G-1901-14724

The purpose of this grant is to continue to build the capacity of healthcare consumers in California to meaningfully engage in policy and systems change; to improve the public perception of the value of oral health to overall health; to enhance collaborative, cross-blade infrastructure processes, shared power, and decision-making; and to elevate health equity and social justice approaches within the Oral Health Progress and Equity Network that are fully informed by, and reflective of, community voices. The work in this proposal is to elevate the intersectional disparities of communities of color and low-English proficiency in California and design solutions to bridge access gaps. Advancing Justice will examine the language accessibility of the Medicaid dental benefit in California and how non-English proficient Medicaid-users are impacted by inaccessibility. They will continue to facilitate the Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Oral Health Alliance deepening their connection to communities being most impacted by systemic inequities. Finally, they will continue to provide the OPEN Network with the capacity to apply a health equity lens to oral health and engage in conversations around social determinants. This aligns with the Oral Health 2020 goal of shifting the public perception of oral health with a target of increasing oral health in overall health dialogue and in public policy. The budget for this proposal is $70,800 and is primarily to support staff time as well as mini-grant funds for the Oral Health Alliance.