1602-11933

California: Support to Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Los Angeles (Advancing Justice - LA) to act as a lead convener in California as a part of the Grassroots Engagement Strategy. Over the course of Year One (Y1), Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Los Angeles (Advancing Justice-LA) assembled a core collaborative infrastructure of grassroots organizations serving Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) communities across the state of California, focusing on six geographic regions: San Diego, Orange County, Los Angeles, Merced, Sacramento, and the East Bay. As such, Advancing Justice-LA and the core group were able to accomplish the following: 1) Designed the first, statewide AANHPI-focused oral health survey instrument, 2) Coordinated the translation of the survey instrument into eight Asian languages, due to the fact that the communities the core group serves are largely immigrants with limited-English proficiency (LEP), 3) Collected 1,226 survey responses from AANHPIs across California, and 4) Developed a coordinated year two deep, authentic engagement strategy, through collaborative discussions, Advancing Justice-LA was able to determine common goals and outcomes for a unified campaign while respecting the distinct strategies, programs, and tactics that each organization will be using to best reach their communities. Oral Health 2020 investment of $100,000 will be used to 1) Develop a stronger understanding of AANHPI oral/dental health coverage rates, attitudes, and behaviors, 2) Maintain and strengthen the AANHPI Health Justice Network (HJN) to share information and resources regarding the significance/value of oral health to overall health, and assemble a network for partners to engage community in leading the oral health priorities plan development process, and 3) Promote the value of oral health for AANHPI communities and educate them about oral health through a systems change and social determinants of health lens. This investment aligns with the Oral Health 2020 goal to improve the public perception of the value of oral health to overall health.