1. RESOURCE ALLOCATION. Integrating Racial/Ethnic Equity Into Policy Assessments To Improve Child Health.
- Author
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Joshi, Pamela K., Geronimo, Kimberly, Romano, Bethany, Earle, Alison, Rosenfeld, Lindsay, Hardy, Erin F., and Acevedo-Garcia, Dolores
- Subjects
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HEALTH policy , *CONCEPTUAL structures , *HEAD Start programs , *HEALTH services accessibility , *HEALTH status indicators , *LEAVE of absence , *RESEARCH methodology , *CULTURAL pluralism , *POLICY science research , *PUBLIC housing , *QUALITY assurance , *RESEARCH funding , *RESOURCE allocation , *ELIGIBILITY (Social aspects) - Abstract
The US child population is rapidly becoming more racially and ethnically diverse, yet there are persistent racial/ethnic gaps in child health. Improving and expanding policies to reduce these gaps is increasingly a mandate of government agencies. Identifying effective policies requires a rigorous approach, yet there is a lack of information about which policies improve equity. This article introduces the Policy Equity Assessment, a framework that combines policy assessment and rigorous equity methods to both synthesize existing research and identify and conduct new analyses of policies' ability to reduce racial/ethnic inequities. We applied the Policy Equity Assessment to three policies: Head Start, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and a federal housing assistance program known as Section 8. Our results show racial/ethnic inequities in access to benefits and substantial data and evidence gaps regarding the impact of policies in improving racial/ethnic equity. These results should motivate policy makers to strengthen equity analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2014
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