Delta Center California is pleased to release this joint statement on the proposed 2022-2023 California Budget, developed and signed onto by the members of the Delta Center California State Policy and Partnership Roundtable. In the statement, the health care, primary care, and behavioral health organizations that comprise the State Roundtable state their support for Governor Newsom’s commitment to California’s health workforce, and the potential for the investments to generate a more robust and better supported workforce. We are proud to support these organizations in coming together to use their collective voice to advance health and equity in the state.
On February 1st-3rd, 2022, 50 Delta Center CA participants came together in community to discuss self and collective care, gain inspiration from each other and leaders in their field, and work towards system transformation. Over the first two days, participants attended three out of eight concurrent sessions of their choosing under the themes of Policy and Systems, Workforce, and Integration Implementation. Between these sessions, participants discussed and provided feedback on the State Roundtable’s action plans, as well as engaging in relationship building and unstructured dialogue. On the third day of the convening, the teams and State Roundtable each met individually to advance their project goals.
In November 2021, Delta Center CA held a panel discussion with Alfonso Apu, Director of Behavioral Health at Community Medical Centers in San Joaquin County, Eleanor Castillo-Sumi, VP, Research & Program Development at Uplift Family Services in Santa Clara County and Learning Lab Team member, and Nira Singh, Director of Behavioral Health at Asian Americans for Community Involvement (AACI) in Santa Clara County. During this event, panelists discussed workforce themes such as: hiring practices and culture change; strategies for retaining and promoting Black, Indigenous, and People of Color in leadership positions; supporting staff well-being; understanding and dismantling power dynamics; and discussing the challenges with an integrated and hybrid workforce. Here are some of the main takeaways from this thought-provoking and informative discussion.
In March 2020, so many aspects of our work and lives changed overnight. At Delta Center California, we learned to be agile in fostering meaningful policy and practice transformation work in a new online era. Over the past two years, Delta Center CA has held monthly policy and collective action meetings, bi-monthly virtual learning events, and two convenings, all on Zoom. We strive to be intentional in the ways we engage our participants to maximize relationship building, learning, and collaboration. Here are some tips for virtual collaboration and engagement that we have learned along the way.
Two of the key tenets of Delta Center California are centering racial equity and engaging in co-design with our partners across the state. Three months into the initiative, the co-design process guided us to reflect on whether we were doing all we could to advance racial equity, and ultimately led to the restructuring of a major component of the work: the Learning Lab.
The State Roundtable is the state-level arm of Delta Center California, comprised of eight representatives from CIBHS, CPCA, CAPH, CBHA, CBHDA, NAMI CA, CACFS, and LHPC. The State Roundtable strives to foster relationships between primary care and behavioral health to take collective action that advances policy and practice change to support integrated care and racial equity.
In September 2021, members of the State Roundtable reflected on their progress towards the goals of the Delta Center California (DCC) initiative through narrative reports. The reports gave State Roundtable members the opportunity to share what has worked well, highlights of the work so far, and where they have energy moving forward.
On June 7th-9th, 2021, Delta Center California held its first convening, bringing together Local Learning Teams and the State Roundtable for shared learning and relationship building. During the three-day virtual convening, participants came together to learn about each other’s project goals and challenges, discuss policy priorities, and build a shared understanding of racial equity, engaging individuals with lived experience, and behavioral health and primary care integration.
Delta Center California is excited to announce the five teams that will participate in the Delta Center California Learning Lab. In the Learning Lab, these competitively selected local teams will complete a project focused on advancing the integration of primary care and mental health care or substance use disorder treatment and recovery services.
The Delta Center California Learning Lab application is now live! The Learning Lab is a 16-month program that will bring together local teams and state association partners to engage in relationship, knowledge, and capacity building, as well as peer-to-peer learning.
JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc. (JSI) announces the launch of Delta Center California, a 2.5-year initiative that brings together behavioral health and primary care leaders to accelerate care improvement and integration in Medi-Cal through policy and practice change.
