Purpose: to ensure programs are developed and modified to support the needs of FSSA constituents, especially those facing multiple barriers.
Objectives:

• Improve knowledge of FSSA programs and information about key service populations
• Increase ability of program staff to identify and address gaps in service provision
• Better communicate unmet needs to stakeholders continuously and during the legislative session
• Address state-level policy barriers to service provision and wellbeing for FSSA constituents

Purpose: to ensure agency staff understand the range of barriers and needs of FSSA constituents; how to address those needs; and to attract and retain staff who have lived expertise.

Objectives:

• Improve retention and recruitment of diverse staff members who represent service population
• Increase staff knowledge about concepts of social risk factors among FSSA staff
• Increase staff knowledge about high-risk populations
• Support transparency for complaints and employee experiences
• Reduce staff perceptions of division-level silos across FSSA

Purpose: to support creation, assessment, and progress toward goals that reduce barriers for FSSA constituents and staff.

Objectives:

• Understand trends in employee perceptions about equity and social needs
• Communicate best practices for effective data management and collection for FSSA constituents
• Provide continual feedback about effectiveness of equitable practices throughout FSSA
• Understand opportunities for improvement in leadership, management, and program effectiveness related to health equity

Dawn Sanford, MSW

Dawn leads agency-wide strategy related to social determinants of health within FSSA programs by working with internal staff, other state agencies, and external partners. Dawn also supports community engagement and outreach efforts to identify community needs and opportunities for policy and programmatic change across FSSA divisions. She also assesses and informs strategies about FSSA staff training needs related to equity, cultural competency, social determinants of health and health equity.

Megan Lisch, MPH

Megan works within FSSA’s Office of Healthy Opportunities to assess division-level policies and programs for equitable processes and constituent and staff experiences. She engages agency partners, FSSA divisions, subject matter experts and external stakeholders to inform ongoing agency strategies related to health equity.

Mandy (Bagwell) Blaise, JD

Mandy coordinates FSSA efforts to ensure people with disabilities have equal access to services, programs and activities provided by state and local government. She also investigates any complaints for qualified individuals with disabilities about services, programs and activities provided by FSSA to ensure agency compliance with state and federal disability laws. requirements.

Our team provides FSSA staff insight on how they should consider health equity in their day-to-day work, transparently communicate trends about employee experiences, reduce division-level silos across FSSA, and assist in skill building activities for staff development. Some of these activities include:

• Subject matter expertise: policy review, presentations, trainings, recommendations, creating/implementing evaluation tools
• Planning: creating processes/guidance docs for quality improvement, project timeline and strategic planning
• Feedback and facilitation: community outreach support, listening sessions, staff feedback, and vendor, member, and stakeholder engagement
• ADA compliance: creating ADA and accessibility guidelines, creating and compiling educational materials for FSSA staff, and engaging staff and constituents in ADA efforts

When OHO engages with your team, we request:

• Staff engagement from your team. Someone from your team must be available to help lead project efforts and be responsive to OHO inquiries. This includes responding to emails in a timely manner (2–5 business days), participation in meetings, completion of action items, and sharing pertinent information and supplemental documents.
• Collaborative engagement with our staff. In engaging OHO staff, remember to include the appropriate OHO staff member(s) in emails, meetings, and other communications associated with the request. Please note federal, state, and local laws for ADA compliance may apply when planning collaborative efforts.
• Additional support for our office. This can include referring OHO to others or offering resources. For example, you could connect OHO staff with key stakeholders not currently in our network, act as sponsor for joint initiatives and OHO activities, and provide invitations to spaces where OHO expertise and engagement could help streamline efforts. Other indirect support can include resource/information sharing, funding for project/admin costs, in-kind support (e.g., internship assignments for our office, etc.).
• Appropriate credit and recognition. When presenting on joint efforts, please attribute OHO and our role in the work. Our logo and information should be displayed in deliverables and presentations if our team is a contributor.

• October -  Domestic Violence Awareness Month
• September - Hispanic and Latino Heritage Month
• August - Workplace Bullying Awareness
• July - Celebrating National Disability Independence Day
• June - Juneteenth
• May - Mental Health Awareness Month
• April - April is Deaf History Month
• March - Indiana women who tell “our stories”
• February - Celebrate Black History Month and pump up the JAMS with FSSA’s new employee resource group
• January
  • Maternal Health Awareness Month
  • Holocaust Memorial Day