SB 291, as introduced, Lara. Office of Health Equity.
Existing law establishes the Office of Health Equity within the State Department of Public Health for the purposes of aligning state resources, decisionmaking, and programs to accomplish various goals relating to health, and requires the office to perform various duties specifically relating to multicultural health.
This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change to these provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 152 of the Health and Safety Code is
2amended to read:
(a) Thebegin delete State Department of Public Healthend delete Office of
4Health Equitybegin insert within the State Department of Public Healthend insert shall
5do all of the following:
6(1) Perform strategic planning to develop departmentwide plans
7for implementation of goals and objectives to close the gaps in
8health status and access to care among the state’s diverse racial
9and ethnic communities, women, persons with disabilities, and the
P2 1lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning
2(LGBTQQ) communities.
3(2) Conduct departmental policy
analysis on specific issues
4related to multicultural health.
5(3) Coordinate projects funded by the state that are related to
6improving the effectiveness of services to ethnic and racial
7communities, women, and the LGBTQQ communities.
8(4) Identify the unnecessary duplication of services and future
9service needs.
10(5) Communicate and disseminate information and perform a
11liaison function within the department and to providers of health,
12social, educational, and support services to racial and ethnic
13communities, women, persons with disabilities, and the LGBTQQ
14communities. The department shall consult regularly with
15representatives from diverse racial and ethnic communities,
16women, persons with disabilities, and the LGBTQQ communities,
17including health providers, advocates, and consumers.
18(6) Perform internal staff training, an internal assessment of
19cultural competency, and training of health care professionals to
20ensure more linguistically and culturally competent care.
21(7) Serve as a resource for ensuring that programs collect and
22keep data and information regarding ethnic and racial health
23statistics, including those statistics described in reports released
24by Healthy People 2020, and information based on sexual
25orientation, gender identity, and gender expression, strategies and
26programs that address multicultural health issues, including, but
27not limited to, infant and maternal mortality, cancer, cardiovascular
28disease, diabetes, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), acquired
29immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), child and adult
30immunization, osteoporosis, menopause, and full reproductive
31health, asthma, unintentional and intentional injury, and obesity,
32as well as
issues that impact the health of racial and ethnic
33communities, women, and the LGBTQQ communities, including
34substance abuse, mental health, housing, teenage pregnancy,
35environmental disparities, immigrant and migrant health, and health
36insurance and delivery systems.
37(8) Encourage innovative responses by public and private entities
38that are attempting to address multicultural health issues.
39(9) Provide technical assistance to counties, other public entities,
40and private entities seeking to obtain funds for initiatives in
P3 1multicultural health, including identification of funding sources
2and assistance with writing grants.
3(b) Notwithstanding Section 10231.5 of the Government Code,
4the State Department of Public Health shall biennially prepare and
5submit a report to the Legislature on the status of the activities
6
required by this chapter. This report shall be included in the report
7required under paragraph (1) of subdivision (d) of Section
8131019.5.
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