The California Department of Public Health’s (CDPH) commitment to health equity remains firm and unwavering. The Office of Health Equity (OHE) within CDPH has clearly defined that its mission is to “To promote equitable conditions to achieve the well-being of California's diverse people and communities” and despite the challenges facing the public health workforce today, that has not changed. In order to move towards becoming a more equitable and inclusive organization, CDPH utilizes Health Equity Liaisons who work to embed and operationalize equity across the department.
CDPH currently has 7 Health Equity Liaisons representing different centers, divisions and offices: the Center for Environmental Health, Center for Infectious Diseases, Center for Healthy Communities, Center for Preparedness & Response, Office of Legislative and Governmental Affairs, Human Resources Division, and Center for Family Health.
The Health Equity Liaisons' role is to work within their Centers to embed racial and health equity into their Center’s policies, programs, and services. Examples of the Health Equity Liaisons activities include leading health equity and microaggression workgroups, facilitating equity trainings, coordinating affinity groups, ensuring equity/inclusion in emergency planning, response and recovery, the development of an anti-racism policy and tools such as the Equity Impact Assessment Template for Bill Analysis and much more. The Health Equity Liaisons also coordinate with the Health, Equity for All, Anti-Racism and Trauma-Responsive Transformation (HEART) team and other teams at the Office of Health Equity to identify challenges to equity and work across their Centers to address these challenges.
Most recently, in collaboration with the Government Alliance on Race & Equity (GARE), the Health Equity Liaisons hosted a Sacramento Practitioners Network meeting to share the CDPH Health Equity Liaison model and how this model utilizes the GARE framework. Attendees also heard from the new CDPH Office of Health Equity Deputy Director, Stephanie Weldon. The intent of the meeting was to bring racial equity practitioners together to network, build relationships, and support staff in building and implementing racial equity practices. These efforts reflect a broader shift across public health to embed equity. As Local Health Departments (LHDs) continue to explore similar strategies to advance health equity, we encourage alignment and shared learning across all sectors to drive meaningful change.
Learn more about the Sacramento Area Racial Equity Practitioner Network by visiting their website. If you are interested in joining, you can fill out the sign-up form available on the site.
