Action from the Community Health Workers/Promotoras and Representatives (CHW/P/R) Coalition:
We are approaching a critical time in the legislative process. Our legislators are making key decisions on the state’s budget, which is a reflection of what is valued. Community Health Workers/Promotoras and Representatives (CHW/P/Rs) are trusted community partners who help families stay healthy. The CHW/P/R Coalition is fighting to ensure California recognizes the immense value of CHW/P/R’s to the health of this state! We are making noise for raising rates for CHW/P/Rs, so they can earn a living wage!
Sign on TODAY to the support letter here! Let’s show our strength in numbers! Deadline for signing on is Wednesday, April 10th.
Share the support letter with others in your network! Ask them to support the life-saving work of CHW/P/R’s!
On March 12, 2024, The Children’s Partnership (TCP) joined the Community Health Workers, Promotoras, and Representatives (CHW/P/R) Policy Coalition at California’s first ever hearing to focus on our state’s vibrant CHW/P/R workforce. The CA State Assembly held this joint informational hearing to discuss “Bright Spots and Remaining Barriers to Realizing the Potential of CHW/P/R to Improve Health in California.”
As members of the CHW/P/R Policy Coalition steering committee, TCP executive director Mayra E. Alvarez helped kick off the hearing with an overview of the history of CHW/P/Rs in California, the services they provide and how the CHW/P/R workforce serves an anti-racist strategy for health equity.
The day of the hearing was a wonderful day full of energy and hope, where we united with our partners to celebrate the power of CHW/P/Rs and to bring attention to what it’s going to take to fully support this crucial workforce. Read on to hear what these amazing leaders and advocates had to say!
Assemblymember Mia Bonta (Oakland)
Mayra E. Alvarez, The Children’s Partnership (TCP)
The community health workforce, including CHW/P/Rs (and more) are a community-led, anti-racist solution in health care delivery for children and adults, from prenatal development to late adulthood. The Community Health Worker/Promotora/Representative (CHW/P/R) Policy Coalition is a statewide grassroots coalition that is composed of CHW/P/R individuals, community-based organizations, and other interested stakeholders from across the state. CHW/P/Rs are currently experiencing economic and income insecurity and are seeking economic equity.
Dr. Seciah Aquino, Latino Coalition for a Healthy California (LCHC)
Maria Lemus, Visión y Compromiso
Dr. Mark LeBeau, California Rural Indian Health Board, Inc.
CHWPRs are paid drastically low salaries, despite their many contributions to children, families, and to the health care system itself. Much of this economic injustice is rooted in systemic racism and the marginalization of CHWPRs within the health system. Boosting the wages of CHWPRs can help them overcome challenges with transportation, food security and other barriers that inhibit their ability to thrive and help others.
Andrea Mackey, The California Pan-Ethnic Health Network (CPeHN)
Dantia Hudson, Alameda County Health Care Services Agency
Dr. Thu Quach, Asian Health Services
Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer (Los Angeles)
Assemblymember Dr. Akilah Weber (La Mesa)
Assemblymember Dr. Joaquin Arambula (Fresno)
The coalition is dedicated to ensuring that the needs of California’s diverse CHW/P/R workforce are addressed and members are able to participate actively in policymaking processes related to the future of their workforce. The Legislature must raise CHWPR’s rates to at least 87.5% of Medicare, which would be supported by the 1,000+ individuals and organizations in the Coalition.
There is no better opportunity than now to ensure CHW/P/Rs are valued and uplifted and that our current system and its institutions are prepared to welcome CHW/P/Rs.
Learn more!
For more information, read “The People’s Agenda: Planting the Seeds for a Healthy Tomorrow” on our partner The California Pan-Ethnic Health Network’s website. In this brief, the CHW/P/R Coalition lays out a policy agenda developed by CHW/P/Rs to grow the CHW/P/R workforce in California with the goal of enhancing care for marginalized communities. Specifically the coalition’s policy agenda focuses on four areas: Economic Equity, Workforce Development, Integration, and Equitable Access.
