CPEHN Accomplishments & History
The Having Our Say Coalition and the Behavioral Health Equity Collaborative held a joint network retreat in Oakland. The Organizing for Public Health Leadership Academy also held its network retreat in Berkeley.
CPEHN hosted a webinar on The Roadmap. Guest speakers from Orange, Sonoma, and Monterey counties shared their experience and expertise working to advance racial equity in their county governments. Learn more about the project here.
The report is a culmination of a two-year policy research project and presents a strategic framework for governments to address systemic racism and advance racial and health equity.
Proposition 35 passed on November 5, 2024. The initiative makes the MCO Tax permanent, and budget language eliminated CHW/P/R rate increases which were to go into effect on January 1, 2025.
The November 5, 2024 election resulted in Republican control of the Presidency, as well as the House and Senate, a Republican trifecta that poses a very real threat to health care access and affordability and the rights and protections of BIPOC, Immigrants, LGTBQIA+, LEP, and persons with disabilities.
CPEHN’s co-sponsored bill AB 3161 (Bonta) the Equity in Health Care Act was signed into law. AB 3161 will require hospitals to update their patient safety plans to include a process for addressing racism and discrimination in patient care.
The report provides recommendations on how to best address this group’s mental health needs.
CPEHN hosted an all-network call on California’s updated Essential Health Benefits (EHB). Guest speakers included Mary Watanabe, Director of the California Department of Managed Health Care, and Colin Reusch, Director of Policy at Community Catalyst.
CPEHN published a Medi-Cal Fact Sheet, released in six languages.
CPEHN held a press conference in opposition to Governor Gavin Newsom’s proposed cuts to the In-Home Support Services program for undocumented immigrants.
CPEHN hosted a webinar with CalHHS, New Federal Demographic Data Standards: What Does This Mean for California? to better understand the new federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) demographic data standards and implementation efforts in California.
On April 30, the Having Our Say (HOS) Coalition hosted its annual Health Equity Advocacy Day in Sacramento. Over 50 advocates engaged directly with 32 legislative offices.
The Office of Health Care Affordability (OHCA) Board, led by Secretary Ghaly, approved a plan to limit the growth of health care spending to 3% by 2029.
On March 12, CPEHN and partners attended the first informational hearing on wide-ranging policy issues impacting CHW/P/Rs, which included testimonials from up to two dozen supporters pushing the legislature to increase rates.
On March 11, the Community Health Workers, Promotoras, and Representatives Policy Coalition unveiled their 2024 policy agenda, The People’s Agenda: Planting the Seeds for a Healthy Tomorrow
U.S. Representatives Nanette Barragán (CA-44) and Dr. Michael Burgess (TX-26), members of the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health, introduced the National Patient Safety Board Act (H.R. 7591)
Throughout March and April, the Behavioral Health Equity Collaborative (BHEC) hosted nine community conversations across the state, providing a platform for stakeholders to voice concerns and discuss strategies for improving mental health services.
In March, CPEHN became the only consumer advocacy organization on Covered California’s Population Health Advisory Committee, which helps to inform the types of targeted interventions Qualified Health Plans should implement to improve health care quality and achieve more equitable health outcomes.
CPEHN collaborated with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and the California Immigrant Policy Center (CIPC) to host Where We are Today: History of Immigration and Immigrant Rights Movement, a webinar on how the history of immigration policies have sharped current policies and the challenges and experiences of immigrants at the Southern border and how those challenges impact mental health.
CPEHN testified how the lack of health care affordability has resulted in poorer health outcomes, particularly for communities of color, at the January and February Office of Health Care Affordability (OHCA) board meetings after an ambitious proposal set a 3% cost growth target for health care spending for five years from 2025-2029.
This report provides nine lessons learned from the panel discussion to value these workforces that prioritize lived experience and enhance community agency, suggestions to improve existing policy to sustain and equitably integrate these community led workforces, and other efforts to support collaboration.
Building Towards Antiracist Governments is a policy research project aiming to highlight how local governments can take meaningful steps to advance racial equity. CPEHN produced three county stories featuring Orange County, Sonoma County, and Monterey County in 2023 to document the best efforts and lessons learned in the journey of government and community working to address systemic racism and inequities in a local jurisdiction.
This bill will resolve outreach barriers for Covered California, more specifically, the entities they contract with to do outreach, while ensuring informed consent and privacy are protected for individuals at both the federal and state level.
In August, Having Our Say hosted a second lobby day in Sacramento to advocate for SB 435, AB 85, and the Health Equity and Racial Justice Fund. 16 HOS Coalition members participated in five scheduled legislative meetings, and CPEHN staff conducted one drop-in meeting.
In August, CPEHN released Time for Change: A Snapshot of Health and Racial Equity Efforts in California State Government. The first-of-its-kind report was commissioned by the California Health Care Foundation in 2022 to assess health and racial equity efforts in California.
In August, the Public Health Collaborative partnered with Berkeley Media Studies Group to provide partner organizations with a training on messaging and communication strategy to advance health and racial equity.
CPEHN was invited to provide expert testimony at several committee hearings, including the Senate and Assembly Budget Subcommittee and the Assembly Select Committee on Mental Health. CPEHN spoke about the implementation of CalAIM, the Health Equity and Racial Justice Fund, the Governor’s Behavioral Health Modernization Proposal, and mental health disparities.
CPEHN released a policy brief drawing upon survey and listening session data for our People Power for Public Health project related to access to emergency medical services for people of color.
14 partner organizations participated in addition to Health Equity and Racial Justice coalition partners, and advocates from the California Black Health Network advocacy training program. One day prior to the HOS lobby day, CPEHN facilitated a lobby day with medical residents from UC Davis.
CPEHN conducted data analysis and published a policy brief examining racial disparities in COVID-19 vaccination rates two years after the vaccine first became available. Unsurprisingly, racial disparities persist as foes the gap between Medi-Cal members and the general population.
To support equitable use of ARPA dollars at the local levels, CPEHN partnered with the Imperial Valley Equity and Justice Coalition (IVEJC) who was organizing a campaign in Calexico City. CPEHN provided analyses and education for the Coalition organizers, breaking down the Treasury’s equity guidelines and sharing best practices from other local governments to help make a case for the Coalition’s demands. CPEHN also sent a letter directly to Calexico City Council elevating the Coalition’s campaign. Read the story here.
For this project, CPEHN will convene a community collaborative to research and develop a roadmap for local governments to address racism as a public health crisis by putting the community at the center of policy and decision making processes. We will also develop a state policy agenda to enhance the ability of state and local public health leaders to meaningfully share power with local communities and implement antiracist systems change.
The goal of the project is to strengthen the voice of immigrant and refugee communities in mental health policy and program development.
CPEHN receives generous gift from MacKenzie Scott. This is the largest gift CPEHN has received in its 30-year history of advancing health equity and racial justice through policy, community-based partnerships, and research.
CPEHN hosts “Addressing the Root: Dismantling Systemic Barriers to Oral Health Equity” webinar to discuss CPEHN policy recommendations on reducing racial disparities and working towards true oral health equity in November.
CPEHN launches Community Health Workers & Promotores Policy Coalition with a kick-off event that explained the coalition’s purpose, goals, and key activities. During this event, CHW/Ps and policymakers spoke about California’s implementation of new CHW/P benefits and policies.
In September, CPEHN publishes Addressing the Root: Dismantling Systemic Barriers to Oral Health Equity. This 31-page report highlights barriers to achieving oral health equities in communities of color and makes policy recommendations to fill these gaps. This report was published with the Oral Health Equity Core Group, a collaboration of racial health equity-focused grassroots and safety-net organizations representing the racial, ethnic, and regional diversity of California.
CPEHN sponsored bill AB 2697 is signed into law. This bill facilitates linguistically and culturally accessible outreach to community members that are eligible for Medi-Cal’s Community Health Worker/Promotores (CHW/Ps) benefit.
CPEHN sponsored bill SB 1019 is signed into law. This bill prioritizes culturally and linguistically relevant outreach to Medi-Cal enrollees about mental health benefits covered by their plans and would begin to address racial disparities in access to mental health care within the Medi-Cal Managed Care system.
CPEHN sponsored bill SB 644 (Leyva) is signed into law. This bill allows Covered California to work with Educational Development Department (EDD) to conduct outreach to individuals who have lost their job.
CPEHN releases A Right to Heal: Mental Health in Diverse Communities. This full report documents the collective stories, experiences, struggles, and resiliencies that emerged from those discussions with the intention of 1) honoring the voices of those who participated, 2) providing information that can be used by BIPOC communities to advocate and advance the mission to strengthen community mental health, and 3) educating local and state policymakers about BIPOC communities’ mental health needs, as well as how to better improve the mental health resources available.
CPEHN hosts the 2022 Right to Heal: Centering Mental Health Multi-Racial Equity in California virtual conference with nearly 200 attendees. During the conference attendees gathered to build connections; uplifted regional mobilization efforts led by local partners; discussed the findings from community listening and learning sessions; and empowered people to become advocates for themselves and their communities to achieve mental health wellness.
In August, CPEHN hosts the People Power for Public Health Webinar. This free and virtual webinar reviews the findings of the People Power for Public Health report and answers the question of how can local governments better engage with communities to adequately resource priorities that community members care about.
CPEHN releases People Power for Public Health. This report explores how budget processes and just resource allocation can be used to alleviate racialized health disparities and how we can support communities of color in building power for public health.
CPEHN publishes American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Scorecards that analyze how five California counties spent their federal ARPA dollars. In the spring, CPEHN conducted research and analyses of publicly available information from 11 California counties to see how they have been spending their critical public relief dollars. A 51-question equity metric was developed to examine in-depth counties’ efforts in the use of funds, promoting racial equity, and engaging constituents, ensuring transparency, accessibility, and accountability between March 2021 and February 2022.
In April, CPEHN releases California Needs Standards for Demographic and Social Needs Data to Reduce Disparities and Advance Health Equity. This brief provides recommendations for state policymakers to improve the collection and reporting of demographic and social needs data which are critical to reducing health disparities and addressing the social drivers and determinants of health.
CPEHN releases Building Culture and Gender Responsive Emergency Services in March. This fact sheet focuses on communities of color and their experiences with emergency medical services and mental health crises.
CPEHN releases Nothing About Us Without Us. To better understand the strengths and limitations of area-based social indices, CPEHN conducted an analysis of California’s recent COVID-19 response strategies which relied on these tools to address COVID-19 inequities. CPEHN also analyzed quantitative data publicly available through the California Department of Public Health, and collected additional qualitative information through interviews with a number of CPEHN’s community partners, who helped racially and ethnically diverse Californians receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
CPEHN’s sponsored bill, AB 326 was signed into law. The bill removes the sunset date for the Consumer Participation Program (CPP), which allows the Director of the Department of Managed Health Care to award advocacy and witness compensation to organizations that represent the interests of health care consumers in California in exchange for providing substantial contributions on proceedings. This bill will effectively be extending the operation of CPP indefinitely.
CPEHN, in conjunction with MHSOAC statewide and local partners, hosted the Right to Heal event, an opportunity for community partners to share findings from their first year of local listening sessions with policymakers and stakeholders. Over 300 people attended and the overwhelming majority of attendees were from community-based organizations.
CPEHN released Medi-Cal Managed Care Mental Health Services: An Unfulfilled Promise for Communities of Color. This report draws on quantitative data analysis, key informant interviews, and community field testing to better understand the access barriers communities of color face to access mental health services.
CPEHN releases How California’s Community-Based Organizations Filled the Gaps for Underserved Communities. This report — created by the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network, ChangeLab Solutions, and Prevention Institute, with contributions from 21 California CBOs — shows policymakers and community leaders how they can improve California’s efforts toward an equitable recovery from the social, economic, and health effects of the pandemic.
CPEHN releases Policy Options for Community-Defined Evidence Practices (CDEPS). This concept paper is an initial attempt to outline policy opportunities and approaches for greater valuation and acceptance of the behavioral health practices BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities have used for many years, and in some cases millennia, to support their behavioral health and wellbeing.
CPEHN continues to advocate for COVID-19 equity. CPEHN represented communities of color on the Community Vaccine Advisory Committee and urged the state to direct vaccine doses commensurate with COVID-19 burden on communities and concentrate doses in low-income communities of color. CPEHN continues to also advocate for flexible ongoing funding to community-based organizations, clinics, and tribal organizations.
CPEHN releases the fourth edition of the Landscape of Opportunity, and the first ever digital version. The report provides an overview of the current state of health disparities and challenges facing California’s communities of color. It serves as a resource for advocates and policymakers alike, highlighting the key areas where disparities persist that are ripe for future action to advance health equity.
CPEHN hosts first virtual and multi-day conference with nearly 400 attendees and featured 15 sessions including plenaries, workshops, and office hours.
CPEHN updates website with a new look and logo! New features include interactive reports and timeline.
CPEHN releases Equity in the Age of Telehealth: Considerations for California Policymakers. In our report and webinar, we detailed our findings and our policy recommendations on how elected officials and policy makers can ensure telehealth is equitable and accessible.
CPEHN joins Health Access, Latino Coalition for a Healthy California, and Public Health Advocates in applauding the state’s new equity measure for California’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy. This measure came after we sent a letter to the administration in April on how communities of color, bearing the brunt of the pandemic, must be centered in the state’s response.
CPEHN joins with Black Women for Wellness, California Black Women’s Health Project, Roots Community Health Center, and Public Health Advocates in sending a letter to Governor Newsom asking him to declare racism a public health crisis.
CPEHN was contracted by MHSOAC to deliver on some of the equity promises of the Mental Health Services Act. For three years, until 2024, CPEHN will serve as one of MHSOAC’s statewide advocacy organizations. In this role, we lead statewide advocacy efforts, engage local stakeholders from diverse racial and ethnic communities—including multicultural, Black, Native American, Asian and Pacific Islander and Latinx—and provide training, technical assistance, advocacy support and outreach.
CPEHN is awarded CRDP Phase 2 contract through the Office of Health Equity. In the second phase of the CRDP, we are working to develop the capacity of community organizations to promote innovative community-based mental health practices, programs and approaches.
This bill requires each hospital to include a written homeless patient discharge planning policy and process within the hospital discharge policy, as specified. The bill also requires a hospital to document specified information before discharging a homeless patient.
This bill modifies the minimum qualifications that an interpreter is required to possess to provide oral interpretation services to an LEP beneficiary enrolled in either a managed care plan or a mental health plan.
CPEHN’s Having Our Say (HOS) coalition celebrates 10 years of convening grassroots community organizations, health care clinics and providers, and advocates to fight for health equity and racial justice.
CPEHN celebrates 25 years of advancing health equity!
This bill requires the Governor, in appointing members, to use every effort to ensure that the commission has a diverse membership with expertise in transportation issues, taking into consideration factors including, but not limited to, socioeconomic background and professional experience, which may include experience working in, or representing, disadvantaged communities.
This bill requires the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) to publish the performance outcomes reports based on available data for specialty mental health services on the department’s Internet Web site, and to provide the performance outcomes reports to the Legislature.
CPEHN establishes ACA Round Ups and ACA Defense Hub to keep people informed and up-to-date on ACA repeal efforts.
This bill prohibits a student who meets the requirements for admission to a medical degree program at any public or private postsecondary educational institution from being denied admission to that program based on citizenship status or immigration status.
This bill requires the State Department of Public Health to use the additional separate collection categories and other tabulations for specified Asian groups and Pacific Islander groups, and to take additional actions, under certain circumstances.
CPEHN opens a third office in Los Angeles expanding our community advocacy work.
This bill provides that the Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBC) constitutes a vital document and would require a plan or insurer to comply with requirements applicable to those documents.
This bill requires the Department of Managed Health Care and the Department of Insurance to develop uniform provider directory standards.
This bill requires a general acute care hospital and the department to make the hospital’s updated policy available annually to the public on their respective Internet Web sites.
This bill requires the department to require all managed care plans contracting with the department to provide Medi-Cal services, except as specified, to provide language assistance services, which includes oral interpretation and translation services, to limited-English-proficient Medi-Cal beneficiaries, as defined.
This bill requires that extended foster care support continue for 6 months from the date of the declaration for a nonminor dependent who turns 21 years of age while the state of emergency is in effect.
This bill would additionally require that the annual Department of Housing and Community Development report include an evaluation of the Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention Program.
This bill requires the notices to include prescribed advisements about the availability of free or reduced-cost comprehensive health care coverage through Medi-Cal or the California Health Benefit Exchange, respectively.
This bill requires a health care service plan, as specified, that advertises or markets products in the individual or small group health care service plan markets, or that allows others to market or advertise on its behalf in those markets, in a non-English language, as provided, and that does not meet certain requirements, to translate into that language specified documents.
This bill authorizes a code enforcement officer, upon successful completion of a course of study in the appropriate subject matter as determined by the local jurisdiction, to determine whether an infestation exists or whether there is a lack of adequate garbage and rubbish removal facilities
This law requires the California Transportation Commission include case studies of transportation projects that improve health and equity in the next revision of the state’s Regional Transportation Planning guidelines.
CPEHN celebrates 20 years of advocating for health equity.
CPEHN opens a second office in Sacramento expanding our legislative presence.
CPEHN begins work on developing a statewide strategic plan for reducing mental health disparities through the California Reducing Disparities Project, funded through the Mental Health Services Act (Proposition 63). The first phase of the CRDP focused on developing population-specific knowledge about mental health challenges in our communities and community-defined solutions.
CPEHN releases seminal, data-rich report, Landscape of Opportunity: Cultivating Health Equity in California, which paints a picture of how our neighborhoods impact our health.
The Having Our Say coalition was founded in 2007 to raise the voices of communities of color in the health reform debate and to advocate for access to quality health care for all.
In 2003, we led a legislative effort on behalf of millions of Californians whose primary language is not English. Unable to communicate with their health care providers, these patients faced increased risk of misdiagnosis and misunderstanding their treatments. CPEHN co-sponsored groundbreaking legislation, SB 853 (Escutia), which mandates all health plans and insurers in California provide interpreters and translated documents to their members.
In 1992, health advocates and community leaders from four ethnic communities came together to share common goals. At the time, health care reform efforts at the state and national levels provided a unique opportunity to improve the health of communities of color. Yet the violence in South Los Angeles after the Rodney King verdict had exposed years of institutional racism and mistrust among ethnic groups.
We recognized the need to bridge the divisions that had grown between our communities and to unite our voices to advocate for a just, equitable, and healthy world. Ethnic health leaders from the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum, California Black Health Network, California Rural Indian Health Board, and the Latino Coalition for a Healthy California came together to create a forum to advocate for a common health policy agenda for communities of color: the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network.