In 2022, the Marin County’s Board of Supervisors allocated $1.7 million to fund and implement the County’s Race Equity Action Plan (REAP). This plan identified three critical focus areas — Economic Opportunity, Housing, and Mental Health – as high-leverage opportunities to advance racial equity and make Marin more welcoming to all.
Marin is currently the 3rd most racially disparate county in California counties according to the 2023 Race Counts report. Several equity indicators show that communities of color in Marin are experiencing deep and pervasive disparities in areas such as life expectancy, access to health care, affordable housing, and economic mobility.
The community-centered REAP Implementation Team (REAP IT) included Marin municipalities, nonprofits, and interested community members, which were organized into three work groups focusing on the three priority areas. The teams developed an Implementation Strategy for the priority actions, identified accountability partners, timelines, as well as performance measures to track progress.
On 1/23/2024 the Board of Supervisors heard a presentation from Equity Director Jamillah Jordan and unanimously accepted the Implementation Strategy for the Race Equity Action Plan from the REAP Implementation Team on how to spend the $1.7 million allocation.
Recommendations include increasing the minimum wage, establishing anti-displacement policies to increase housing affordability, and expanding access to mental health services in communities of color and low-income communities. Annual updates on implementation progress will be provided.
Leave a Reply