Our campaign is reducing black child deaths in Sacramento. Here’s how you can help

As a native Sacramentan, I never tire of proudly promoting my home county. During the past few months, I’ve had the opportunity to do so across the nation, and for good reason: We’re saving kids’ lives and reducing the decades-long disparity affecting African American children, their families and our neighborhoods.

This “collective impact” life-saving initiative is called The Black Child Legacy Campaign (BCLC), formerly the RAACD effort (Reducing African American Child Deaths).

The BCLC has been so effective that Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg recently credited the BCLC and Sierra Health Foundation, Sacramento County’s principal initiative partner, with helping our largest city avoid avert even one single teen homicide in 2019. But it’s not just recent headlines that should be noted.

About a year ago, the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors received a report explaining the campaign’s success in reducing deaths in Sacramento County, where African American children have died at twice, and sometimes closer to three times the rate, of other kids.

What we learned unequivocally confirmed that, years earlier, county supervisors, the First 5 Sacramento Commission and City Council all made the right investments.

What did we learn?

We learned that Sacramento County saw a 57 percent reduction in sleep-related deaths of African American infants between 2013 and 2017, and a 33 percent reduction in the disparity compared to other children during the same period.

Similarly, all African American infant deaths in the county fell by 23 percent and the disparity decreased 42 percent. Part of this welcome decline is due to a precipitous 62 percent drop in child abuse and neglect homicides between 2014 and 2017.

The Black Child Legacy Campaign focuses on the four leading causes of preventable death in the African American childhood population, including deaths from perinatal conditions, infant sleep-related death, child abuse and neglect homicide and third-party homicide.

To be sure, I’m very proud of these results, but it’s not enough to be proud.

What is most notable about the progress we’ve achieved – progress measured in kids’ lives – is that our original five-year investments will come to an end this year unless we do something about it.

While it’s not May or early June, the time when most local agencies deliberate their budgets, it’s critical that we begin thinking now about how and why we invest taxpayer dollars the way we do, especially with such glaring successes staring us in the face.

So here’s an open challenge: Write, call, email or text a message to your county supervisors, City Council members and First 5 commissioners. Let us know that you support what we’re accomplishing with the Black Child Legacy Campaign. Let us know you support the initiative because it measures success with clear data and that we’re meeting our goals. Let us know that children dying in our community at disproportional rates due to their ethnicity and/or zip code is unacceptable.

Most importantly, tell us you vigorously endorse even greater re-investment in the proven work and results of the Black Child Legacy Campaign. For more details, please go to blackchildlegacy.org