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Frederick County equity commission debates mandatory Health in All Policies screening and templates
Summary
At its March 5 meeting the commission debated whether a Tier 1 HiAP (Health in All Policies) screening should be mandatory for all new policies or only those meeting threshold criteria, discussed a plain-language template and timelines for department responses, and tasked commissioners to draft finding levels for impact severity.
Frederick County’s Equity & Inclusion Commission on March 5 discussed how the county should screen proposed policies for health and equity impacts, debating whether an initial Tier 1 Health in All Policies (HiAP) screen should be mandatory for all new policies or applied only when minimum criteria are met.
Commissioners framed the debate around distinguishing "big P" policy (legislation) from "little p" internal policy and recommended a short, plain-language template to document what data sources were used, whether a change was made after review, and how findings would be measured and evaluated. The commission discussed criteria that would trigger escalation from Tier 1 to a more detailed Tier 2 review, and whether findings should ever delay formal policy adoption or only inform revisions.
Members emphasized clarity and usability: the template should note the data sources used, explain plainly what changed after review (if anything), and identify mitigation steps when impacts are significant. Commissioners also discussed setting severity levels for findings and whether the screening should offer a clear output—such as "no action needed," "minor revisions," or "refer to Tier 2." The commission noted the need to define reasonable timelines for departments to respond to identified impacts.
The commission assigned Commissioner Ronnie Henry to work with Vice Chair Danielle Haskin to develop a consistent set of finding levels that would help staff and the public interpret screening results. OEI staff and commissioners discussed combining criteria and output into a single template to streamline reviews and make outcomes more accessible to community members unfamiliar with HiAP processes.
Next steps: OEI staff will prepare draft templates and the Henry–Haskin pair will return with proposed finding levels for the commission to review at a future meeting.
