Quick Guide
Definition: Strategically direct staff resources and funding to build organizational capacity to address equity and to focus resources on ways that benefit communities experiencing greatest inequities.
Why It Matters: Organizations can avoid dissipating resources that may be limited and are not allocated to optimal usage when funding and resource allocation integrates an equitable lens.
| Type | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Examples | Health Equity Guide: Case Study Rhode Island Braids Funding to Create Health Equity Zone | To address the social determinants of health, leaders of the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) utilized multiple sources of funding to establish “Health Equity Zones.” This case study highlights the ways in which RIDOH leaders increased access to funding and resources to its community partners to enhance population health outcomes. |
| Templates | Santa Clara County Public health : Budget Equity Assessment Tool | This resource, developed by Santa Clara County Public Health, is an example of a racial equity tool that is intended to put out a procedure and a series of inquiries for determining how budget proposals will help or hurt communities, particularly those of color. |
| Webinars | Institute for Local Government : Equitable Funding Strategies for Local Government | This webinar focuses on equitable funding strategies that local governments can implement to operationalize conversations around equity in order to improve community engagement for inclusive decision-making. |
| Guides | Contracting for Equity: Best Local Government Practices that Advance Racial Equity in Government Contracting & Procurement | This issue brief, developed by the Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE), shares common policy and practice strategies local governments can implement to improve contracting for equity within the public sector. This issue brief highlights achievements and barriers jurisdictions face in contracting and procurement practices for equity. |
| Guides | Health Equity Guide: Allocate Resources | Developed by Human Impact Partners, this health equity guide lays out nine strategic steps that leadership, staff, and departments can take to equitably allocate funding and resources. |
| Frameworks | Equity Pyramids | The Equity Pyramid, developed by the Rhode Island Department of Health and modeled after the CDC’s Health Impact Pyramid, is a resource that local health departments can use to prioritize work efforts, equitably allocate funding and resources, and inclusively involve community partners to advance health equity. |
| Articles | Integrating Equity in a Public Health Funding Strategy | This article presents a practical approach for incorporating equity into common and competitive funding procedures for public health programs and demonstrates how integrating equitable strategies can better direct decision-makers in allocating funding and resources. |
| 2023 CA LHJ Examples | Amador County Child Safety & Injury Prevention | Amador County Public Health (ACPH) received a 2-year grant focused on unintentional childhood injury prevention through the Kids' Plates grant. The 3 areas of focus are child passenger safety, bicycle safety, and drowning prevention. The components of the grant include safety education and outreach, as well as providing safety equipment to those in a low socio-economic status or those populations that are non-English speaking. For example, ACPH is hosting local events to check car seats for proper installation, providing educational Bike Rodeos with helmet distributions at local community events, promoting swim skill growth in youth through swim lesson vouchers, and distributing life jackets at local boat launches for these populations. |
| Type | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Examples | Solano County Leverages Internal Champions and External Experts to Advance Equit | This case study highlights best practices for utilizing existing resources to build internal capacity to advance equity through three partnerships between Solano County Public Health and GARE, Human Impact Partners, and the National Organization of Urban Maternal and Child Health Leaders (CityMatCH). |
| Examples | San Mateo County Funds Community Implementation Projects to Advance Equity | This case study highlights the Community Implementation Fund developed by the San Mateo County’s Health Policy and Planning Program (HPPP), which recognizes the active leading role of nonprofit organizations in addressing the social determinants of health. Through the Community Implementation Fund, funding priorities are redirected to more policy- oriented projects that improve overall community health outcomes and address inequities within the social determinants of health including housing, education, economics, and neighborhood conditions. |
| Webinars | Building Internal Infrastructure to Advance Health Equity | This webinar, hosted by Human Impact Partners, focuses on how to build internal infrastructure within local health departments to further drive health equity efforts. The webinar highlights case studies from the Rhode Island Department of Health and New York City Health. Both departments have shifted internal policy priorities and funding to produce upstream change. |
| Webinars | CDPH Equity TA Office Hours: RFP Process | This office hour hosted by the Equity TA team featured guest speakers from Marin and San Diego counties. During the hour, a series of panel questions were asked and shared practices for an equitable Request for Proposals (RFP) process were discussed. |
| Guides | Racial Equity Toolkit: An Opportunity to Operationalize Equity | This toolkit, developed by GARE, is intended for governmental jurisdictions looking to operationalize equity into policies, practices, programs, and budgets. The racial equity toolkit can be utilized at multiple levels (local, regional, state, and federal) and shares guiding questions for considerations. |
| Frameworks | City of Long Beach : Equity Investment PowerPoint Slides | This resource provides the PowerPoint slides from the City of Long Beach which defines the health equity framework and RFP process. |
| Frameworks | City of Long Beach Memorandum : Equity Investmanet Framework | This resource is a memorandum released by the City of Long Beach and highlights the equity investment framework and the approach taken by the LHJ. |
| 2023 CA LHJ Examples | San Luis Obispo County Request for Proposals (RFP) Template | San Luis Obispo County included health equity lanuage in the boilerplate RFP template. Language around geographical areas, populations of focus, and community engagement can be found on page 10 of the boilerplate RFP template. For the 2022 American Rescue Plan Act Public Health Impacts Grant Application process, applicants were asked and scored on how their proposed projects would serve populations of focus. Public Health was able to provide 16 grants for a total of $5,925,000 for the October 2022 – Dec 2026 grant period. More detailed information on this criteria can be found in the grant application. |