2023 Connecticut General Statutes › Title 19a - Public Health and Well-Being › Chapter 368a - Department of Public Health › Section 19a-133b. - Commission on Racial Equity in Public Health. Strategic plan re elimination of health disparities and inequities.

(a) The Commission on Racial Equity in Public Health, established under section 19a-133a, shall develop and periodically update a comprehensive strategic plan to eliminate health disparities and inequities across sectors, including consideration of the following: Air and water quality, natural resources and agricultural land, affordable housing, infrastructure systems, public health, access to quality health care, social services, sustainable communities and the impact of climate change.
(b) Such plan shall address the incorporation of health and equity into specific policies, programs and government decision-making processes including, but not limited to, the following: (1) Disparities in laws and regulations impacting public health; (2) disparities in the criminal justice system; (3) disparities in access to resources, including, but not limited to, healthy food, safe housing, public safety and environments free of excess pollution; and (4) disparities in access to quality health care.
(c) Not later than January 1, 2022, as part of such plan, the commission shall determine, using available scientifically based measurements, the percentages of disparity in the state based on race, in the following areas: (1) Education indicators, including kindergarten readiness, third grade reading proficiency, scores on the mastery examination, administered pursuant to section 10-14n, rates of school-based discipline, high school graduation rates and retention rates after the first year of study for institutions of higher education in the state, as defined in section 3-22a; (2) health care utilization and outcome indicators, including health insurance coverage rates, pregnancy and infant health outcomes, emergency room visits and deaths related to conditions associated with exposure to environmental pollutants, including respiratory ailments, quality of life, life expectancy, lead poisoning and access to adequate healthy nutrition and self-reported well-being surveys; (3) criminal justice indicators, including rates of involvement with the justice system; and (4) economic indicators, including rates of poverty, income and housing insecurity. It shall be the goal of the state to attain at least a seventy per cent reduction in the racial disparities set forth in subdivisions (1) to (4), inclusive, of this subsection from the percentage of disparities determined by the commission on or before January 1, 2022.
(d) Upon completion of the initial comprehensive strategic plan, and thereafter of any update to such plan, the commission shall submit the plan to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to public health, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a, and to any other joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relevant to what is contained in such plan, as determined by the commission.
(P.A. 21-35, S. 3.)
History: P.A. 21-35 effective June 14, 2021.