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Town launches combined equity audit and community health needs assessment with state grants
Summary
Acton's DEI office and Health & Human Services received Community Compact grants to run a combined town equity audit and community health equity needs assessment. The DEI office received $50,000 and Health & Human Services $40,000; staff described outreach plans, timeline and next steps.
Acton announced on July 21 that the town's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) office and Health & Human Services have won two Community Compact grants to fund a combined equity audit and community health equity needs assessment.
Grant awards and scope: DEI's grant is $50,000 from the Community Compact Grant Best Practices program to perform a townwide equity audit with two components: (1) an organizational audit covering workforce equity, policies and internal culture; and (2) a community audit assessing boards and commissions composition, engagement practices and service delivery. Health & Human Services received $40,000 for a community health equity needs assessment. The two efforts will be coordinated and share data collection where possible.
Focus areas and methods: Staff described three primary buckets for the health assessment: medical care access and geographic availability; chronic disease prevalence and prevention priorities; and behavioral health and substance-use needs. A separate nonmedical domain will examine social determinants (housing stability, food security, transportation, employment, environmental/community safety). The project team will convene a REACH employee group (a cross-departmental staff cohort), recruit community ambassadors to help conduct focus groups and listening sessions, and consider stipends for community researchers to analyze qualitative data. The town will engage a consulting team to synthesize data and produce themes and strategic recommendations.
Timeline and deliverables: Staff said contracting issues will be finalized in late July and August with survey/interview question design in August; data collection (key informant interviews, focus groups, listening sessions) is planned for September through November. The consultant will analyze the material and return preliminary themes; a task force of town committees will then conduct strategic planning workshops and the town expects a final report with recommended implementation steps in the spring. The Community Compact program requires a final report to the Commonwealth when the grant period ends.
Community engagement and collaboration: Board members and staff highlighted outreach to faith organizations, civic groups, community service providers (food pantry, family network), and to non-English language communities (staff described completed Mandarin elder focus groups and an ongoing emphasis on multilingual outreach). The project will draw on existing plans (housing, climate, economic development) as baseline material and aim to produce actionable, prioritized steps.
