1802-13897

The purpose of this grant is to continue to build the capacity of healthcare consumers in California to meaningfully engage in policy and systems change; to improve the public perception of the value of oral health to overall health; to enhance collaborative, cross-blade infrastructure processes, shared power, and decision-making; and to elevate health equity and social justice approaches within the Oral Health 2020 Network that are fully informed by, and reflective of, community voices. The work in this proposal builds on a number of key successes last year such as leading a political landscape analysis around new oral health workforce models, bringing in national expertise to consult and build a community dialogue around new oral health workforce models, conducting an Oral Health Workforce Development Pathways assessment that examined barriers to workforce such as background checks, educational requirements, and licensing, and recruited and trained 6 SCOPE grassroots leaders through the Leadership Development Program. In the coming year the work will look more specifically like honing in on building community support for a new workforce pipeline, continuing to examine the landscape in South Los Angeles and across the state, developing baselines for and assessing feasibility or new workforce models for local targeted workers, expanding the number of leaders moving through the Leadership Development Program, and continuing to support the California Oral Health Network. This aligns with the OH2020 goal of shifting the public perception of oral health with a target of increasing oral health in overall health dialogue and in public policy. The budget for this proposal is $100,800 and is primarily to support staff time, travel and resources necessary to deepen community connections.