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All the resources in this page fall under the "Established" Development Level, which corresponds with a 5-6 on the Equity Development scale. A "5" means work from the competency has been fully integrated into organization with evidence of use in policies, procedures, etc. A "6" signifies that the equity work is sustainable, ongoing, and can be shared as a "best practice" for other LHJs.

Type Title Description
Guides Activities to Deepen Your Power-Building Analysis This guide assists public health professionals who wish to dive deeper into power dynamics and assess their own power-building activities. The guide contains activities that individuals and their whole organizations can complete in order to find their own abilities, create a partner landscape analysis, and complete a basic power mapping activity.
Examples Alameda County Advances Equitable Housing Policies This resource describes in detail how the Alameda County Public Health Department created housing policy change in order to advance health equity. The Alameda County Housing Workgroup is comprised of residents, community organizers and other stakeholders seeking to address housing inequities.
Guides Health Departments and Authentic Community Engagement by Center for Public Health Practice & Research This study of LHJ staff across the United States describes in detail their community engagement activities and provides recommendations for authentic community engagement.
Type Title Description
Guides Advancing Health Equity in Health Department’s Public Health Practice Written by the Public Health Accreditation Board, this guide discusses different health equity initiatives in public health departments (including many across California), various resources and assistance available to departments wanting to further integrate equity, and overall recommendations for equity from the perspective of an accreditation body. Case studies, specific action items, and a large resource toolkit are all great real-world items that can be used to understand equity.
Templates BARHII Organizational Self-Assessment Toolkit BARHII presents an organizational self- assessment tool specifically aimed at helping local health jurisdictions identify their baseline capacity for health equity work. The assessment contains surveys for staff and external stakeholders of the organization, as well as focus and interview guides to help facilitate conversations. The package also consists of equity- focused review guides for pre-existing documents and human resources data systems in order to address health equity in past and future programs.
Examples City of Madison Racial Equity and Social Justice Tool The City of Madison, WI presents a health impact assessment-style toolkit that digs deep into organizational policies and projects and finds opportunities to integrate health equity and racial justice. Focusing on who, what, when, where, why, and how, the tool allows you to separate out the populations that may benefit or be negatively impacted by a new project. The tool is presented in two forms depending on the capacity of the organization: a fast-tracked tool and a more comprehensive school.
Examples City of Ottawa Equity and Inclusion Lens Handbook 2018 Presented by the City of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, this guide takes an in-depth look at disproportionately affected populations in the community, analyzing the backgrounds of these populations and common inequities and barriers experienced by them. A vision statement is included for these groups, as well as descriptions of actions currently taking place to improve equitable outcomes for the populations.
Templates City of Saint Paul Racial Equity Assessment Toolki The City of St. Paul presents a racial equity focused assessment in order to determine the future impact of developing policies and programs on different populations of color. The assessment includes a PowerPoint slide training deck to guide users through the tool.
Templates Health Equity at Work: Skills Assessment of Public Health Staff This report provides sample survey templates (in the appendix) on how to assess equity knowledge of organizational staff. This resource has results from the survey and the sample survey itself to use as a template, including a script from focus groups.
Guides How to Evaluate an Organization's Commitment to Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Developed by the University of California, Merced, this guide lists what potential employees want in a diverse organization. While not public health specific, organizations can use this guide to create a more inclusive work environment while also aligning to new standards of outward facing commitment to diversity.
Examples Human Impact Partners: An Equity Lens Tool for Health Departments The Human Impact Partners’ equity lens for health departments is a comprehensive guide on how to apply an equity lens to organizational programs and policies. The guide has many sections that allow organizations to review and reflect on the impacts of their programs and how different disproportionately affected populations can benefit from equitable approaches.
Frameworks Multnomah County Equity and Empowerment Len Multnomah County, OR presents their racial justice focused Equity and Empowerment Lens. This tool focuses on the processes of planning, decision-making and resource allocation, and explains concept of the Four Ps: People, Place, Process, and Power. The tool also comes with a conceptual document that outlines the foundational assumptions of the tool, resources, a worksheet to complete during the toolkit process, and other helpful guides.
Examples National League of Cities: Repository of City Racial Equity Policies and Decisions The National League of Cities lists real- world examples of policy changes taken in order to advance equity. California is greatly highlighted in this list, with examples from Oakland, San Francisco, Sacramento, Eureka, and San Gabriel, among others across the United States.
Guides Organizing for Racial Equity Within the Federal Government Multiple racial justice organizations, such as Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE) and Race Forward, share insights on organizing government agencies for racial justice. While focused on tips for federal agencies, many of the principles within this document are relevant to smaller agencies. One section to review is "Prepare for and learn from internal and external backlash," which can be an inevitable reaction that will occur when visually supporting antiracist policies.
Guides Protocol for Culturally Responsive Organizations The Coalition of Communities of Color shares their protocol for focusing on racial equity in your organization. This guide explains the impact of racial inequity both on an individual and on whole populations, change theory that can support shifts to racial justice initiatives, and concrete best practices that prioritize racial equity in the organization. Additionally, the guide includes a scoring matrix to measure the cultural responsiveness of your organization, recruitment policies and strategies, performance reviews, and many other helpful resources.
Articles Transparency: A central principle underpinning trustworthy guidelines This article discusses the importance of transparency when creating communications for the public. In order to earn community trust, guidelines and notices from your organization must be very clear, including information about where you acquire data sources and the cost/benefit analysis of decisions.
Guides Using a Health Equity Lens The CDC guides readers on how to consider and use an equity lens in inclusive communication and decision-making. The guide discusses the overall concept of an equity lens and lists step-by-step recommendations on how to integrate equity into already established programs and policies.
Type Title Description
Guides Applying social determinants of health indicator data for advancing health equity This technical guide walks local health departments and their community partners through collecting, analyzing, and using data indicators for local community health assessments, program/policy development, and health equity advocacy.
Guides Do No Harm - Applying Equity Awareness in Data Visualization This guide with its respective checklists and toolkits focuses on the ways data analysts, researchers, and communicators fail to integrate equity in their work, how to correct common mistakes, and how to be more intentional in using a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) approach.
Guides Principles for Using Public Health Data to Drive Equity (Page 23) This guide aims to incorporate data equity principles to each stage of the data life cycle, bringing an equity lens to each stage. These principles emerge from an environmental scan by the CDC Foundation that is further described in the document. The various stages of the data life cycle relate to different levels of the early, established, and strong spectrum.
Type Title Description
Articles Approaches for Overcoming Barriers to Cross- Sector Data Sharing This study identifies challenges to cross-sector data sharing and the approaches used to overcome these challenges in the Mid-Ohio Farmacy, a partnership to address food insecurity.
Articles Improving Cross- Sector Collaborations in Place-Based Population Health Projects This article provides a framework and recommendations on how to navigate cross-sector partnerships in complex population health projects.
Articles Mobilizing Cross- Sector Collaborations to Improve Population Health in U.S. Rural Communities: A Qualitative Stud This study provides four case studies of rural communities working to advance health equity through cross-sector partnerships and provides rural specific strategies. Rural Resource.
Trainings Promoting Health Equity by Uniting Sectors Around Shared Data This webinar discusses best practices for sharing data across sectors in order to advance health equity.
Examples Supporting Safe and Affordable Housing in Alameda County, CA The Alameda County Public Health Department serves as an example for how to work across sectors (e.g., housing) in order to advance population health.
Type Title Description
Articles DEI Steering Committee - Part 1: 3 Steps to Forming an Effective DEI Steering Committee This article is a 3-part series that includes information on forming a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) committee, sustaining DEI efforts, and futureproofing the work of the committee. Links to part 2 and 3 are in the article.
2023 CA LHJ Examples Napa County Health and Human Services Agency Public Health DEI Committee While Napa County Health and Human Services Agency-Public Health does not have a staff member with the specific title of ‘Equity Lead’ or ‘Equity Officer’, they have staff that function in this capacity in their Chronic Disease and Health Equity unit. The unit is dedicated to assessing countywide social determinants of health and has integrated equity as a priority across programs. As a result of the 2022 Organizational Assessment for Equity Infrastructure, they have started to convene a monthly DEI workgroup within Public Health to support equity work across the division. They were also able to hire and retain an additional Community Health Planner with CERI grant funding, increasing the capacity of the Chronic Disease and Health Equity unit.
2023 CA LHJ Examples Sacramento County: Public Health's Role in Continuing Momentum After Declaring Racism as a Public Health Crisis Following the declaration of Racism as a Public Health Crisis in November 2020, Sacramento County Public Health (SCPH) formed the Health and Racial Equity (HRE) Unit in April 2022 to build on the momentum to advance health and racial equity. The unit is fully staffed with five full time employees that work to integrate equity in SCPH infrastructure and programmatic areas. The unit was created to expand and build health and racial equity programs, policies, and practices throughout SCPH to eliminate, mitigate, and prevent existing and future health disparities and inequities that Black, Brown, Indigenous, people of color (BIPOC) and other communities experience in Sacramento County. Having dedicated equity staff has positively impacted SCPH’s culture and capacity to advance health and racial equity.
Type Title Description
Examples King County Racial Equity Caucusing Report, 2019 This is a summary of the Washington Department of Health affinity group project, including the purpose and mission of the groups, questions posed to each affinity group about their experiences, feedback from the groups, and how the initiative will impact the organizational anti-racism goals.
Trainings NACCHO Roots of Health Inequality Training This is a group training with a discussion focused curriculum, where participants learn from and contribute to the training environment. Groups will learn how to start the conversation around health inequities, how values and assumptions shape organizational commitment to equity, public health history, root causes of inequities, and how to use social justice concepts to advance equity. Each module comes with a discussion guide, examples from the field, and presentations.
2023 CA LHJ Examples Napa County Health and Human Services Agency Race and Cultural Equity Policy Tool In response to the growing indigenous and Mixteco speaking population in Napa County, and the need for interpretation services, Napa County Health and Human Services Agency contracted with CIELO (Comunidades Indigenas En Liderazgo) and MCUI (Movimiento Cultural de la Unión Indígena) to provide language interpretation in Mixteco and its many localized variants as well as a cultural awareness training. All policies and procedures within Public Health have been analyzed through the Race and Cultural Equity toolkit.
Guides University of Kansas Community Toolbox: Addressing Social Determinants of Health in Your Community This guide reflects on addressing equity in a community once organizational staff receives a general introduction to equity and equity efforts gain leadership support.
Type Title Description
2023 CA LHJ Examples Live Healthy Napa County Language Inclusion Listening Sessions Summary Report Napa County Health and Human Services Agency-Public Health has added a staff intern classification, strengthening their local Public Health workforce pipeline. Through their Live Healthy Napa County (LHNC) collaborative, they continue to convene partners in action teams to increase Respect and Social Inclusion within Napa County. One of the action teams, the LHNC Language Inclusion action team, has engaged community members to identify gaps in information and resource access. The team created a report of their findings as well as a document of information and resource access points for Spanish-speaking community members in Napa County.
2023 CA LHJ Examples Marin County Public Health Collaboratives Marin County Health & Human Services has a long history of developing, nurturing, and evolving community collaboratives to address public health issues & achieve shared goals (Community Collaboratives: Healthy Marin Partnership, Marin HIV/AIDS Care Council, Marin Prevention Network, Marin Perinatal Service Providers Network, Marin Oral Health Steering Committee, Healthy Eating Active Living Collaborative, OD Free Marin, Community Resilience Teams, Community Health Worker Collaborative, Equity and Community Partnerships Committee, Marin County Suicide Prevention Collaborative, and Aging Action Initiative among others). Marin County seeks to provide compensation to community members whose participation may cause financial hardship, while also honoring their expertise and experience. Many collaboratives within HHS are focusing on increasing inclusive participation and amplifying the voices of community members from historically disenfranchised communities.
Type Title Description
Guides Making Alternative Credentials Work : A New Strategy for HR Professionals This guide includes how employers and employees view and value alternative credentials and explores workforce readiness alternatives.
2023 CA LHJ Examples Tulare County Equitable Communications Resources Tulare County Public Health prioritizes equitable communications by integrating equity considerations into its messaging. This is achieved through various methods including translation services, plain language usage, following Cultural and Linguistically Appropriate Service (CLAS) Standards, and abiding by ADA compliance in materials produced by the Public Health Branch.
2023 CA LHJ Examples Tulare County Public Health Tulare County Public Health has invested in equity by creating a Training Officer position within the branch. This Training Officer has developed and delivered training relating to Cultural Humility to both staff and community partners. They have also created additional training materials on equity including pronouns in the workplace, CalAIM, and public health foundational services.
Type Title Description
2023 CA LHJ Examples Marin County Public Health Community Resilience Teams Established within Public Health, during the pandemic, Marin County Public Health’s commitment to equitable response spurred the creation of Community Response Teams, which in the recovery phase have become Community Resilience Teams. These teams are now leading community engagement to address public health priorities, including access to services, community preparedness, and climate action. Notably, in 2023, Community Resilience Teams' Lead Agencies were onboarded as full voting members of Healthy Marin Partnership; a healthcare collaborative that has evolved into a community collaborative to achieve health equity. Community members now inform and guide public health strategies, including the Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) and healthcare workforce development.
Frameworks The Spectrum of Community Engagement to Ownership The Spectrum of Community Engagement to Ownership charts a pathway for strengthening and transforming local democracies. Leaders across multiple sectors such as CBOs, local governments, and philanthropic partners, can use this spectrum to assess and advance community engagement efforts.
Type Title Description
Frameworks Operationalizing Equity Operationalizing Equity looks at how the Annie E. Casey Foundation is embedding equity principles in its grantmaking and administrative operations. The report includes tools for operationalizing equity work and examines how tying race equity to an organization's mission can help staff shift their priorities over time.
Examples Santa Clara Develops Infrastructure to Address Racial & Health Equity Example A case study examining how Santa Clara County Public Health Department in California is developing internal infrastructure to advance racial and health equity. Strategies include developing racial and health equity committees and workgroups, developing equity trainings for staff, and engaging community partners wherever possible. The outcomes and impacts of their work are also discussed.
Type Title Description
Guides Powering Health Equity Action with Online Data Tools: 10 Design Principles This report offers 10 design principles for effective online data tools developed to advance health equity. This report explains how to apply these principles and include a local, state, or national real-world example of how the principle has been applied and executed.
Guides Principles for Using Public Health Data to Drive Equity - A guide to embedding equitable practices throughout the data life cycle (Page 23) The CDC Foundation uses this guide to help different organizations utilize equity principles throughout all uses of health data. The guide shares the five data equity principles, with advice on how to apply them to data work, and actionable steps to take to integrate equity at each step in the data analysis process.