Latinas: Helping the Capitol Build Healthy Communities When you think about living in a healthy community, what comes to mind? Do you & your family have health care you can afford that meets your needs? Can you afford enough food to feed yourself and your family? Would you be comfortable seeking assistance from the state if you needed it? A lot of us don’t or can’t. We need to change that...

Latinos Not Accessing Programs That Promote Health & Wellbeing Eligible but uninsured in MC/HF LatinoWhiteAfrican- American Asian Medi-Cal12.5% 377, % 101, % 23, % 18,000 Healthy Families 4.1% 124, % 33, % 4, % 25,000 Overwhelming evidence also tells us that there is severe under- utilization of CalWORKs, CalFresh, and School Lunch Program, even though Latinos are heavily represented in eligible populations. We need to: Reduce barriers Eliminate stigma Provide More & Better Options Increase Opportunity

Bills that Increase Options to struggling families: AB 1640 (Mitchell) would allow pregnant women to become eligible for CalWORKs basic needs grants & full-scope 1931(b) Medi-Cal upon verification of the pregnancy. Bills that Increase Opportunities for advancement AB 1691 (Bonnie Lowenthal) would allow CalWORKs recipients to count English as a Second Language (ESL) classes as a core work activity. Bills that Reduce Stigma in getting help SB 1190 (Hancock) would replace the use of paper coupons with Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) in the Women, Infant & Children (WIC). Bills that Reduce Barriers to program access SB 970 (de León) would require “horizontal integration” of CalWORKs and CalFresh benefits into the new California Healthcare Eligibility, Enrollment and Retention Program. Here’s how Sacramento can help: Pass these kind of bills!