The document summarizes a presentation given by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) to the Assembly Select Committee on the Status of Boys & Men of Color in California. The CDPH is committed to prioritizing the health and well-being of boys and men of color. It works with many partners across multiple levels of government and sectors of society. Some of its key initiatives discussed include the Office of Health Equity, California Reducing Disparities Project, California Health in All Policies Task Force, and efforts around childhood development, behavioral health, and criminal justice reform.

1. ASSEMBLY SELECT COMMITTEE
ON THE STATUS OF BOYS &
MEN OF COLOR IN CALIFORNIA
Karen L. Smith, MD, MPH - Director & State Health Officer
Wm. Jahmal Miller, MHA – Deputy Director
California Department of Public Health | Office of Health Equity
Monday, August 24, 2015

2. “What is also true is that the legacy of
slavery, Jim Crow, discrimination, in almost
every institution of our lives, that casts a
long shadow, and that’s still part of our DNA
that’s passed on. We’re not cured of it.”
President Barack Obama’s podcast interview on WTF with Marc Maron
June 22, 2015

3. Health is Shaped by Where We
Live, Learn, Work, and Play

4. Strengthening Families & Communities
• At the California Department of Public Health,
we are committed to deploying our people,
programs and expertise to help strengthen
families and communities.
• Consequently, we must prioritize and optimize
the health, mental health and well-being of our
boys and men of color.

5. CA Health and Safety Code 131019.5
• The Office of Health Equity (OHE) was established in 2012 to align state
resources, decision making, and programs to accomplish all of the following:
• Achieve the highest level of health and mental health for all people, with
special attention focused on those who have experienced socioeconomic
disadvantage and historical injustice
• Work collaboratively with the Health in All Policies (HiAP) Task Force
• Advise and assist other state departments in their mission to increase
access to, and the quality of, culturally and linguistically competent health
and mental health care and services
• Improve the health status of all populations and places, with a priority on
eliminating health and mental health disparities and inequities

6. “Health equity” means efforts to ensure that
all people have full and equal access to
opportunities that enable them to lead
healthy lives.
Source: California Health and Safety Code Section 131019.5

7. Office of Health Equity Statewide Strategic Plan to
Achieve Health & Mental Health Equity

8. Will the CDPH - Office of Health Equity Apply
the Gender Lens?
• Stage 1 and Stage 2 Goals
embedded in Portrait of
Promise:
• Promote the use of a gender
lens is used as appropriate
when assessing the promotion
of health and mental health
equity models, to increase the
likelihood of improving the
often-distinct health needs of
women and girls and men and
boys, particularly those of
color and/or low income

9. California Reducing Disparities Project
• Prop. 63-funded $60m initiative to identify promising practices and
systems change recommendations to address persistent disparities
in underserved populations.
• Target Populations:
• African American; Asian and Pacific Islander; Latino; Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender,
Queer, and Questioning; and Native American communities
• Services defined by multicultural communities, for multicultural
communities
• Solicitations being released August 2015

10. California Health in All Policies Task Force
• Promote health, equity, and
sustainability
• Support inter-sectoral collaboration
• Benefit and engage with multiple
partners and stakeholders
• Create structural or procedural
change
• What role can the State & HiAP
Task Force play moving forward?
• Violence Prevention & Community
Safety
• Access to healthy food
• Community greening
• Health equity learning series for State
employees

11. Sexual & Behavioral Health
• Ensuring equity remains constant
value in CDPH Center for
Infectious Disease efforts
• Among males ages 15-19, the African
American gonorrhea rate(797.3) in
2010 was 32 times greater than the
White rate(24.9)
• Recently participated in the White
House’s Office of National AIDS
Policy announcement on updated
2020 National HIV/AIDS Strategy

12. Childhood, Youth & Adolescent Development
• Partnering w/ California and U.S. Departments of Justice
on the Defending Childhood State Policy Initiative
• Addressing child trauma and exposure to violence
• California Essentials for Childhood Cooperative
Agreement
• Funded by the CDC to leverage and support sustainable, multi-
sectorial collaborative efforts that promote safe, stable nurturing
relationships and environments
• Center for Youth Wellness ACES Policy Working Group
• Promote a trauma-informed workforce, systems change and
increase awareness about the impacts of childhood adversity

13. Partnership with Board of State & Community
Corrections – AB 1837
• Serving on the Executive Steering
Committee for the $5m Social Innovation
Financing Program focused on recidivism
reduction efforts

14. Multi-sectoral Approach on All Levels:
Strong Roots, Strong Boys & Men of Color
Executive, Legislative & Judicial Branches
CHHS Agency | Office of Health Equity | CDPH
National, State & Local Communities & Stakeholders
CA Adverse
Childhood
Experiences Working
Group
CA Reducing
Disparities Project
OHE 25-Member
Advisory Committee
Healthy
Communities
Data & Indicator
Project
Climate Action Team
Social Innovation
Fund Executive
Steering Committee
(AB1837)Health In All
Policies Task
Force
Examples of Partnership & Collaboration
that support our boys & men of color
Defending
Childhood
State Policy
Initiative
CA Essentials
for Childhood
Initiative
Assembly Select
Committee on
the Status of
BMoC in CA
Boys & Men of
Color Task Force
(AB80)
My Brother’s
Keeper Initiative
Public Health
Alliance of
Southern CA
Racial and Ethnic
Mental Health
Disparities Coalition
Bay Area
Regional Health
Inequities
Initiative
Federal Offices of
Minority Health
CA Conference
of Local Health
Officers
Alliance
for BMoC
California Center
for Research on
Women and
Families
CA Pan-Ethnic
Health Network
Sierra Health
Foundation
PolicyLink
The
California
Endowment
CDPH Open
Portal
Let’s Get Healthy
California
CA Wellness Plan
CA Black
Health
Network
Greenlining
Institute
Kaiser
Permanente