Health Equity Newsletter
February 2020
In this newsletter:
Greetings from the Center for Health Equity
Message from the Director
CONNECT: Nine new members join HEAL Council
STRENGTHEN: Making progress to advance equity in grantmaking
AMPLIFY: EHDI grantees enhance existing programs with new grant cycle
Greetings from the Center for Health Equity
As always, there is a lot moving and shaking at the Center! As we share this newsletter, applications are streaming in for the new Community Solutions for Healthy Child Development grants. After the application deadline this Friday, February 7, the Community Solutions Advisory Council will begin reviewing and scoring applications and set up site visits in March with top applicants to learn more about their organizations, communities and proposals. We anticipate notifying all applicants of funding decisions via email in April.
We would also like to congratulate two Eliminating Health Disparities Initiative (EHDI) grantees, Hmong American Partnership and Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center, for being two of five 2019 Bush Prize for Community Innovation Winners! The annual prize recognizes and supports organizations with a track record of successful problem solving in their communities. Thank you for the work that you do to advance equity in our communities!
Finally, we would like to congratulate our very own Shor Salkas, who has recently started a new position in the MDH Community Engagement Unit. Shor worked with our team for the past two years to coordinate the Health Equity Advisory and Leadership Council, the internal health equity council (I-HEALTH), our coaching program, and much more. You will be missed, Shor! But we look forward to continue to partner with you from just a few floors away.
Interested in being a guest writer for a future newsletter?
Email your idea to health.equity@state.mn.us and we will be in touch!
Message from the director
I am a firm believer that when you bring people together from across diverse life experiences and provide a process for them to build and dream together, they will envision new ways to solve problems that once may have seemed impossible to solve. That is what happened when we first began convening folks from across the state in 2018 to ask what is needed to truly advance health equity in Minnesota. What this dynamic and diverse group told us was that they wanted authentic ways to connect with one another, opportunities to build power together, and to be truly heard by large systems, institutions and funders. This began what we are currently calling the Health Equity Leadership Network (HELN).
HELN hosted the 2019 Health Equity Summit in partnership with the Eliminating Health Disparities Initiative (EHDI), which first brought people together to discuss the idea of a statewide health equity network. We didn’t want to create yet another table where nothing happens, and we sit and admire the problems that have plagued us for decades. Instead, we created a shared analysis of why inequities persist. Our 2019 Health Equity Summit Overview document has the details of that harvest. The gist of it is that organizations are working constantly to tackle the many issues facing our communities. Yet there are very few funds or resources going towards innovative, cross-sector ways to heal historical trauma, achieve racial equity, or build inclusive, welcoming communities for all. These broader, overarching issues were identified as the top priorities needed to achieve health equity by the 180+ people in the room at the 2019 summit.
Given the lessons learned from HELN and the 2019 summit, we are trying something different for the 2020 Health Equity Summit; we are hosting a Health Equity Innovation Lab. What we’ve learned this past year from HELN members is that across the state, folks have some great ideas about how they can heal historical trauma, achieve racial equity, or build inclusive, welcoming communities. We put out a call for ideas a couple weeks ago to capture some of those gems and bring them to the Health Equity Summit on April 22, 2020 in Saint Paul, Minn. There, attendees will be able to interact with the teams behind those ideas through a process called human-centered design.
CHE believes that communities hold the solutions to the issues they face. Sometimes it just takes unlikely partners coming together to ideate and innovate to reach breakthroughs in how we can bring those solutions to life and move the needle on health inequities. We hope you will join us at the 2020 summit and dream with us how to make health equity a reality in Minnesota.
Registration for the 2020 Health Equity Summit will open later in February. If you aren’t already on our mailing list, subscribe to Health Equity Email Updates to receive a message when registration is live.
Kou Thao*
Director, Center for Health Equity
*Starting January 1, 2020, CHE’s Director (who you have known as Bruce Thao) is going by his middle name (and Hmong name), Kou. (It rhymes with “you.”)
CONNECT
We are a network hub - leading, connecting and strengthening networks of health equity leaders and partners across MDH and Minnesota communities.
Nine new members join Health Equity Advisory and Leadership Council
With the arrival of the new year, CHE welcomed new council members to Health Equity Advisory and Leadership (HEAL) Council. December marked the end of the first two-year term of the 18-member council. As we begin the 2020-21 term, we are pleased to share that nine original members will continue in their roles as we also usher in new voices and perspectives.
The HEAL Council was created as part of a broader effort by the Minnesota Department of Health to address Minnesota’s disparities in health status—particularly those persistent disparities across various ethnic, racial and regional groups as well as LGBTG and disability communities. The council is responsible for holding the Minnesota Department of Health accountable for continuing to move forward efforts outlined in the department’s strategic plan and the 2014 Advancing Health Equity report, including advising on specific MDH policies and programs.
Since the council first met in January 2018, the original council members launched into a variety of projects. The council reviewed the MDH Strategic Plan and Community Engagement Plan, advised MDH’s Office of Legislative Relations on legislative priorities, and continually met with leadership and staff from across MDH to learn more about and provide insight on health equity efforts happening across the department. In February 2019, the HEAL Council sent a memo to Commissioner Malcolm to indicate their priorities for advancing health equity during the Walz Administration, which centered around three major themes: data practices, community engagement, and systems change.
As the new council begins its term, we want to express deep gratitude to each of the members of the first council and thank them for the time and effort they put in to bringing their cultural wisdom, knowledge and expertise to MDH to improve health for ALL Minnesotans. The strategic guidance of the HEAL Council is critical to the mission and vision of MDH as we continue to strive for health equity in our state. We also would like to acknowledge and commend Health Equity Planner Shor Salkas for their work in facilitating and coordinating the council during this period, as well as the thoughtful leadership by HEAL co-chairs Va Yang and Dr. Jokho Farah.
In fall 2019, CHE recruited new council members to fill the seats of those who chose not to return for a second term. From a large pool of excellent candidates, a team of reviewers from MDH and the HEAL Council selected nine new members who will be serving on the HEAL Council for the 2020-21 two-year term. These new members bring a wealth of personal and professional experience from communities most impacted by health inequities, specifically communities of color and indigenous communities, disability communities, rural communities and LGBTQ communities. We are also excited to announce that Va Yang and Dr. Jokho Farah have been re-elected as co-chairs for the coming year. The full list of 2020-21 HEAL Council members can be found on the HEAL Council page.
In 2020, the council will meet monthly at the Wilder Center in St. Paul. These meetings are open to the public. The schedule is available on the HEAL Council page.
STRENGTHEN
We provide leadership in advancing health equity and cultivate health equity leaders within MDH and across Minnesota communities.
Making progress to advance equity in grantmaking
Since we last shared an update in our November 2018 newsletter, the MDH Equity and Grants Work Group has produced and shared several new resources to help advance equity in the agency’s grantmaking processes. MDH distributes more than $300 million in grants every year, and although state-specific data is unavailable, national grant-making trends show that only a small percentage of funding goes to organizations led by people of color and American Indians. We’re working to change that.
The Equity and Grants Work Group has worked across the agency to advance equity in MDH’s grantmaking since 2017, with the goal of ensuring a more level playing field for grant applicants and that communities experiencing inequities are the ones driving the solutions. The new resources the Work Group released in 2019 were designed to help grant programs better reach diverse communities with funding opportunities and address bias in the grant review process.
The Grant Request for Proposals (RFP) Promotion Guide was released in June of 2019 with the goal of helping grant programs fulfill Grants Management Policy 08-03, which went into effect in January 2018. This state policy requires that agencies pursue additional methods to reach potential applicants, including targeting communities and parts of the state that have not historically participated in the grant application process and culturally-specific and community-based organizations. The guide includes:
- Tips for identifying target populations and gaps and barriers to participation.
- Examples of creative distribution methods.
- Resources and contact information for state councils and boards representing diverse populations.
Then in the fall of 2019, the Work Group released two additional resources – a training guide and PowerPoint training slides – to help grant programs address bias in the grant review process. These tools are designed to assist grant programs in training reviewers on implicit bias, provide tips for reducing personal bias in grant reviewing and awarding, and highlight the importance of integrating voices from communities in the RFP and grant review process.
In developing the bias resources, work group members conducted a focus group with previous applicants for MDH grants – including those who had been successfully funded and those who had not – and learned several key messages that applicants wanted reviewers to know. For example, newer does not mean incapable or unsustainable, and bigger organizations aren’t always better. Participants stressed that oftentimes smaller and newer organizations grow in a grassroots manner, led directly by community members in response to a community need that is currently unmet by other established organizations.
One participant shared, “Someone said to me, ‘I didn’t know that you would be at that level,’ saying she was surprised. Because I come from a ‘small organization,’ she assumed [we] would not be capable of grant-related work, reporting, etc.” When this type of bias appears in the review process, it favors often organizations long-standing, mainstream organizations – which are predominantly led by whites.
Other participants shared that reviewers frequently stereotype agencies or people based on preconceived notions of where they are located, who they serve, where they come from. These messages from past applicants have been incorporated into the training resources so that reviewers can learn from previous mistakes and ensure all applicants are given a fair chance at grant funding.
The new tools on bias in the review process will be piloted by several grant programs across the agency in early 2020, and we will continue to update and improve the resources as needed.
AMPLIFY
We amplify the work of communities most impacted by health inequities and support then to drive their own solutions.
EHDI grantees enhance existing programs with new grant cycle
In this newsletter, we’ll continue highlighting the work of our new cohort of Eliminating Health Disparities Initiative (EHDI) grantees. The November newsletter featured grantees who were not funded in the last cycle. But about half of the current 25 grantees have worked as EHDI grantees in the past and are continuing to invest in their culturally-based models for advancing health equity. This edition will feature those continuing grantees who were funded in the 2016-2019 grant cycle and were selected again by the community review committee in 2019 to build on their programs in the new cycle.
Featured below:
American Indian Family Center
Centro Tyrone Guzman
Comunidades Latinas Unidas en Servicio (CLUES)
Family Tree Clinic, Inc.
Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
HealthFinders Collaborative, Inc.
Hennepin Healthcare System, Inc.
High School for Recording Arts
Hmong American Partnership (HAP)
Karen Organization of Minnesota
Minnesota Immunization Networking Initiative (MINI)
YWCA of Minneapolis
American Indian Family Center (AIFC) – Through their Wakanyeja Kin Wakan Pi (Our Children are Sacred) program, AIFC strives to reduce infant mortality in the urban American Indian community through a wrap-around service model that provides all members of the family education and supports that are culturally specific and rooted in traditional parenting models.
Centro Tyrone Guzman – Their Raices Youth Program addresses disparities in teen pregnancy, and HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) by providing culturally relevant, bilingual and LGBTQ+ inclusive sexual health education for Latine youth. In addition, this program addresses two main root causes of these disparities: lack of social connection and support and racism and discrimination. Youth in the program will lead community-based interventions to end stigma and discrimination against LGBTQ+ Latine individuals and collaborate with other Latine-serving agencies to increase social support for LGBTQ+ Latine youth and their families.
Comunidades Latinas Unidas en Servicio (CLUES) – This multigenerational project addresses teen pregnancy by providing school- and community-based sexual health education for youth and adults, and through the development of a peer leader program for parents and caregivers who want to become stronger advocates for sexual health in their community. CLUES is also working to create internal organizational change through the adoption of a foundational training on gender identity and sexual orientation for all staff.
Family Tree Clinic, Inc. – Family Tree is continuing its focus on the most vulnerable African American adults and youth, including LGBTQ individuals, youth and adults in shelters and detention centers, men who have sex with men, those in chemical dependency treatment centers and foster care, and those with special health challenges such as members of the Deaf, DeafBlind, and Hard of Hearing community. They are working to improve sexual health and reduce teen pregnancy and HIV/AIDS and STIs through a variety of strategies and activities that embrace positivity, destigmatization and community connectedness.
Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa –Their continuing project to address teen pregnancy will implement culturally-specific sex education for American Indian youth at the Fond du Lac Ojibwe school and at Arrowhead Juvenile Correctional facility. The curricula used are comprehensive and work to build self-esteem, peer educator skills, decision making ability and effective communication skills.
HealthFinders Collaborative, Inc. [EXPIRED LINK] – Their MESA project (Mejorando la Salud de los Adolescentes) is a collaborative of communities, organizations and institutions tackling disparities in HIV/AIDS, STIs and teen pregnancy in the Latinx community in Rice County. They prioritize parent-child communication about sexual health, run school-based programs catered to minority youth, and provide access to culturally relevant services and education in school and clinic settings. HealthFinders is also working to change established local systems, policies, and power structures to be more responsive to Latino and Somali teen health.
Hennepin Healthcare System, Inc. – The Aqui Para Ti (APT) program strives to reduce the disparities in HIV/AIDS, STIs, teen pregnancy, immunizations, diabetes, and unintentional injury and violence faced by Latinx youth by first providing direct services that promote physical, mental, and social health. APT also promotes the delivery of strength-based, trauma-informed and minority-friendly services within Hennepin Healthcare and works to increase awareness of racism and increase the graduation rates of Latinx youth.
High School for Recording Arts – The Check Yo’Self Health and Wellness Center works to eliminate teen pregnancy primarily through two peer-led, evidence-based programs for street-cultured and gang-involved youth, while also addressing social issues such drug and alcohol use, homelessness, violence, prostitution, and sex trafficking.
Hmong American Partnership (HAP) – Their Diabetes Prevention Program focuses on individuals in the Hmong community who are at risk for Type 2 diabetes but have not yet developed the condition. HAP works with these individuals to encourage lifestyle changes that prevent or delay the onset of Type 2 diabetes. HAP also works to raise community awareness about diabetes and reduce barriers experienced by the Hmong community in traditional Western healthcare settings.
Karen Organization of Minnesota – This project is a collaboration of multiple organizations including Korean Service Center (previous lead organization), Korean Adoptees Ministry and SEWA-Asian Indian Family Wellness. Together they address unintentional injury and violence—specifically suicide and abuse—in Karen, Korean and Indian communities by ensuring that community leaders, medical centers and police are equipped to meet the needs of various Asian communities. They also work to raise awareness on these topics within the community as a whole and support individual community members in seeking help.
Minnesota Immunization Networking Initiative (MINI) – MINI is a multi-sector, multicultural community collaboration with a mission to bridge the gap in influenza immunizations for minority populations. MINI clinics partner with community leaders to provide thousands of free flu shots to populations of color and American Indians who are uninsured or underinsured and others who face health disparities.
YWCA of Minneapolis – Their Culturally Responsive Girls and Youth Programs address disparities in teen pregnancy among Minneapolis teens who are American Indian or persons of color by providing high-quality sexual health education to youth in grades 4-12. Through youth development programming, this project also works to increase school and community connectedness and contributes to local and national efforts addressing root causes of teen pregnancy.