CHE Strategic Areas
The following are the key strategic efforts that the Center for Health Equity is currently engaged in:
Purpose: To build the capacity of the workforce to strengthen Public Health’s collective ability to apply principles of health equity during internal County practices, policy development, program design, and service delivery.
Activities include:
Health Equity 101 Modules (Online)
Tailored training for programs, bureaus, supervisors, leadership, equity ambassadors, etc.
Deep Dive Workshops
Micro-Learning Sessions
Equity Resource HUB (MS Teams/SharePoint)
CHE Website, Intranet and e-Newsletter
Collaboration with internal and external partners
Purpose: Based on resources first mobilized during the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2023 Public Health established a dedicated unit to modernize and streamline language access services.
This unit is made up of Center for Health Equity staff who:
Serve as in-house translators for document translation in 12 threshold languages
Work with vendors that support with translation and interpretation services (including sign language)
Coordinate and deliver language justice-related training and provide technical assistance to program staff
Provide administrative support for back-office functions (i.e., processing invoices, managing language assistance equipment inventory, tracking and managing team projects)
Design and manage the Hub for Interpretation and Translation (HIT), an online portal for managing and tracking language assistance services
The Center for Health Equity also supported the crafting of a language interpretation policy for Public Health, developing a comprehensive language plan for Public Health, and working with the Contracts and Grant unit to update to the Language Access Services Master Agreement.
Purpose: Working with other programs to identify inequities in our internal systems or systems that are creating barriers to staff being able to grow and apply an equity lens in their work. Which in turn impacts the support provided to the community.
Activities include:
Contracting: working to create practices to streamline processes for contracting with the department to ensure more community organizations are able to access funds.
Equitable Data: creating toolkits and guidance to help programs understand how to use data to better understand community health, to develop effective community programs, and to more effectively engage with community partners.
Hiring and Retention: support hiring managers with implementing equitable interviewing practices and working with DPH leadership on designing protocols to ensure more staff feel welcomed
Program Design: working on policies and guidance to ensure programs are linguistically and culturally appropriate and accessible to a wide audience.
All of this while ensuring that staff and clients feel that they are in a welcoming environment regardless of race/ethnicity, gender identity,sexual orientation, disability status or any other socio-economic characteristic.
CHE Supports the coordination of the following internal workgroups:
Anti-Black Racism and Equity – The workgroup aims to foster workforce environments where people feel more welcomed, included, and valued, with a particular focus on supporting those who identify as Black. By dismantling discriminatory practices rooted in anti-Black racism, these efforts will benefit all groups affected by prejudice or discrimination, including other people of color, women, lower-paid workers, older people, and members of other protected categories.
Gender Inclusion - An ad hoc group is working to identify and improve practices and procedures that support the transgender, gender nonbinary, and intersex (TGI) community and staff. Examples of work include updating processes for changes to “chosen” names, enhancing training and resources, and incorporating guidance provided by allied LGBTQIA+ organizations/groups, and developing strategies to increase representation in the DPH workforce while refining existing systems for current TGI workforce members.
Disability - a workgroup of 30 DPH staff to inform the work around addressing disability issues.
Language Justice - 40 DPH staff which consists of 4 subcommittees focused on streamlining recommendations from the External Language Justice Workgroup.
CHE also participated on various internal Data-related workgroups, governance sub-committees and sub-councils within DPH to help ensure the availability of health equity data that is accessible, inclusive and useful.
CHE has formed community partnerships around the following areas:
Language Justice
15 community-based organizations provided recommendations on all matters related to language justice for our department
DPH/DHS/DMH Language Access workgroup: This group has been crucial in providing feedback to the changes to the Language Access Services Master Agreement.
Countywide Inter-Departmental Language Access Working Group: This workgroup was launched under the Office of Immigrant Affairs to support Departments in creating language access plans
Public Health Alliance -Regional Language Access Workgroup: Discuss important language justice topics and work collaboratively on language justice projects across our regions.
Anti-Racism, Diversity, and Inclusion Initiative (ARDI) -CHE serves in a liaison role between ARDI and Public Health and supports the department's Equity Action Team (EAT). EAT members include CHE staff and representatives from AAIMM, OVP and the SPA 4 Regional Health Office. EAT members are active in each of the ARDI workgroups and engage in training and meetings to advance equity.