Healthy Environment for All Act Community Engagement Guide

Community engagement is most likely to happen when new projects are being initiated or existing projects are being assessed. Each project should have its own community engagement plan as it may require reaching out to different communities. Engaging and partnering with communities as early as possible into a project is what agencies should always aim for.  

This webpage begins with context and history of the Healthy Environments for All (HEAL) Act, and then provides a guide for three parts of the community engagement process: 

• Part 1: Preparing for Engagement
• Part 2: Engaging with Community
• Part 3: Reflections and Follow Up

Each section has worksheets, processes, checklists to help agency staff at each stage of the community engagement process. This guide is a work in progress and will change on a regular basis to incorporate what agencies learn when engaging with communities.

Contact our HEAL Implementation Team with questions or for support navigating community engagement. 

Context and History of the HEAL Act 

What is Environmental Justice?

Due to a legacy of systemic racism, and inequities in wealth distribution and political power, BIPOC communities and other vulnerable populations (such as low-income, elderly peoples, people with limited English proficiency), experience a greater share of environmental harm and burdens while enjoying fewer environmental benefits. Past and present choices made by local, state, and federal governments contribute to the current state of environmental injustice.   

Decisions, such as where and how much to invest in expanding access to green spaces and tree canopy cover, have often concentrated benefits in areas with few BIPOC and where residents have higher socio-economic statuses. Conversely, decisions such as the placement of waste facilities and freeways in economically disadvantaged areas with higher concentrations of BIPOC and low-income communities have exposed them to disproportionate levels of pollution and contributed to striking disparities in health outcomes and life expectancy. For example, data compiled by the Department of Health below show that individuals living in census tracks with fewer environmental health disparities can expect to live up to 6 years longer than individuals in census tracks with the highest levels of disparities. 

Principles of Environmental Justice

Delegates for the First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit held on October 24-27, 1991, in Washington, DC, drafted and adopted 17 principles of Environmental Justice (PDF). Since then, the principles have served as a defining document for the growing grassroots movement for environmental justice.  

HEAL Act Definition of Environmental Justice

The HEAL Act establishes a clear definition for environmental justice for Washington that builds on the Environmental Protection Agency's definition of environmental justice: 

“Environmental justice means the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, rules, and policies. Environmental justice includes addressing disproportionate environmental health impacts in all laws, rules, and policies with environmental impacts by prioritizing vulnerable populations and overburdened communities, the equitable distribution of resources and benefits, and eliminating harm.”

As Front and Centered explains in a HEAL factsheet (PDF), “The first sentence of this definition is the same as the EPA’s federal definition. After a months-long community engagement process focused on what a WA state definition for environmental justice should be, the WA Environmental Justice Task Force recommended adding the second sentence to specify who should be prioritized and how to address disproportionate environmental health impacts.” 

Environmental Justice Task Force and the HEAL Act 

In 2019, the legislature included a budget proviso in the 2019-2021 biennial operating budget that directed the Governor’s Interagency Council on Health Disparities to convene and staff an Environmental Justice Taskforce to make recommendations on how to embed environmental justice into state government community engagement plans. The Environmental Justice Task Force Recommendations Report (PDF) was released in the Fall of 2020 and in 2021, the legislature passed the Healthy Environment for All (HEAL) Act (E2SSB 5141). The legislation implemented many of the Task Force’s recommendations and mandates that seven state agencies comply with specific environmental justice obligations and incorporate environmental justice principles into agency activities, such as strategic plans, community engagement plans, and budget mechanisms. These agencies are the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Ecology, Health, Natural Resources, and Transportation, as well as the Puget Sound Partnership. All other state agencies may opt-in to implementing the HEAL Act.  

Imbalances in political power, representation, and influence have created many of the problems that the environmental justice movement seeks to remedy. As part of HEAL, it is the responsibility of agency staff to incorporate environmental justice into agency work such as strategic plans, community engagement plans, tribal consultation frameworks and environmental justice assessments for certain agency actions.  

Therefore, the first milestone in the HEAL Act’s multiyear process begins with a mandate that state agencies transform the way they engage the public by creating agency community engagement plans.  

The Environmental Justice Taskforce adopted Community Engagement Values and Guidance (PDF) in August 2023. 

What is Community Engagement?

The HEAL Act calls for moving beyond the ways DOH typically engages communities – open houses, public comment, community forums, surveys, focus groups – to community driven decision-making.  

There are several models for public participation. The Spectrum of Community Engagement to Ownership (PDF), a tool developed by Rosa Gonzalez of Facilitating Power, is highlighted below, and depicts how the depth of engagement with communities can change depending on the goals of the engagement and how this can send various messages to communities. The activities at each level of engagement would differ. There is also a difference in how resources are allocated between the systems administrators (in this case, the Department of Health) and community partners at the various levels of engagement. The Spectrum of Community Engagement model drew from a number of public participation tools including Arnstein’s Ladder of Citizen Participation and the Public Participation Spectrum created by the International Association for Public Participation. The model provides clear, specific, and concrete examples of how to engage communities in solutions development and decision making.  

What is Tribal Engagement?

With the passage of the Healthy Environment for All (HEAL) Act in 2021, the Washington State Legislation added extensive Tribal engagement requirements to what currently existed, to include more frequent and robust consultation and collaboration specific to HEAL Act implementation. View the Tribal Engagement Guide (PDF). 

In accordance with chapter 43.376 RCW, and the Washington State Centennial Accord of 1989, the Washington Department of Health established a formal Government – to – Government relationship with sovereign Tribal nations. With the passage of the Healthy Environment for All (HEAL) Act in 2021, the Washington State Legislation added extensive Tribal engagement requirements to what currently existed, to include more frequent and robust consultation and collaboration specific to HEAL Act implementation.  

For assistance with HEAL related Tribal engagement, contact the HEAL team. For all other Tribal engagement needs, contact the Office of Tribal Public Health Relations. 

Key Resources

17 principles of Environmental Justice, People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit, 1991 (PDF)

Environmental Justice Task Force Report, 2020 (PDF)

HEAL Act legislation, 2021

Spectrum of Community Engagement to Ownership, Facilitating Power (PDF)

Community Engagement Values and Guidance, Environmental Justice Taskforce, 2023 (PDF)

Part 1: Preparing to Engage with Community

This section shares resources, tools, and recommended processes to consider prior to engagement with communities. 

The first step is to determine how community engagement will inform the process, program, rule, grant, etc. Ask the questions: “Who will be impacted by what I am working on? Who is not currently included in the process? What perspectives are missing?” Depending on responses, plan for how and when community engagement will be included in the timeline and the process for the project.  

Start by determining the purpose, goals, and objectives of the engagement.   

STEP 1: Review the Key Principles of Community Engagement

These Key Principles were adapted from the Department of Health's Community Engagement Guide (PDF).

Community engagement can be complex. It is important to recognize and respect the diversity and the unique assets of different communities. It takes a long time to build strong relationships, and it takes even longer to repair relationships that have been damaged. Approach all groups with humility and anticipate learning about the subtle nuances of each community. 

Review the full document, Key Principles of Community Engagement (PDF). 

STEP 2: Identify Overburdened Communities and Vulnerable Populations 

This section provides a suggested process for identifying communities and populations who are important to engage prior to taking agency actions that could adversely affect human health and the surrounding environment. Before conducting any outreach or starting any engagement, it is important to identify and learn about the communities and populations that you will interact with in the process. By the end of this section, you should have a clearer idea of who you need to engage and why.

What is Meant by "Overburdened Communities" and "Vulnerable Populations"

“Overburdened communities” are geographic areas where vulnerable populations face combined, multiple environmental harms and health impacts. “Vulnerable populations” are populations who may experience greater risk of environmental harm and health impacts, or reduced ability to cope with that risk. Vulnerability is often determined by external structural and systemic factors such as experiences of marginalization or discrimination because of one’s race or income, as well as access to health care, education, transportation, and other resources, services, or socioeconomic demographics. Vulnerability is not the same as sensitivity to environmental harm and health impacts, which is determined by biological factors such as age or health condition. Vulnerability and sensitivity are closely linked, however, as many factors that determine vulnerability to environmental harm also influence one’s health and well-being, generally. 

The Washington Tracking Network's Environmental Health Disparities Map may be one helpful tool to help visualize these communities, by identifying census tracks where environmental disparities put people’s health most at risk. This includes census tracts that are ranked 9 or 10 on the map.

“Overburdened communities” and “vulnerable populations” are the terms used and defined in the HEAL Act, however, use other language that does not other or dehumanize communities and individuals when speaking directly to community members. As stated in Tema Okun’s White Dominant Culture, “Assigning characteristics could be sometimes damaging to a community since they are used as terms and standards without being pro-actively named or chosen by the group." It is important to think about how an issue is framed as well as how a message will come across to community members. Speaking to specific assets and/or environmental justice concerns in a community can help with this language.  

It is also important to consider the implications of labeling communities as “overburdened” or populations as “vulnerable” and how they may influence community engagement and program or service delivery.  

Environmental justice is a discipline with evidence-based studies, analyses, and processes that work to understand how to protect all individuals from environmental degradation and to redress the burden of unequal risk. The environmental justice research and literature makes clear who is most overburdened and negatively impacted by environmental harm. As such, engagement efforts connected to environmental justice must be focused on people of color, people with low incomes, people who are linguistically isolated, and Tribal nations.  

Process for Identifying Overburdened Communities and Vulnerable Populations  

Prior to engaging with communities, it is crucial to know its history including their needs, assets, current issues, and concerns. This knowledge goes a long way in building meaningful relationships. While there is no "one-size-fits-all" approach to this effort, the following three steps are helpful practices to undertake before going into a community.   

Step 1: The first step of the process is building a demographic and environmental context to inform place-based activities. Available screening tools can help identify an overburdened community and vulnerable populations. While this step is beneficial in informing decision-making, it is important to note the limitations of each of these resources and tools according to their methodologies and quality of data, and to keep a critical eye out for communities and populations that may not have been included. 

Use the Worksheet to Identify Overburdened Communities and Vulnerable Populations (Word) to help guide you through this process. 

Step 2: This step requires naming specific communities and populations that are identified in the worksheet above. These questions have been answered to provide an example. Responses will vary by program and agency.  

• What communities are you going to focus on and why? On a basic level, one should focus on low-income communities and communities of color.   
• What populations are you focusing on and why? You should prioritize engagement with populations that have been historically ignored, overlooked for health disparities and overburdened with environmental effects. By choosing these populations, the most vulnerable now have an opportunity for full and fair participation in decision-making about state work occurring in their communities. These populations include: 
  • Limited English Proficiency (individuals who do not speak English as their primary language and have a limited ability to read, speak, write or understand English). 
  • Linguistically isolated households. 
  • Populations living in poverty.
  • People with disabilities. 
  • People with social vulnerability to hazards. 
  • Sensitive populations (low birth weight, death from cardiovascular disease). 
• What environmental justice concerns do communities and populations already face? Low-income communities and communities of color generally experience greater risk for health disparities in comparison to other more affluent, predominantly white communities. This is due, in part, to disproportionate exposure to hazards, such as living in close proximity to potentially hazardous and federal superfund sites, as well as experiencing possible harm from waste-water discharge. For example, Yakima, Tri-Cities and the area from Seattle to Tacoma have been identified as zones in Washington state with high Hispanic populations that have greater exposure to environmental dangers and health disparities in comparison to other areas.  
• What kind of language access services do these communities and populations need? It is important to distinguish interpretation and translation needs for the community. Interpretation deals with spoken language in real time while translation focuses on written content. The federal Department of Justice’s Safe Harbor provision calls for written translations of vital documents for each Limited English Proficiency group that meets the threshold (5% of the total population or 1000 individuals, whichever is less). Translation services should be made available in various forms and media, this should include: ADA services where identified, translated informational flyers in identified languages featured in mainstream newspapers, advertisements in culturally relevant newspapers, translated information on social media platforms, etc.  
• What health inequities do these communities and populations already face? For example, air quality, asthma, heat exhaustion, etc. 
  • Would the agency's action exacerbate or create health inequities for the identified population? If so, for whom and how? Low-income and minority communities are at risk. There may be affluent communities that have large minority populations that may not seem vulnerable due to the prosperity of the residents; however, these groups can still have sensitive populations, social vulnerability to hazards, people with disabilities, 65+ age group, and language barriers that prevent full and fair participation.  
  • Are there alternatives or mitigation activities the agency could do to address potentially disproportionate adverse impacts, and opportunities to enhance environmental and health benefits? An environmental justice analysis should be conducted on every project to avoid, minimize, or mitigate disproportionately high and adverse human health and environmental effects on minority and low-income populations. This analysis is a requirement for all projects where an environmental assessment is required under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review process. Also, asking the right questions before undertaking a project is the best way for agencies to discover if environmental impacts are present and immediate:   
    • Is there substantial legitimate justification for the project?   
    • Are there any effective alternative practices that would result in less-disparate impacts?   
    • Can you demonstrate that the justification for the project is not a pretext for discrimination?   
    • Have you identified impacts on communities of color or low-income communities? 
    • Are there any disproportionate impacts?   
    • Are there any mitigation measures or alternatives available?  
    • Does the project create a discriminatory impact on the identified people of color and low-income populations?  
• Has the demographic data been analyzed? Would the agency's action alleviate existing health inequities? If so, for whom and how?  Gathering demographic information and analyzing it is the best way for agencies to understand where the vulnerable populations are and how to effectively work within those communities without causing harm or exacerbating health inequities. Low-income communities and communities of color should be targeted for inquiries by agencies. From there, populations within those communities should be disaggregated for further analysis to determine ways to lower health inequities.  

Step 3: Steps 1 and 2 identify the HEAL Act community members: the overburdened communities and vulnerable populations (based on race, income, and language access). In step 3, the goal is to identify additional communities/populations previously not covered in the previous steps – taking an intersectional view and broadening the scope of folks to engage with. These questions have been answered to provide an example; however, as above, responses will vary by program and agency.  

• Who did we miss? Including intersectionality of populations within a community can show multiple dimensions of marginalization experienced by vulnerable populations. Racial and socioeconomic inequities are the most prevalent indicator of environmental justice risk. Here are other community populations to consider as vulnerable populations:  
  • Age (youth and aging), individuals with disabilities, education levels, occupation status (unemployment rate), significant employers in the area, involvement in the criminal legal system, gender identity, sexual orientation, geographic location (areas with low or high population density), housing insecurity, language/literacy, military experience/veterans, immigrants and refugees, religion, those who may be employed in a given area but who may not live there.  
• Who did we include? The populations identified in the HEAL Act are low-income, with limited English proficiency, and racial minority communities and populations. Racial and socioeconomic inequities are the most prevalent indicator of environmental justice risk.  
• Who may not fit into the environmental justice lens? Individuals or organizations responsible for creating the environmental injustice(s) that violates standing laws; these injustices can be but are not limited to food deserts, air pollution, water pollution, etc. Access to a healthy environment should be a fundamental right for all.  

Developing a comprehensive overview of the community allows for a more in-depth introduction to the community before the in-person outreach. The research aids in identifying the other needs of communities based on the community member's identities and intersections among those identified in the HEAL Act as overburdened communities and vulnerable populations (race, income, language access).  

Additional points to consider for pre-engagement with community:   

• Allow for sufficient time to conduct a baseline assessment of the community using the Worksheet to Identify Overburdened Communities and Vulnerable Populations (Word) to characterize and build knowledge of the community, its diversity, and its needs.   
• Identify individuals, groups, organizations, or agencies with legitimate interests in the community to learn more about its character.   
• Identify community organizations that serve overburdened communities and vulnerable populations.  
• Learn about what the community supports to understand the community's perceptions, attitudes, and community values by using media sources, local government public meetings, etc.   
• Identify potential barriers from the baseline assessment of the community (such as access to transportation, transportation cost burden, access to broadband/technology, literacy, childcare, etc.).  
• Review the Accessibility Best Practices (PDF) and start planning for accessibility needs. 

STEP 3: Select a Method of Engagement 

These Methods of Engagement were adopted from the Department of Health's Community Engagement Guide (PDF).  

There are many different methods to engage and collaborate with communities, each depending on the context and the community. Meeting with communities in-person is often best for establishing and building trusting relationships, especially when forming a new connection. However, technology has increased options to connect with communities and partners and may help increase the reach for some types of engagement activities.  

After answering these questions, use the Determining Which Engagement Method to Use (PDF) to identify the best method of engagement for your specific project.

STEP 4: Identify Common Needs and Potential Strategies 

This list of Common Needs and Potential Strategies was adopted from the Department of Health's Community Engagement Guide (PDF).  

Successful community engagement requires addressing the needs of community members and partners to engage and using strategies to create inclusive and accessible engagement. 

Common Need: Language Access

Community members who prefer to communicate in a language other than English or have vision or hearing needs will need language assistance services to participate. For example, should you use the Washington Military Department Language Mapping Tool. The map visually represents limited English proficiency populations by county across Washington.  

Potential Strategies 

• Identify the linguistic needs of a community by talking to community leaders and key informants, and by reviewing language data.   
• Translate all meeting materials and announcements into the top languages spoken within the area or community.   
• Let people know ahead of time that interpretation services will be available for the event or meeting.   
• Arrange for free interpretation services, including sign language and real-time interpretation services.  
• If a language other than English is predominant among the community members, the meeting should be run in that language and the English speakers are offered interpretation services. 
• Know where to secure assistive listening devices when needed and seek to hold in-person events in spaces that have hearing loop technology. Use closed captioning at online events.  
• Use Plain Talk in all communications; Executive Order 05-03 requires all state agencies to use simple and clear language when communicating with community members and businesses. 

Important notes about interpretation services:   

• Not all interpretation is free and may be governed by a master contract.  
• Simultaneous and consecutive interpretation have different cost points and are not always covered by master contracts.   
• Simultaneous interpretation (where the interpreter translates at the same time as the speaker, in a separate audio feed) is ideal for larger events, while consecutive interpretation can work for small group conversations. 

Common Need: Cultural Appropriateness

There may need to be accommodations for certain cultural values to ensure all members are able to participate. For example, should there be separate meetings for men and women? Would it be more effective to engage youth with or without their parents present?

Potential Strategies 

• Be mindful of cultural and religious observances and events when choosing a meeting date and time. 
• Ask community leaders or key informants about the most culturally appropriate way to engage community members and then adapt your approach.  
• Use inclusive images, graphics, and icons in visual materials. 

Common Need: Location Accessibility

It may be difficult for some communities that are further removed from large city centers or accessible public transportation, or folks who live in rural communities to attend in person engagement activities.

Potential Strategies 

• Meet people where they are at (physically). Hold the event at a location where the community regularly meets or gathers.
• Choose a location that is accessible by public transportation and/or have free and ample parking. 
• Offer travel reimbursement and lodging. 
• For multiple events or meetings, consider holding them in different locations.
• Hold the meeting virtually (but ensure that folks have access to the internet and the virtual meeting platform used).

Common Barrier: Intercommunity Dynamics

It may be inappropriate to bring all the members of one community together in a shared space because of inter-community relationships, power structures, or other norms.

Potential Strategies  

• Do research ahead of time to learn about any potential intercommunity dynamics that may create barriers for some members to engage. 
• Talk with community leaders and other partners to get their perspective.  
• Consider what part of the community is disempowered within status-quo power structure.  
• Learn from other organizations and agency programs who have worked with the same community.  

Common Barrier: Privilege and Implicit Bias

Implicit bias refers to the associations, stereotypes, and assumptions that we make about people. Our biases can affect how we interact with others and our relationships with community members.  

Potential Strategies

• Do research about yourself before engaging with any community you are not a member of.  
• Commit to continuous, critical self-reflection.  
• Be humble, respectful, and honest. Admit mistakes when you make them.  
• Consider that you may not be the best person to engage with a community.  
• Establish partnerships to do engagement when appropriate for interacting with the community. 

Common Barrier: Distrust of Government 

Communities may not trust government because of past historical injustices. Or, they may have had personal negative experiences interacting with state agencies, or other governmental organizations.

Potential Strategies

• Take the time to learn about the historical injustices or past experiences that are impacting the community you are trying to reach. 
• Recognize and own what has occurred in the past and recognize their present-day impacts. What earned and unearned privileges do you have as result of historical injustices? How may those privileges impact your ability to engage certain communities?  
• Commit to the time it will take to rebuild trust, and make sure to follow through on all promises and commitments you make to the community.  

Common Barrier: Immigration Status 

Not all the community members you meet with may be U.S. citizens. Some of them may be undocumented, have Temporary Protective Status as refugees, hold Green Cards, or have other immigration statuses. It is important to acknowledge any fear or uncertainty these community members may feel, be sensitive and cognizant of the larger immigration dynamics at play in our country, and work to create trust and safety. 

Potential Strategies 

• Ask community partners for guidance on how to make their community members feel safe and included in your activity.  
• Do not collect personal information from attendees.  
• Consider co-facilitating the event or meeting with a trusted community leader or partner.  

Common Need: Time 

Some of the logistical aspects of community engagement take time. Plan accordingly and adapt the timeline as needed to meet the needs of the community.  

Potential Strategies 

• Think about the daily schedules of the people you’re trying to engage.  
• If you will be hiring a vendor for your project, allow three months for the contracting process.  
• If your project qualifies as research, allow two months to seek approval from the Institutional Review Board.  

Common Barrier: Stigma 

Stigma can prevent some communities from participating, especially within certain populations, such as people living with HIV/AIDS, people experiencing homelessness, and immigration status.  

Potential Strategies  

• Be mindful of how stigma may impact those you’re trying to reach.  
• Consult with an agency or community expert on stigma reduction strategies. 

Common Barrier: Government Jargon and Process  

Government has its own language and way of doing things that may create unintentional barriers for people outside our agency.  

Potential Strategies  

• Use simple, clear language in all communications and avoid overusing acronyms.  
• Check assumptions about what aspects of the way we do our work is common knowledge and take care to explain things clearly.  

Technological Barriers 

Remote and online engagement can work well for some communities, but technology may prevent some community members from participating. 

Potential Strategies  

• Choose a virtual meeting platform that participants are familiar with.  
• Review information about the technological requirements ahead of time to make sure they are clear, straightforward, and not overly burdensome.  
• Ensure technological support is available before and during the event.   

Common Barrier: Competing Priorities 

Do not expect community members to drop everything in their lives to participate in a project for the agency. They have full lives with many responsibilities and commitments that may take priority. You may be able to mitigate some of these competing priorities through thoughtful planning.  

Potential Strategies  

• Family: When engaging with parents or caregivers in person, consider needs for childcare or adult care, and provide options for remote engagement.  
• Food: The sharing of food to bring people together is common across cultures. If possible, bring healthy and culturally appropriate snacks or meals when holding community meetings or focus groups. Consider using a restaurant frequented by community members as an option to provide food. Make sure to ask community members about dietary restrictions and preferences ahead of time.  
• Work: Often, community members are not reimbursed for their time whereas partners who work for other agencies and organizations may be able to participate during work time. Look into options for providing incentives and travel reimbursement to decrease barriers for participation. Additionally, people who work full-time may prefer evenings or weekends.  
• School: If engaging students or those within the academic community, consider the time of year and school schedules. It may be difficult to engage during school hours, the start of the school session, exam times, or school breaks. 

Key Resources

• Key Principles of Community Engagement (PDF)
• Accessibility Best Practices (PDF)

Using the information from Part 1, complete the following worksheets. 

• Worksheet to Identify Overburdened Communities and Vulnerable Populations (Word)
• Determining Which Engagement Method to Use (PDF)

Part 2: Engaging with Community

STEP 1: Reach out to Community Partners 

Working with a community partner, such as a community-based organization, informal group, or community-identified leader, can help with conducting community engagement that is accessible, inclusive, and respectful of the community’s priorities and culture. Ideally, a community partner is an organization or individual who is part of the community you’re hoping to engage with, or who works closely with members of that community. That partner can provide an invaluable perspective and a richer understanding of what types of engagement work well or don’t work well with that community. Identifying and working with more than one community partner can offer more depth and breadth to the perspectives and understanding of best engagement practices, while avoiding tokenism or the assumption of a monolithic community.  

When approaching a potential community partner and throughout interactions with them, the focus should be on fostering a relationship that extends beyond a specific community engagement opportunity and respects their expertise and time. Engagement must be viewed as a collaborative effort and partnership with communities to achieve the goals of health equity and environmental justice. It should be part of continuous efforts to build and maintain relationships, support, and investment in communities.   

Before reaching out to potential community partners, do research and learn more about their work and efforts, and the community. Answer the following questions to the best of your ability:  

• What work/services do they offer? 
  • What materials/education do they create? 
  • What events do they host? 
  • What are the organization’s assets? 
  • What support do they need? 
• What is their community reach? (i.e. What portion of the population or community do they engage with? Do they have a specific focus that not all community members share or are aware of?)  
• Who are they already working with within your agency/outside of your agency?  
• Have they engaged with your agency previously?  
  • If so, what is the history of engagement? 
    • Is relationship repairing needed etc.? 
• What spaces are they already participating in (committees, task force, etc.)? 
  • What spaces can be tapped into as a starting point to build partnerships with community partners and groups (ex: Community coalitions/ groups, local or statewide work groups etc.)? 
  • Note: It is important to not overburden communities and to be proactive in coming to communities in spaces where they already gather.  

Connect with internal agency divisions, programs, and partners who may already be engaging with these community partners.  

• This is essential for coordinating internal efforts and for getting input from staff members who already have working relationships and built trust with the community. If it feels appropriate, these colleagues might be able to introduce you to the potential community partner or advise you as to the best point of contact and means of contacting them.   
• Communicate opportunities for engagement (as applicable).  

Reach out to potential community partners. This may be done through phone, email, Zoom, an in-person meeting – regardless of how this initial communication takes place, it should take place in a format and medium comfortable to the potential community partner (ex. some community partners may prefer a phone call to an email). When first communicating, clearly explain:  

• Who you are. 
• What you’re doing. 
• Why you’re reaching out to community. 
• Why you’re reaching out to them as a potential partner. 
• How you would like to partner with them. 

Set expectations together for engagement (refer to part 1 for key principles, methods, and barriers to engagement). This may include:  

• Co-creating an engagement plan and timeline. 
  • Get feedback from community partners ahead of larger engagements to co-create agenda. 
  • Address and develop solutions for any barriers to engagement that you and your community partners identify.  
  • Work with community partners to ensure outreach to community members is culturally and linguistically appropriate.  
  • Work with community partners to determine effective methods for:  
    • Keeping community informed/following up with community throughout the project life cycle. 
    • Sharing resources, notes from meetings, next steps, and information. 
    • Establishing mutual accountability. (i.e. What does the community need from you? What do you need to move forward with your work?)  
• Discussing equitable exchange and power sharing between agencies and communities. 
  • For example: Agencies provide investment and resources for communities, communities share knowledge/expertise etc. 
• Planning to have multiple touch points for follow-up to stay accountable to community members you meet with, keep them informed and involved, and let them know how their time and input is being incorporated into decision-making processes and/or how you would like to include them directly in decision-making processes (refer to the section on accountability in Step 2). 

STEP 2: Address Known Barriers to Engagement 

It is the responsibility of government agencies to identify and address potential barriers to engagement, including when working with community partners. Before starting community engagement and throughout the community engagement process, continually ask yourself:

• Which barriers did you identify in the previous section? How did you mitigate them?   
• What access needs did you identify using the Accessibility Best Practices (PDF)? How will you ensure these are met?   
• What is your process for working with community to identify and mitigate barriers?  
• What additional barriers did you encounter (that you did not anticipate)? How can you mitigate them?

When working with your community partners, it may be helpful to think through these additional considerations and how to proactively address barriers related to them:  

• Participation: Continue to discuss and work with partners to set expectations for participation. Community partners may have competing priorities, as noted earlier. Work with community partners to develop more accessible or alternative ways to participate. Be flexible and proactive in reaching out to partners.  
  • For example: If community partners are unable to attend a meeting, provide alternative times, 1:1 meeting, follow-up survey etc., send out discussion notes following meetings and highlight decisions made. 
• Engagement: Maintain active community engagement by centering it around community needs and priorities. 
  • For example: Hold meetings in the evenings or on weekends if those times work best for community partners, hold to community timelines, etc. 

Make space for collaboration, creativity, and innovation vs. setting a rigid agenda focused solely on agency priorities. For example: Have more interactive meetings, have community led meetings and roles. 

Be wary of collaboration vs. tokenization. Work with community partners to co-plan feedback sessions, program implementation, etc.  

• Centering communities most impacted: Consider how, during engagement events, spaces and facilitation can center the participation of communities most impacted.  
  • For example: In meeting spaces with multiple entities, open up space for communities historically excluded, have communities speak first, be mindful of where you sit in a space or when you decide to speak, etc. 

Consider how to prioritize different community recommendations or feedback and different community needs and agendas. Consider also how to reconcile state agency limitations with expressed community needs in terms of feasibility and compromise.  

Additional Considerations During Engagement

Transparency/Accountability: Be clear and upfront with community partners and attendees of any community engagement event about the purpose and objectives of the meeting and how community feedback will be utilized. (Where will it go, what is your process, what is the project timeline, etc.) Discuss with community partners the limitations of your agency to implement community recommendations.  

• Set expectations to avoid overpromising. 
• Ensure community members understand what the agency role is and what the agency can commit to and support. Provide resources and connections for where people can go for other types of support or accountability (i.e. local or federal government, specific regulatory body). 

Representation of community partners when providing feedback and input: Ask yourself and community partners:  

• Does this represent everyone who is most impacted and are the target communities for engagement?  
• What steps need to be taken to achieve greater representation?  

Track who is providing feedback/input during engagement sessions and be wary of skewed, incomplete feedback. Take all the feedback you receive in the larger context of the information you have and be cognizant of focusing too much on only a few voices or perspectives. It may be helpful to ask yourself and your community partners:  

• Where are recommendations coming from?  
• Who are represented in these recommendations?  
• Who is absent from the conversation and how will their perspectives be obtained?   

Be transparent when sharing recommendations and feedback.  

• For example: If most of your feedback came from 100 members of a 1,500-member collaborative group, acknowledge that this is not representative of the entire collaborative and all members. Whose voices and perspectives might be missing?  

Remember that within any given community, there will be different opinions/ perspectives. No community is a monolith. Ensure that you are speaking with multiple people and getting several perspectives.  

Feedback: At the end of a meeting, whether it is one-on-one or with a large group, revisit the purpose and objectives of the meeting. Ask community members if they felt the objectives were met. Offer multiple ways for feedback to be shared.  

• If interacting one-on-one, offer to listen to the feedback right after the meeting as well as offer to follow up in a day or two in case other thoughts/ideas come up.   
• If interacting with a larger group, the following options can be used singly or in combination to gather feedback. Please note that this is not an exhaustive list, and you may have others you’ve used.  
  • Short surveys that can be completed immediately after a meeting. 
  • Going around a room and asking for verbal feedback (i.e. what went well? What can be improved?) 
  • Using small group breakouts to ask for feedback. 
  • If in a virtual meeting space, using the chat function to submit feedback. 
  • Polls. 
• If you’re working with a community partner, defer to them on evaluation processes and meaningful questions to ask. 
• Be aware of power dynamics when asking for feedback. For example, your agency may be providing funding to particular community organizations that are present.  
• Just like the other elements of a meeting, you want to make sure that providing input and feedback is accessible to all present.   

STEP 3: Gathering Community Input and Feedback 

It is important to build in a process for gathering community input and feedback when doing community engagement. This helps improve upon our practices. Information learned during a feedback session should be integrated into evaluation of your community engagement plan.  

Like other information community members share with us, feedback is a gift that should be treasured. This requires us to be thoughtful about how we use the information we learn, where the information is kept, who has access to it. 

• Share with community members how their feedback is incorporated into the decision-making process for each part of the project lifecycle (this needs to be clear to community and shared with them to ensure accountability and transparency and to build trust). 
• Ask communities how they want to be kept informed about the project lifecycle and incorporate their suggestions into your process for report-backs to communities. 

Part 3: Reflections and Follow-up 

STEP 1: Incorporate Community Feedback/Input 

Reevaluate, edit, and update project and program lifecycle/plan, as needed, based on community feedback after an engagement event. Repeat the steps from Part 2 for each stage of project/program lifecycle that you identified for community engagement.  

STEP 2: Conduct Evaluation of Community Engagement and Reflect on How to Improve 

Using the evaluation guide you created under Part 2 of this framework/process guide, collect information needed to answer each of the evaluation questions. Feedback from community members should be integrated into and inform the evaluation. With community partners, project team members, and other appropriate partners and stakeholders, share what worked well and what areas need improvement. Together, form a plan to address barriers and develop solutions to improve the engagement process moving forward.  

STEP 3: Maintain Community Relationships 

As stated above, a central goal of community engagement is to build relationships with community members and partners that extend beyond a one-time engagement activity. Maintaining these relationships is as important as building them. It is government agencies’ responsibility to maintain accountability to community partners and community members by:  

• Keeping community informed and involved throughout project/program lifecycle. 
• Sharing process, final findings/feedback and, specifically, how community engagement/input impacted the process of the project/program itself, including outcomes, decisions, made, etc.  

Lastly, we should thank our community partners and participating community members for their time and collaboration. While this may seem obvious, it is often forgotten and is one of the most important things we can do to maintain relationships and show community partners that we recognize and value the time and expertise they shared with us.   

Resource Library

• Key Principles of Community Engagement (PDF)
• Accessibility Best Practices (PDF)
• Worksheet to Identify Overburdened Communities and Vulnerable Populations (Word)
• Determining Which Engagement Method to Use (PDF)

Definitions  

Access - Creating and advancing barrier-free design, standards, systems, processes, and environments to provide all individuals, regardless of ability, background, identity or situation, an effective opportunity to take part in, use and enjoy the benefits of: employment, programs, services, activities, communication, facilities, electronic/information technology, and business opportunities. 

Burden - The magnitude of poor health that exists within a community that is attributable to the risk factors that are present.

Community of Practice - A group of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly. 

Community Resilience - The ability of communities to withstand, recover, and learn from past disasters and to learn from past disasters to strengthen future response and recovery efforts. 

Cultural Competence - An ability to interact effectively with people of all cultures and understand many cultural frameworks, values, and norms. Cultural competence comprises four components: 

• Awareness of one’s own cultural worldview,  
• Attitude towards cultural differences,  
• Knowledge of different cultural practices and worldviews, and  
• Cross-cultural skills. A key component of cultural competence is respectfully engaging others with cultural dimensions and perceptions different from our own and recognizing that none is superior to another.  

Cultural competence is a developmental process that evolves over an extended period. 

Cultural Humility - Approach to respectfully engaging others with cultural identities different from your own and recognizing that no cultural perspective is superior to another. The practice of cultural humility for white people is to: acknowledge systems of oppression and involves critical self-reflection, lifelong learning and growth, a commitment to recognizing and sharing power, and a desire to work toward institutional accountability. The practice of cultural humility for people of color is to accept that the dominant culture does exist, that institutional racism is in place, to recognize one’s own response to the oppression within it, to work toward dismantling it through the balanced process of calling it out and taking care of oneself.  

Cumulative Impact - The combined impact of multiple environmental health indicators on a population 

Disproportionate Impacts - In the context of environmental justice, this refers to when one group or population bears an environmental or health impact that is substantially higher than the average distribution. This impact is usually compounded by existing inequities due to historic discrimination against certain groups. 

Distributive Justice - The equitable distribution of resources. In the context of environmental justice, this means reducing environmental harm in communities with disproportionately high environmental pollution, as well as increasing access to environmental benefits.  

Diversity - Describes the presence of differences within a given setting, collective, or group. An individual is not diverse – a person is unique. Diversity is about a collective or a group and exists in relationship to others. A team, an organization, a family, a neighborhood, and a community can be diverse. A person can bring diversity of thought, experience, and trait, (seen and unseen) to a team – and the person is still an individual. 

Environmental Effect - Adverse environmental quality generally, even when population contact with an environmental hazard is unknown or uncertain. 

Environmental Equity - Environmental equity will be achieved when no single group or community faces disadvantages in dealing with the effects of the climate crisis, pollution, environmental hazards, or environmental disasters. 

Environmental Exposure - Refers to how a person comes into contact with an environmental hazard. Examples of exposure include breathing air, eating food, drinking water or living near to where environmental hazards are released or are concentrated. 

Environmental Health Disparities - Inequities in illnesses that are mediated by disproportionate exposures associated with the physical, chemical, biological, social, natural and built environments. 

Environmental Health Disparities Map - The Environmental Health Disparities Map was created as a part of the HEAL Act. The Department of Health was tasked with updating and maintaining the map. The map uses 19 different environmental, socio-economic, and health factors to “rank” census tracts based on the level of environmental health disparities 

Environmental Health Indicator - Refers to either a specific environmental risk factor or a specific measure of population susceptibility or vulnerability.  

Environmental Justice - The fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin or income with respect to development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations and policies. This includes using an intersectional lens to address disproportionate environmental and health impacts by prioritizing highly impacted populations, equitably distributing resources and benefits, and eliminating harm.  

Environmental Justice Analysis - A study that considers how current conditions or proposed actions may affect surrounding communities and populations, to include consideration of possible impacts on BIPOC communities and low-income communities who may be disproportionately exposed to environmental burdens. The USEPA provides several resources to support this type of analysis, such as this Technical Guidance for Assessing Environmental Justice in Regulatory Analysis.  

Environmental Justice Assessments - The HEAL Act requires DOH and other covered agencies to do Environmental Justice Assessments when considering significant agency actions. Significant agency actions can cause environmental harms or benefits to overburdened communities and vulnerable populations. The environmental justice assessments should determine the potential impacts of an action on these groups.    

Environmental Racism - Any policy, practice, or directive that differentially affects or disadvantages individuals, groups, or communities based on race or ethnicity (whether intended or unintended). Equality Treating everyone the same, regardless of their circumstances.  

Equity - The act of developing, strengthening, and supporting procedural and outcome fairness in systems, procedures, and resource distribution mechanisms to create equitable (not equal) opportunity for all people. Equity is distinct from equality which refers to everyone having the same treatment without accounting for differing needs or circumstances. Equity has a focus on eliminating barriers that have prevented the full participation of historically and currently oppressed groups.  

Ethnicity - A social construct that divides people into smaller social groups based on characteristics such as values, behavioral patterns, language, political and economic interests, history, and ancestral geographical base. Framework An overarching strategy or organizational structure.

Framework - An overarching strategy or organizational structure.

Indicator - A proxy variable that aims to capture a specific trend.  

Indigenous Populations - Refers to federally recognized Tribes, state recognized Tribes, and Tribes and Bands who have not been formally recognized by the federal or state governments. This includes Indigenous persons living in Tribal and U.S. territories.  

Intersectionality - Intersectionality is a framework for understanding the interaction of cultures and identities held by an individual. Intersectionality explains how an individual with multiple identities that may have been marginalized can experience compounded oppression (such as racism, sexism, ageism, ableism, and classism) or how an individual can experience privilege in some areas and disadvantage in other areas. It takes into account people’s overlapping identities to understand the complexity of their life outcomes and experiences. 

Low-Income - Individuals and families who make less than 80 percent of the median family income for the area.  

Overburdened Communities - Communities who experience disproportionate environmental harms and risks due to exposures, greater vulnerability to environmental hazards, or cumulative impacts from multiple stressors. 

Race - A social construct that divides people into smaller social groups based on characteristics most typically skin color. Racial categories were socially constructed, and artificially created whiteness as one of the elements of the dominant culture. Race was created to concentrate power and advantage people who are defined as white and justify dominance over non-white people. The idea of race has become embedded in our identities, institutions, and culture, and influences life opportunities, outcomes, and experiences. Racial categories change based on the political convenience of the dominant society at a given period of time.  

Racism - A way of representing or describing race that creates or reproduces structures of domination based on racial categories. In other words, racism is racial prejudice plus power. In the United States, it is grounded in the creation of a white dominant culture that reinforces the use of power to create privilege for white people while marginalizing people of color, whether intentional or not.  

Risk - How likely exposure to environmental hazards will result in poor health for a population. 

Sensitive Populations - Those who are at greater risk due to biological/intrinsic vulnerability.  

Social Justice - A practice within a society based on principles of equality and solidarity that understands and values human rights and recognizes the dignity of every human being. Such a practice would strive to provide basic human needs and comforts to all members of the society regardless of class, race, religion or any other characteristic.  

Targeted Universalism - The practice of setting universal goals and using targeted processes to achieve those goals. Within a targeted universalism framework, an organization or system sets universal goals for all groups concerned. The strategies the organization/system develops to achieve those goals are targeted to different groups—based on how different groups are situated within structures, culture, and across geographies—to obtain the universal goal. 

Toolkit - A specific, prescriptive, action-oriented set of steps to integrate equity or environmental justice into the policy process.  

Vulnerability - A person’s (or population’s) non-biological situation that affects their ability to cope with risk factors. Examples of vulnerability include low income, language barriers or poor access to health care.  

Workforce Diversity - A collection of individual attributes that together help agencies pursue organizational objectives efficiently and effectively. These include, but are not limited to, characteristics such as national origin, language, race, color, disability, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic status, veteran status, political beliefs, communication styles, and family structures. The concept also encompasses differences among people about where they are from, where they have lived and their differences of thought and life experiences.