Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Health Initiatives topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Public health staff outline health equity plan, WIC gains and data assessments
Summary
Clatsop County public health staff described a multi-step health equity plan, reported WIC enrollment surpassing 700 participants, and said a youth prevention needs assessment and community health needs assessment will inform a data capacity review starting after the 2025 fiscal year begins.
Public health staff briefed the Human Services Advisory Council on February 6 about three linked efforts: writing a health equity plan, conducting needs assessments and improving data capacity.
The plan and process: Lisa said the county completed a health equity assessment in 2020-2021 and is now working with a contractor (the Reed Group) to develop a health equity plan. She described the work as a staged process: synthesize existing work, gather community feedback on the assessment, draft a plan, collect public feedback on the draft, finalize the plan and implement metrics to track progress. She asked the advisory council to consider appointing a representative to the planning committee.
WIC and prevention work: Lisa said the county's WIC program recently exceeded 700 participants, a milestone the state office noted. She said funding for WIC is tied to participation and that broader political shifts have in past years reduced participation and, as a consequence, funding. For prevention and assessment work, staff said they have contracted for a youth prevention needs assessment to be completed by July or August 2025 and will follow with a community health needs assessment; the results will feed into a data capacity needs assessment scheduled to begin after the July 2025 fiscal year start.
Tobacco and alcohol retail assessment: Jill (public health) described a statewide Tobacco Alcohol Retail Assessment (TARA) project in which local staff will evaluate in-store advertising around tobacco and alcohol, including youth-targeted marketing; results will go to the state for an aggregate assessment.
Why it matters: staff said the equity plan and the assessments will guide how the county targets services and measures outcomes, while WIC participation affects program funding and service reach. Improved data capacity is intended to support better program evaluation and reporting.
Next steps: staff plan to finalize contractor work on the youth prevention assessment by midsummer 2025, begin the community health needs assessment, and start the data capacity assessment after July 2025. Staff will share outreach materials (the harm reduction business card) and assessment results with the council when available.
