Approved Minutes of February 28, 2024

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MINUTES-Draft ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH February 28, 2024 VII. Educational Sessions A. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Update Ashley Rawlinson, Compliance Manager, provided an update on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) efforts at the Orange County Health Department (OCHD), including a 2022 survey conducted among staff to assess the culture of the health department. Some highlights of her presentation are below: • Ms. Rawlinson introduced the Orange County Health Department Racial Equity Commission (REC) and explained that REC was chartered in 2017. She clarified that REC prescribes to the Racial Equity Initiative's Groundwater philosophy—that is, that racism is in the fundamental institutions and policies of the United States ("the groundwater") and that racial justice work needs to focus on addressing the root cause instead of only treating individual people or organizations ("fish" or"lakes"). REC aims to increase staff trainings and conversations around equity, create an equitable environment, and formalize support systems for those burdened by racism. • Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, REC work was temporarily paused beginning in early 2020 to focus on responding to the state of emergency. After the Orange County government established the Office of Equity and Inclusion and began the One Orange countywide equity group, this hiatus was further extended to allow time for Orange County to establish a strategic plan with which the health department can align. So far, county goals include reorganizing their racial equity group (One Orange), creating a racial equity toolkit for use by organizations in the county, conducting a deep dive into the Orange County departments already working on equity and ensuring adequate training, creating intentional methodologies to address racial equity, and updating the county website to increase accessibility. • In the coming weeks, OCHD will be re-recruiting for REC with representation from all five divisions. REC members will further assess results from the 2022 survey and determine if they still apply or if a new survey is needed. The REC team will also determine next steps and determine how to move forward in alignment with the Orange County Office of Equity and Inclusion. Ms. Rawlinson also mentioned that the Environmental Health Services department recently received a grant to advance equity in retail food service. • Ms. Rawlinson shared data from a 2022 staff assessment asking health department staff about their perceptions of racial equity and diversity in the organization. She highlighted that, while 39% agreed that OCHD has internal policies to address hiring inequities, 12% disagreed. She also mentioned specifically that about 40% of respondents neither agreed nor disagreed about whether the Board of Health is diverse across demographics and perspectives and reflects the communities OCHD seeks to impact, which she suggested may be a result of many staff members lacking familiarity with the board members. Dr. Jonnal expressed that she would be happy to be more present to staff members so they could get to know her better. Mr. Bagby mentioned that the health department has profiles on board members that can be shared with staff and that board members can attend all-staff meetings. He also said that, like board members should know the BOCC, OCHD staff should be able to know their board of health. • Board members had several questions regarding survey methodology: o Dr. Jonnal asked how many respondents completed the survey, to which Ms. Rawlinson replied 66. Commissioner Fowler asked how many total staff work at the health department, to which Ms. Stewart replied 113 (meaning a 58% response rate). o In response to Dr. Jonnal's question about whether the survey had open response questions, Ms. Rawlinson explained that the survey was entirely S:\Managers Working Files\BOH\Agendas &Abstracts\2024 Agenda and Abstracts/ February Page 4