(LOB= Legislative Office Building)

The official legislative session for CT has ended for 2020. The CT General Assembly could choose to meet for a special session before January 2021, but there is no definitive news on this as yet.

On April 29, Health Equity Solutions and 12 partner organizations sent 2 letters to Governor Lamont. One asked that the state create a COVID-19 Data Dashboard, as several other states have done. This would provide decision makers with accessible, up-to-date information and allow for course correction of pandemic response efforts. The other letter asked that the Governor appoint a COVID-19 Equity Task Force to ensure that efforts to address the pandemic do not unintentionally exacerbate disparities.

We continue to track the COVID-19 data released by CT’s Department of Public Health and note that disparities in rates of cases and deaths per 100,000 people have grown as COVID-19 has spread. As the state begins to reopen and some provisions of executive orders begin to expire, we will continue to track and keep you informed of the pandemic’s impact on health equity in CT.

Health Equity Solutions continues to work to center equity in the state’s COVID-19 response and recovery efforts. Our community assessment survey continues and is now open in English, Spanish, and French Creole. Please take the survey as often as you have ideas to share. The results are shared on a regular basis with policymakers and are posted here for public use.

This month, the HES team took a different approach to our book club by committing to a 21-Day Racial Equity Habit Building Challenge created by Debby Irving. The challenge aims to promote greater “understanding of power, privilege, supremacy, oppression, and equity” through daily engagement with reading materials, music, and videos/documentaries.

HES Executive Director, Tekisha Dwan Everette, curated materials provided on Debby Irving’s website into a 21-day schedule that provides material for collective reflection. The challenge asks participants to consider ideas and themes, encourages engagement with others, provides inspiration, and suggests ways to put awareness into action. To engender habitual reflection, the HES team has been logging our progress on a tracking sheet and discussing our experiences, observations, and insights.

Overall, this challenge has been an opportunity for the HES team to see beyond our daily work and has served as a reminder that the journey to equity requires us to continually learn, question, and dialogue with each other.