanding their associations 

Supporting PTA Leaders throughout the state

The California State PTA Leadership Services Commission is composed of volunteers from across the state. The Commission works to provide local, regional and district leaders with the support they need. The commission focuses on ensuring good governance, leadership and teamwork skills, financial safeguards and transparency. The commissioners mentor districts and encourage practices which engage members, increase participation, are inclusive and welcome all families.  Leaders are trained in the use of parliamentary procedure to ensure all members have a fair opportunity to express their opinions at meetings. 

Some of our work includes: 

  • Training District and Council PTA leaders, and assisting PTA Districts in 27 regions across the state with their leadership trainings throughout the year
  • Communicating directly with PTA leaders statewide via the weekly Tuesday social media posts Leadership Tips and the monthly, live PTA Leadership Call  
  • Providing timely guidance via the California State PTA Blog and in PTA publications
  • Developing workshops and training opportunities for PTA leaders and members  at the California State PTA Annual Convention
  • Informing PTA leaders about federal and state reporting requirements
  • Mentoring District PTA leaders as they assist units and councils
  • Maintaining content on the California State PTA website including the California State PTA Toolkit, Finance, Job Descriptions and Forms sections, Leadership Development Presentations (LDPs) and more

Making it easy to run your PTA

The Leadership Services Commission keeps unit leaders informed of best practices to develop high-functioning PTAs. The annual Leaders Welcome Packet and publication Running Your PTA…Made Easy, both available on leaders.capta.org provide easy to understand guidance in a colorful format in English and Spanish. 

The packet is mailed to new leaders at the beginning of the term and serves as a valuable tool throughout the year. 

Commission members

The Leadership Services Commission consists of the Vice President for Leadership Services and eleven members of the California State PTA Board of Directors and Board of Managers. Commissioners are chosen for their vast experience and expertise with PTA positions and topics such as governance, finance, and bylaws and parliamentary procedure, and to ensure representation from throughout the state. 

Here to help

The Leadership Services Commission recognizes that PTA leaders and schools throughout the state are emerging from the strain of the pandemic isolation. The challenge of reconnecting with members is real. To help leaders accomplish the purposeful work of PTA, the commission will provide the tools, training and support to 

  • Adopt proven, nonprofit business practices
  • Expand diverse adult engagement 
  • Inspire volunteers and develop leaders
  • Increase parent education and family  engagement 
  • Advocate in support of children and families
  • Support students and staff in classrooms
  • Promote PTA beyond the schoolhouse doors with the entire community

The Leadership Services Commission enthusiastically welcomes leader ideas and best practice suggestions from officers, chairs, and members, to be shared with PTAs throughout California. While every PTA is unique, there are common experiences that unite us. When we know others have similar experiences, we can learn from their successes and challenges, and achieve so much more. Contact us today with your suggestions or questions at leadership@capta.org.