Health Equity Strategic Plan | Department of Labor and Employment
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Priority:
Health Care Access and Quality &
Social and Community Context
Problem statement
All workers in Colorado who are covered by the state’s paid family and medical leave program should have access to the benefit. Some hard to reach workers (those who don’t typically work at a computer or have regular communication with a human resources team) may not know they have access to this new benefit or may be too hesitant to use it based on their income level or fear of employer retaliation. Workers may also face technological barriers, including insufficient digital literacy skills or language barriers if English is not their native language.
Having access to affordable home internet, personal devices and possessing digital skills is not only needed to have the most seamless experience with FAMLI, but also required to take advantage of telehealth. Increasing digital literacy will build access to telehealth which will in turn help FAMLI claimants get their serious health conditions verified by a licensed health care provider.
It is CDLE’s duty to ensure all Coloradans have equitable access to paid family and medical leave which has positive impacts on both a family’s health and economic stability. The benefits of paid family and medical leave are well documented:
- Ensuring new parents have paid time off to care for a new child contributes to a family’s healthy development, improves maternal health, and enhances a family’s economic security (Equitable Growth, n.d.).
- Paid parental leave not only has a positive impact on health outcomes for new parents, but also has significant health benefits for children lasting beyond early childhood (Lichtman-Sadot & Bell, 2017).
- Offering more access to increased paid leave for fathers can positively impact maternal postpartum health (Rossin-Slater, 2021).
Community engagement
CDLE works with employer groups to educate and offer support to employers on how to inform their workers about FAMLI. CDLE does this by offering dedicated webinars and by providing material resources that they can distribute to their members. CDLE uses the same approach with community-based organizations and labor organizations that serve key populations such as low-wage earners, non-English speakers, and rural communities. While having a FAMLI staff member present at community events in rural areas is often not feasible, CDLE continues to engage with the event hosts to explore ways we can have FAMLI materials distributed to attendees in English and Spanish. CDLE also participates in many industry-specific conferences and community events through sponsorship, exhibitions, hosted breakout sessions with live Q&A and material distribution. Examples of community engagement activities include sponsoring and speaking at the Strengthening Colorado Families and Communities Conference, distributing materials at the Northern Colorado Agricultural Worker Network’s annual Farmworker Appreciation Picnic and sponsoring and speaking at the Colorado Society for Human Resource Management (COSHRM) annual conference.
Increase awareness about FAMLI to prioritized populations
By deploying a strategic mix of earned, owned, and paid media tactics targeting low-wage earners, non-English speakers and rural communities, CDLE will ensure that ALL Colorado workers know they have access to paid leave benefits, something they may not have had access to through an employer before.
Communities prioritized by this strategy:
- Low-income communities
- Linguistically isolated communities
- Historically marginalized communities
- Rural communities
Areas of impact
This strategy will impact Coloradans statewide.
2024 milestones
- Execute a paid campaign targeting small businesses, low-wage earners, non-English speakers and rural communities. [Complete]
2025 milestones
- Increase community engagement in rural areas by targeting industries with a workforce of low-wage earners like Agriculture, Construction, and Hospitality.*
2026 milestones
- Increase the proportion of claimants that are receiving benefit payments with a 70% or greater wage replacement value.
*FAMLI is considering low-wage earners to be workers making $76,000 or less per year. This is the threshold in which a claimant would get 70% or more wage replacement as their FAMLI benefit payment.
By December 2024:
- Achieve at least 400,000 digital impressions paired with a radio placement monthly return on investment of 8-to-one through an integrated media campaign targeting low-wage earners, non-English speakers and rural communities. [Complete]
By December 2025:
- Host, sponsor or have materials distributed in 20 rural community events or conferences for industries that typically employ low-wage earners.*
By December 2026:
- Increase the proportion of claimants that are receiving benefit payments with a 70% or greater wage replacement value by 10%.
*FAMLI is considering low-wage earners to be workers making $76,000 or less per year. This is the threshold in which a claimant would get 70% or more wage replacement as their FAMLI benefit payment.
Increase in-person customer service support for FAMLI
Cross-train FAMLI staff members with CDLE's digital navigators to increase the availability of in-person support across the state. This will ensure workers who may have barriers to internet access, devices, or have digital knowledge gaps get the in-person support they need to successfully apply for FAMLI benefits.
Communities prioritized by this strategy:
- Low-income communities
- People living with disabilities
- Linguistically isolated communities
Areas of impact
This strategy will impact Coloradans in the highlighted counties:
- List of counties affected
- Adams
- Alamosa
- Boulder
- Broomfield
- Chaffee
- Delta
- Denver
- Douglas
- El Paso
- Fremont
- Garfield
- Gunnison
- Huerfano
- Jefferson
- Kit Carson
- La Plata
- Lake
- Larimer
- Las Animas
- Logan
- Mesa
- Moffat
- Montezuma
- Montrose
- Morgan
- Otero
- Prowers
- Pueblo
- Rio Blanco
- Rio Grande
- Routt
- Summit
- Teller
- Weld
- Yuma
2024 milestones
- Cross-train FAMLI staff members as on-site navigators at CDLE’s downtown office. [Complete]
2025 milestones
- Cross-train Digital Navigators to support workers with the FAMLI online application wherever Digital Navigators are located.
2026 milestones
- Cross-train staff at the 50+ workforce centers in Colorado’s Workforce System to support workers with the FAMLI online application.
By December 2024
- Cross-train at least nine FAMLI staff members as on-site navigators. [Complete]
By December 2025
- Cross-train at least 13 FAMLI staff members as on-site navigators with at least two of those located at a regional workforce center.
By December 2026
- Ensure that all 50+ workforce centers have at least one staff member cross-trained to support workers with the FAMLI online application.
Increase digital literacy and broadband adoption
CDLE’s Office of the Future of Work, Colorado Broadband Office, and Office of eHealth Innovation make up the Digital Equity Team which is working on ensuring all Coloradans have the digital skills, devices, and affordable access to the internet needed to participate fully in our society, democracy, and economy.
The Digital Equity Team manages Colorado's Digital Access Plan, which was approved by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. The plan will be used to guide the state's digital inclusion work with $12 million in State Digital Equity Capacity Grant Funds over the next five years.
*The State Digital Equity Capacity Grant was going to be used to implement parts of the Digital Access Plan. The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE)'s Office of the Future of Work (OFW) received notification on May 9, 2025 that federal funding for this grant has been terminated effective immediately. The funding's original end date was December 31, 2029. CDLE and OFW are actively working to fully assess the scope of this announcement and determine the best course of action. The goals and targets outlined in CDLE's Health Equity Plan may be impacted pending our path forward.
Communities prioritized by this strategy:
- Low-income communities
- People living with disabilities
- Linguistically isolated communities
- Historically marginalized communities
- Rural communities
Areas of impact
This strategy will impact Coloradans statewide.
2024 milestones
- Support the creation of regional digital inclusion coalitions which will build Regional Digital Equity Plans with specific goals for increasing digital skills, device access, and internet access for covered populations. [Complete]
- Explore leveraging other types of navigators, such as health navigators and career navigators, to support covered populations needing help with digital skills and the adoption of telehealth. [Complete]
2025 milestones
- Support the creation and implementation of Regional Digital Equity Plans (see section 5.1.1 Strategy 1: Create Colorado’s digital equity ecosystem), which will identify and develop goals for the specific digital inclusion needs identified by communities for funding, particularly in rural areas.
- Work with state and local partners that provide benefits to increase awareness of internet subsidies for their clients.
- Leverage the Digital Navigator and other Navigator programs to expand access to digital navigators who provide digital skills training and access to resources for covered populations.
- Promote participation in internet discount and subsidy programs, like Lifeline, through targeted community outreach and assistance with enrollments.
2026 milestones
- Support the implementation of Regional Digital Equity Plans.
- Promote participation in internet discount and subsidy programs through targeted community outreach and assistance with enrollments.
- Provide digital navigation best practices for businesses, state agencies, faith organizations, and nonprofits providing public-facing technical support to customers.
Milestones would be measured using the Colorado Health Access Survey (CHAS) 2025 and 2027, as well as the American Community Survey, NTIA information, and survey data collected by the Digital Equity Team. These key performance indicators are part of Colorado’s Digital Access Plan and will also be reported to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). NTIA required each state to develop a baseline, two-year, and five-year goals as part of their Digital Access Plan. The two-year and five-year goals assume funding to implement the Digital Access Plan strategies which is expected by the end of CY2024. The baseline numbers which these targets built from were a result of data collected in CY2023.
By December 2025
- Identify a Fiscal Access Partner for all 14 regions in Colorado to support the creation of Digital Inclusion Coalitions and Digital Access Plans.
- Establish a Digital Inclusion Coalition in at least 7 regions in Colorado as indicated by the submission of applications for funding to the Fiscal Access Partners.
By December 2026
- Reduce the number of Coloradans and covered populations reporting internet is too expensive to the following:
- Colorado - 46%
- Immigrants - 58%
- Older adults - 54%
- Individuals with disabilities - 54%
- Racial and ethnic minorities - 45%
- Increase the percentage of those with a disability, older adults, and incarcerated individuals reporting confidence in using the internet to the following:
- Colorado - 91%
- Individuals with a disability - 77%
- Older adults - 76%