Report

­Overview of State and Local Equity Offices: 2024 Edition

ReportMechanisms for Advancing Health EquityRacism as a Public Health Crisis

April 24, 2024
by Phyllis Jeden

Many state and local governments have established offices of equity or similar entities to prioritize equity in government policies and procedures, and to lead and support equity work within the communities they serve. The first edition of this resource provided detailed examples of cities or counties across 12 states that established such offices. This 2024 Edition provides a non-exhaustive list of states, cities and counties across the country that have established such offices and includes some information on the offices found.

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­Racial Equity Interests and Needs Assessment

ReportMechanisms for Advancing Health EquityMechanisms for Advancing Public Health

September 22, 2023
by Betsy Lawton, Carrie Waggoner, Chris Alibrandi O’Connor, Dawn Hunter, Kerri McGowan Lowrey, Phyllis Jeden and Sara Rogers

By May of 2020, the realities of the inequitable toll of COVID-19 on communities of color became starkly evident, and the murder of George Floyd sparked a renewed movement for racial justice in the United States. During this time, the Network began earnestly exploring how best to respond and be of assistance in a rapidly changing environment. An internal Health Equity Work Group (HEWG) was established to create a space for connection and learning, and to identify ways to collaborate across regions to be responsive to what we were observing and experiencing. One of the early actions identified by the HEWG was to “evaluate what services and supports Network users are interested in” via tools like an environmental scan, stakeholder interviews, and focus groups. This report explores the process that was undertaken to answer that question and the key findings and themes relevant to health and racial equity work across a variety of public health practitioners and organizations.

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Innovative Laws and Policies for a Post-Pandemic Public Health System

ReportPublic Health AuthorityCOVID-19Mechanisms for Advancing Public Health

June 20, 2023
by Darlene Huang Briggs, Donna Levin and Jill Krueger

The backlash in response to public health measures taken during the pandemic has resulted in many states passing laws restricting the ability of public health to take action to protect the health of their communities. However, there are many states that have taken innovative actions that strengthen public health authority and provide mechanisms that support a strong public health infrastructure.

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State Laws Limiting Public Health Protections: Hazardous for Our Health

ReportAct for Public HealthPublic Health AuthorityMechanisms for Advancing Public Health

November 2, 2022
by Donna Levin and Jill Krueger

This report, produced by the Network as part of the Act for Public Health initiative, examines laws impacting public health authority that have been passed as of May 20, 2022 and provides analysis of how they significantly weaken the collective ability of public health to respond effectively in future pandemics and other emergencies, and to carry out day-to-day public health activities.

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Racism as a Public Health Crisis—Perspectives on Healthy Aging

ReportRacism as a Public Health Crisis

April 21, 2022
by Betsy Lawton and Dawn Hunter

This report uses a revised Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) framework put forward by Ruqaiijah Yearby to examine the role of law as a tool to address structural discrimination, with a focus on health impacts across the lifespan. This framework illustrates how law and the systems it interacts with can shape health and well-being and identifies structural discrimination as the root cause of disparities in health outcomes. 

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