1703-13111

California has made important gains over the past few years towards improving access to better oral health for Californians. For example, state policymakers stepped forward after the economic recession to partially restore dental benefits for adults in the Medi-Cal program, Governor Brown appointed Dr. Jay Kumar as State Dental Director in 2015 after many years of the position being vacant, and the Department of Health Care Services recently utilized negotiations with the federal government through the Medicaid Section 1115 waiver process to secure additional resources to improve oral health prevention for children through the Dental Transformation Initiative. Now the State of California is facing a new environment at the federal level, one that is not supportive of expanding coverage or care but rather one that embraces fiscal reform and limiting resources, especially for low-income populations. The California Pan-Ethnic Health Network (CPEHN) proposes a unique collaborative to facilitate and unify a new California Oral Health Network, with organizations representing the majority of California and the most vulnerable communities systemically and historically locked out of equitable oral health care. Specifically, CPEHN will build on their past successes in facilitating networks to achieve the following objectives that will support the CA Oral Health Network to 1) Maximize connectivity and partner engagement through a strong, focused, and resourced Network infrastructure by ratifying a strategic planning document, 2) Inform a statewide community-driven policy agenda through better data, knowledge and best practices, 3) Shift public perception, knowledge, and engagement on oral health advocacy, and 4) Transform public policy to prioritize oral health through community engagement and civic activism. With the creation of this nimble and flexible oral health network it will be possible to protect the recent advances on oral health in the State of California, while also advancing new policies and systems that result in achieving oral health equity for all. $150,800 is requested to support personnel time to oversee network development, travel and meeting expenses, supporting state and regional network infrastructure activities, and contracted services including meeting facilitation and project evaluation. This proposal aligns with the Oral Health 2020 goal of improving public perception of the value of oral health within overall health and the target that oral health is increasingly included in health dialogue and public policy.