SFHSS reports progress on racial equity plan, asks Office of Racial Equity for cross-department support

Leticia Harris, senior health program planner and racial equity lead at the San Francisco Human Services System (SFHSS), presented a departmental progress report on the agency's Racial Equity Action Plan.

Harris told the board SFHSS had reduced non-reporting for race and ethnicity by about 5,000 employees in 2023 and has been working to expand sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) categories so health plans can better identify disparities. She said SFHSS is aligned with the Office of Racial Equity (ORE) mandate and the Government Alliance for Race and Equity framework and described both internal workforce initiatives (climate surveys, training, retreats) and external practices (health-equity statements from plan partners, NCQA alignment and cultural/linguistic standards).

Why it matters: Harris said better demographic data and coordinated equity practices across departments will help SFHSS and its health-plan partners identify and address disparities in access and outcomes. She emphasized mental-health supports and affinity-group funding as near-term priorities and requested guidance from ORE on cataloging employee resource groups and how citywide funding for those groups might be administered.

Board response: Commissioners praised the presentation's level of detail and asked about interjurisdictional coordination for employees who commute into the city, data protections for small populations (e.g., Hetch Hetchy/Mariposa), and how exit interviews have or have not revealed equity-related reasons for staff departures. Harris and Executive Director Abby Yant said exit-interview capacity was limited after large staff departures but that prior exit interviews showed supervision and promotion opportunities were the leading reasons for turnover rather than clearly racialized patterns.

Next steps: SFHSS will continue annual public reporting on racial-equity milestones, expand SOGI categories in partnership with health plans to comply with the city data ordinance, and follow up with ORE about cataloging affinity groups and clarifying budget support. Harris invited commissioners and the public to the posted annual report and the department's equity webpage for more detail.