CHAPTER
1.7. California Health Equity Program
200.
It is the intent of the Legislature that the California Health Equity Program will accomplish all of the following goals:(a) Support local health departments, nonprofit organizations, clinics, and tribes that serve disproportionately impacted communities to take action in any of the following areas outlined in the State Department of Public Health’s COVID-19 Health Equity Playbook:
(1) Housing security.
(2) Food security and healthy food systems.
(3) Economic stability.
(4) Schools and childcare.
(5) Health in All Policies.
(6) Health-promoting built environments.
(b) Stakeholder engagement, community leadership, and use of local data will ensure that strategies meet local needs.
(c) Invest in the areas identified in subdivision (a) to build community resilience to weather the storms of future disasters.
(d) Use evidence-based and evidence-informed strategies selected from the department’s COVID-19 Health Equity Playbook.
(e) Using local needs
assessments and indices of health inequities, encourage local recipients to work together to implement strategies that reach communities with the greatest health inequities.
201.
(a) (1) The California Health Equity Program is hereby established under the Office of Health Equity in the State Department of Public Health.(2) The California Health Equity Program shall be a competitive grant program.
(b) (1) Eligible applicants for the California Health Equity Program grants shall include the following entities:
(A) Community-based nonprofit organizations.
(B) Community clinics.
(C) Local health departments.
(D) Tribal organizations.
(2) Eligible applicants shall be selected from specific geographic areas based on the following criteria:
(A) Elevated rates of death from COVID-19, based on data collected by the department.
(B) High risk of other health inequities, as evidenced by social and environmental indicators of health, assessed by using data including, but not limited to, the Healthy Places Index.
(C) Readiness to implement required programs, as evidenced by active
community engagement and structures for collaboration that have demonstrated joint accomplishments.
(c) The office shall request applications for funding from
applicants eligible pursuant to subdivision (b) that shall describe how funds will be used in accordance with acceptable uses. Local health departments shall be encouraged to coordinate with and include nonprofit organizations, community clinics, and tribal organizations in their applications.
(d) The office is authorized to issue a request for proposals to select an external nonprofit organization to administer the funding for regional and community-based nonprofit organizations, tribal organizations, and community clinics in the selected areas. The external nonprofit organization shall in turn issue a request for proposals to allocate funding in accordance with acceptable uses.
(e) All entities that receive funding that are from the same area shall participate in
local collaboratives to ensure coordination of efforts.
(f) (1) The office shall make the final selection of those that will receive funding. The office shall give preference to entities with demonstrated partnerships in the area.
(2) (A) For purposes of this subdivision and subdivision (e), “area” means either of the following:
(i) Parts of a county that encompass contiguous incorporated or unincorporated sections of the county that meet the priority criteria.
(ii) A single incorporated city, or a subdivision or subdivisions of a city, that meets the priority criteria.
(B) “Areas” shall fall within the jurisdiction of a single county, but proposals for purposes of funding to nonprofits may encompass more than one incorporated city.
(C) “Areas” shall have populations between 100,000 and 300,000 inhabitants, except where an entire county has fewer than 100,000 inhabitants.
(g) (1) Grants shall be used to support partnerships among local health departments, community-based nonprofit organizations, community clinics, and tribal organizations to take action in any of the following areas:
(A) Housing security.
(B) Food security and healthy food systems.
(C) Economic stability.
(D) Schools and childcare.
(E) Health in All Policies.
(F) Health promoting Health-promoting built environments.
(2) Grantees shall be responsible for assuring ensuring stakeholder engagement and community leadership to select and implement strategies that meet local
needs.
202.
There is hereby established in the State Treasury the California Health Equity Fund. The moneys in the fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, shall be available for expenditure by the Office of Health Equity for purposes of this chapter.203.
(a) There is hereby established a California Health Equity Fund Oversight and Accountability Committee to do all of the following:(1) Monitor the distribution, implementation, and impact of local and regional grants funded by the California Health Equity Fund.
(2) Hold agencies and departments implementing programs supported by the fund accountable.
(3) Provide oversight to ensure that state and local projects are fulfilling their goals and outcomes.
(b) The committee shall be
comprised of the following 15 members, with diverse and relevant background in health equity and disease prevention and with specific consideration to address the needs of the target populations and communities:
(1) Five members that are representatives of statewide nonprofit organizations serving Black, Latino, Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, tribal, and low-income communities, appointed by the Governor.
(2) One member representing an organization that represents community health clinics, appointed by the Senate Rules Committee.
(3) One member representing a nonprofit public health organization dedicated to promoting health equity and preventing the leading causes of illness, injury, and premature
death, appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly.
(4) One member representing a nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing adverse childhood experiences, appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly.
(5) One member representing a statewide organization with expertise in healthy food systems and access to healthy food, appointed by the Senate Health Committee. Governor.
(6) One member who is a scientific expert on the faculty of a university facility or a research institution, with recognized expertise in the design and effectiveness of community-based
programs to promote health equity and address the social and environmental determinants of health, appointed by the Governor.
(7) One member who is a physician representative of a professional medical organization or a medical or public health organization dedicated to addressing the social and environmental determinants of health, with scientific expertise in that subject area, appointed by the Senate Health Committee. Governor.
(8) The State Public Health Officer.
(9) One member representing the California Conference of Local Health Officers,
appointed by the Governor.
(10) One member representing the County Health Executives Association of California, appointed by the Governor.
(11) One member who is an individual with expertise in health system financing, from a public interest or academic institution, appointed by the Governor.
(c) Members of the committee shall serve for an initial term of three years, renewable at the option of the appointing authority, with up to two consecutive terms of two or three years, if funding is continued.
(d) The committee shall elect a chair and a vice-chair
vice chair annually, who shall coordinate the agenda.
(e) The committee shall, 18 months after the completion of the grant program, report to the Governor, the relevant policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature, the Department of Finance, and the Legislative Analyst Office an evaluation on the impact of the program and recommendations on how to create a sustained system of statewide funding for health equity and community-based prevention of leading causes of illness, injury, premature death, and adverse childhood experiences.
(f) The committee shall report back to the Legislature within 18 months after appropriation by the Legislature to the California Health Equity Fund for implementation of the program, with a report and
recommendations on an approach to create a sustained system of funding for health equity and prevention for the state.
204.
This chapter shall become operative on July 1, 2022.