Latino Coalition for a Healthy California discusses importance of pending legislation to strengthen data collection for Latino and indigenous individuals

April 13, 2023

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During the pandemic, which disproportionately impacted Latino communities in the state, the coalition took time to ensure that their own team had the resources and tools available to succeed in their roles, such as implementing mental health days. When it comes to treating the community, including employees, the coalition strongly focuses on social determinants of health.

The birth of SB 435 stemmed from a powerful conversation that occurred at the coalition’s policy summit last year. During the summit, issues of discrimination, colorism within the Latino community, and racism were highlighted, as were ways to address these issues.

“One of the conversations that came up … was just around how difficult it is for community members who come from Indigenous nations in Latin America to show up at the doctor, and not speak Spanish,” Aquino said. “From that conversation, we were able to develop a policy solution around data segregation.”

Aquino explained how current data collection within the state will generally group any kind of Latino entity into the Latino/Hispanic group, even though there are 16 million Latinos living in the state, making up about 40% of the state population. She said that disparities exist within the Latin X community, and that subgrouping populations more precisely would improve lives.