Structural biases in the system, apparent in the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on some populations, are undermining our ability to improve population health and should be fundamental and central to public health’s response activities. 

The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) Office of Health Equity (OHE) will award $5 million in competitive grants that will be distributed between approximately 16-30 community-based organizations (CBOs) across California led by and serving communities facing inequities1 in Coronavirus infection and impacts, as part of a larger $499 million Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity (ELC) Grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The funding is part of the “Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act of 2020 (P.L. 116-139, Title I).” HSC 131085a provides CDPH OHE the authority to award grants. Grant activities align with Executive Order N-25-20, Proclamation of State of Emergency (COVID-19). The CFDA number is 93.323 and the grant number is 6 NU50CK000539-01-12. 1 “Health and mental health inequities are disparities in health or mental health, or the factors that shape health, that are systemic and avoidable and, therefore, considered unjust or unfair” (https://www.cdph.ca.gov/programs/ohe/Pages/OfficeHealthEquity.aspx). 

This fund source is intended to advance the State’s work to close racial, ethnic, and other disparities related to COVID-19 and associated chronic conditions. CBOs will use the funding for pilot projects to reduce underlying inequities in the social determinants of health2 that have contributed to disproportionate harm from the Coronavirus among certain communities. In many cases, this disproportionate risk of harm is due to the underlying inequities in access to health-promoting resources and services, which can be addressed by this funding source. Social determinants of health include environmental determinants, economic determinants, incarceration, homelessness, racism, classism, sexism, able-ism, homophobia, xenophobia, and other social determinants. However, biological and behavioral determinants are not allowable categories to address with this funding source. 

Priority populations facing COVID-19 inequities and/or high risk include the following but are not limited to: 

1. Black and African American 
2. Latinx • Caribbean (which includes Dominican, Cuban, Puerto Rican), Mexican, South American, Central American, or other countries/regions with Spanish influence 
3. Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders • Native Hawaiian, Chamorro/Guamanian, Fijian, Marshallese, Mariana Islanders, Micronesian, Ni-Vanuatu, Samoan, Tongan 
4. Asian American • East Asian: Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Taiwanese 
5. South East Asian: Cambodian/Khmer, Hmong, Malaysian, Myanma/Burmese, Indonesian, Laos, Thai, Vietnamese 
   1. South Asian: Afghani, Bangladeshis/Bengali, Indian, Nepalese, Pakistani, Punjabi 
   2. Filipinx 
6. Arab Americans and Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) 
7. Indigenous: Native American/American Indian and Alaskan Native 
8. Tribal communities, especially rural tribal communities 
9. Unhoused or in crowded housing 
10. Farmworkers 
11. Immigrants & refugees 
12. Low-wage and frontline essential workers 
13. Low-income individuals 
14. Currently or formerly incarcerated or detained people 
15. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and/or Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, and Two-Spirited (LGBTQ+) 
16. Those in long-term care or skilled nursing facilities 
17. Those exposed to high levels of air pollution 
18. Limited English Proficient (LEP)