COMMITMENT TO EQUITY
A Core
Integral Care
Value
When it comes to mental illness, substance use disorder and intellectual and developmental disabilities, Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) have historically not received the same quality of health care as Whites.
Integral Care is committed to working toward racial equity. We aim to provide quality health care to everyone and create a space where our clients, team members and providers feel welcome.
We will:
- Cultivate a culturally adaptive, diverse workforce and provider network
- Use data to track progress and guide decision-making to advance equity
- Secure and allocate funding that boosts health equity
- Respond to feedback with transparent action and communication
Ensuring Equity for Integral Care Clients and Staff
In May 2021, Integral Care, directed by its Board of Trustees and the Staff Ad Hoc Committee on Racial Equity, released a Racial Equity Plan. Focusing on diversity, equity and inclusion, the plan was created from important conversations with our staff, and work with a national expert in the field of racial equity and cultural competency. The results of those efforts led to the inclusion of specific racial equity initiatives into our FY23-25 Strategic Plan.
In June 2022, Smith Research & Consulting LLC completed a Racial Equity Assessment of Integral Care. Areas of focus included policies and procedures, environment, workforce, and client access to services, which included language services. From the assessment, we learned that more had to be done to support our staff as well as offer more equitable service provision for clients of color.
What We’re Doing For Our Clients
- Tracking client outcomes by race and ethnicity to identify disparities in how long clients wait for care. Increasing cultural competency trainings, education and advocacy efforts to reduce the over-diagnosis of oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and conduct disorder (CD) among BIPOC children and youth.
- Working with community-based organizations to better identify and address access-to-care barriers that are made worse by mistrust, misinformation, and racial prejudices.
What We’re Doing For Our Staff
- Supporting team members’ well-being, providing opportunities for growth, and recruiting a team that reflects the people we serve. All staff are trained on the impact of institutional racism and how to recognize their own unintended biases.
- Releasing a yearly Health Disparities Report Card, an at-a-glance tool to find where more staff resources are needed and to track our progress on filling the biggest disparity gaps.
