As outlined in House Bill 4052, the Oregon Advocacy Commissions Office (OACO) works in collaboration with Black and Indigenous communities and other people of color (BIPOC) to develop solutions that improve health equity outcomes and aim to address racism as a public health crisis in Oregon. This legislation forms the basis for generating culturally-specific recommendations with the shared goal of dismantling systemic racism by elevating community-driven health equity solutions. Directly investing in BIPOC communities and ensuring their voices are at the forefront of decision-making processes within government are critical measures in tackling racism as a public health crisis and decolonizing public health.
Phase one of this work spans from June 2022 to November 2023. In that timeframe, over 100 recommendations were generated in partnership with the four commissions, BIPOC community members including the thought-leaders who designed the original bill, community-based organizations and service providers, Tribal members, state agency partners, and two affinity group task forces: the Health Equity Advisory Leaders (HEAL) and Indigenous Health Equity Action Council. Our Interim Report was submitted in December 2023, which can be viewed here. The team was also invited to present the interim report to the House Committee on Behavioral Health and Healthcare Committee during the 2024 legislative session.
Additional time to develop OACO's health equity efforts was extended through June 30, 2026 with the passage of House Bill 2925 (2023). This phase involves de-siloing equity work across the state by collaborating with the appropriate state agencies to begin implementing the recommendations identified by BIPOC Oregonians with continued accountability to those community members. This can look like assessing current programs for accessibility, expanding solutions that are working, or proposing new legislation to address racism in the state of Oregon. It also includes continuing to engage community-based organizations, coalitions, and community leaders to ensure that the solutions being developed are aligned with and addressing community needs. One of the main ways we stay in touch with community members is through our Equity Action Group meetings.