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April 2024 Newsletter

As the weather warms, health equity collaborations are growing across The Alliance. In recognition of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, we shine the light on StrengthUnited, a CSUN community agency, working to make the world a safer place, through an interview with Jessica Romo, Associate Director of Advocacy & Prevention Education. With this newsletter, we also release our podcast on the Supreme Court case, United States v. Rahimi, which will determine whether the 2nd Amendment prevents Congress from prohibiting people subject to domestic violence protective orders from having firearms. On the podcast, I spoke with Jennifer White, Program Director of the Legal Program of Futures Without Violence, on how a negative outcome in the case would be extremely unsafe to the public, particularly for women and children who are at greatest risk for domestic violence.

You will also find Alliance Action Group developments, such as the release of our much-anticipated oil & gas videos, in collaboration with Campaign for a Healthy and Safe California, and other policy and program updates. These are a few examples of how The Alliance supports the collective impact of communities working with academics and local health department leaders to promote health, particularly for those communities disproportionately impacted by health inequities.

To uphold and sustain our community-academic partnerships and their role in developing community power, we are diligently working to engage funders for sustained funding.  We request your feedback by sending us things we did that worked and things that didn’t work.  I thank all our partners and members who help shape and support the Alliance. We have the privilege of working with some of the greatest champions for community health that serve those communities in California. As always, we stand in solidarity with other movements for health equity and justice including those calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Michael A. Rodriguez, MD, MPH
Director, California Alliance of Academics and Communities for Public Health Equity
Special Advisor, California Academic Health Department
Professor Emeritus, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

Member Spotlight

Join Us in Welcoming Our New Staff Members!

Policy Corner

The Alliance acts as a catalyst for systemic change by harnessing the collective power of California’s academic public health institutions in partnership with governmental organizations and communities adversely impacted by health inequities. The Alliance heard and listened to our members about what issues are of importance to them and leveraged expertise and lived experience to create our guiding policy platforms that includes a policy brief for each priority area. Considering what to support given the current context and community needs, here is an initial set of items CA Alliance supports in 2024. Learn more about our policy briefs and bill proposals seeking to address outlined priorities.  

Environment and Health Policy Brief

• AB-3155 (Freidman) Would hold oil and gas companies legally responsible for certain illnesses contracted within 3,200 feet of a well. 

• Endorsed the Campaign for a Safe and Healthy California to uphold the 2022 law (SB1137) that prohibits toxic oil drilling within 3,200 feet of homes, schools, day care centers, parks, healthcare facilities and businesses. (November 2024 CA Ballot)  

• ACA-16 (Bryan) Amends the California Constitution to declare that the people shall have a right to clean air and water and a healthy environment.  

  
  

Public Health Workforce Policy Brief  

• Continue to support wage increases for Community Health Worker/Promotora/Community Health Representatives (CHW/P/Rs).  

• Managed Care Organization (MCO) Tax Initiatives  

  • Support CA proposals to increase the state’s tax on MCOs. 

  • Allocate funds out of a reserve for planned expansions in Medi‑Cal and other health programs and support CHW/Promotoras.  

• AB-2110 (Arambula) Directs the Department of Health Care Services to include community health workers and doulas as Medi-Cal providers eligible to receive payments for adverse childhood experiences (ACE) trauma screenings.  

• AB-2200 (Kalra) Guaranteed Health Care for all, sets in motion a single-payer health care coverage system in California, called CalCare, for all residents, regardless of citizenship status.  

  
  

Violence Prevention Policy Brief  

• AB-1252 (Wicks) This bill proposes the Office of Gun Violence Prevention (OGVP) within the Department of Justice (DOJ) to study and issue a public report on improving the implementation, coordination, and efficacy of gun violence prevention laws. 

• AB-3127 (Mckinnor) Ensures survivors can access healthcare services by creating a survivor-centered, trauma-informed approach and limit healthcare provider mandated reports to law enforcement to only firearm and life-threatening injuries.  

• SB-899 (Skinner) This bill would extend firearm and ammunition relinquishment procedures that exist for purposes of domestic violence restraining orders to other specified protective orders.  

  
  

View CA Alliance’s previous policy positions and more here: https://www.phequityalliance.org/advocacy#priorities   

Action Groups

Environment & Health Action Group

We have recorded students in Coalinga and West Los Angeles areas to amplify the voices and communities who are negatively impacted by living near oil and gas wells. We aim to educate voters, especially young people who are leading the charge for combatting climate change. Watch and share these videos here. 

Violence Prevention Action Group

“Again, sometimes we talk about domestic violence, and people automatically think something between two partners. But really, the impacts are broader and they go beyond two people, they impact children, and they impact the community at large.”

- Jennifer White

Workforce Action Group

In January 2024 we launched our Academic Community Health Worker/Promotor (CHW/P) Task Force to convene academic thought leaders who have published and worked with CHW/P, and community-based organizations to advance this vital workforce sector to better serve the community. Click here for a brief recap from our first meeting, key take-aways, attendance, and more.

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