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State legislators recognize data disaggregation as an important issue, not only in the Asian American communities, but across all race and ethnicities. Joint Committee establishes an inclusive commission to expand disaggregated data to all groups.

BOSTON – Following a long hearing last Tuesday, the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight has voted to move House Bill 3361 forward by establishing an inclusive commission tasked with updating the initial placeholder bill, to expand statewide racial and ethnic data collection through disaggregation to all racial and ethnic groups.

This is a significant victory for advocates of  improved data collection, who have been critical voices in moving the issue forward at the State House. For decades, data disaggregation has been an important civil rights issue for Asian American advocates, who view a monolithic racial identity as an impediment to recognizing the underserved and underrepresented.

The initial placeholder bill, H.3361, included data collection for major subgroups in the Asian American communities and was supported by broad coalition of over fifty community-based organizations in the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. As support from Latino and Black organizations poured in, the Black and Latino Legislative Caucus offered its full support to expand and improve data collection for all races and will lead the Committee to establish a commission to craft a more comprehensive bill.

Community advocates and social service agencies are thrilled to see this movement and will work constructively with the newly established commission to fight for recognition of marginalized communities and equity in our Commonwealth.

Lisette Le, Director of Vietnamese American Initiative for Development, explained, “Vietnamese Americans are more likely to have Hepatitis B than other populations. These data points, along with others, are what guide us to determine the services we provide and partnerships we make in order to help mitigate issues around mental health, housing, economic development and education/youth services that our community needs. For many of the families that we serve, our ability to know the conditions that affect them saves their lives.”

“I’m thrilled that Chairman Timilty and Chairwoman Benson have agreed to move our legislation forward,” stated State Representative Tackey Chan (D-Quincy), the sponsor of H.3361. “I’m also grateful for the support and inclusion of the Black and Latino communities in our endeavor. They realize that data disaggregation will be an immensely beneficial tool for all our communities, and I look forward to working with Commission members as we craft a broad and inclusive way to bring data disaggregation to Massachusetts.”

The Special Commission will include House and Senate Members appointed by the Speaker of the House, Senate President and House and Senate Minority Leaders; appointees of the Black Advisory Commission and the Latino Advisory Commission; an appointee of the Executive Office of Health and Human Services; an appointee of the Attorney General’s Civil Rights Division; and an appointee of the Secretary of the Commonwealth.  Recommendations and proposed legislation to the clerks of the House of Representatives and the Senate have to be submitted byDecember 31, 2018.

Coalition members and supporters

AAPI Data

AAPI Progressive Action

Addressing Disparities in Asian Populations through Translational Research

Amherst College Asian Students Association

Amherst College South Asian Students’ Association

Asian American Civic Association

Asian American Commission

Asian American Lawyers Association of Massachusetts

Asian American Policy Review – Harvard Kennedy School

Asian American Resource Workshop

Asian Community Development Corporation

Asian Pacific American Law Students Association – Harvard Law School

Asian Pacific American Network of the American College Personnel Association

Asian & Pacific Islander Caucus for Public Health

Asian Pacific Islander Civic Action Network

Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council

Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence

Asian Women for Health

Association of Harvard Asian and Asian American Faculty and Staff

Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center

Boston College Asian American Studies Program

Boston Teachers Union

Brazilian Women’s Group

Brookline Asian American Family Network

Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association of Greater Lowell

Chelsea Collaborative

Chinatown Community Land Trust

Chinese Progressive Association

The City School

Clean Water Action

Coalition for Social Justice

Community Labor United

Critical Race Studies in Education Association

Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative

Essex County Community Organization

Greater Boston Legal Services, Asian Outreach Unit

Greater Malden Asian American Community Coalition

GreenRoots Chelsea

Harry H. Dow Memorial Legal Assistance Fund

Immigrant Service Providers Group/Health

Immigrant Worker Center Collaborative

Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center

Japanese American Citizens League, New England chapter

Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action

Jewish Voice for Peace Boston

Korean-American Citizens League of New England

Massachusetts Asian American Educators Association

Massachusetts Black and Latino Legislative Caucus

Massachusetts Coalition For Occupational Safety And Health

Massachusetts Immigrant & Refugee Advocacy Coalition

Massachusetts Voter Table

Metrowest Worker Center

Moishe Kavod – Jewish Social Justice House

National Asian Pacific American Families Against Substance Abuse

National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, Boston Chapter

New England United for Justice

Pan-Asian Coalition for Education – Harvard Graduate School of Education

Queer Asian Pacific-Islander Alliance

Quincy Asian Resources, Inc.

Saheli – Support and Friendship For South Asian Women and Families

South Cove Community Health Center

Southeast Asian Resource Action Center

Tufts Asian Student Coalition – Tufts University

UMass Boston Institute for Asian American Studies

UMass Lowell Center for Asian American Studies

Unitarian Universalist Association

Vietnamese-American Community of Massachusetts (Cộng Đồng Việt Nam tại Massachusetts)

Vietnamese American Initiative for Development

Individuals

Amy Mah Sangiolo – Former Newton City Councilor-at-Large

Anh Vu Sawyer — Director, Southeast Asian Coalition of Massachusetts

Anjali Vats — Assistant Professor of Communications and African Diasporic Studies, Boston College

Anthony Tran — Assistant Professor of Communications, Boston College

Arissa H. Oh — Associate Professor of History, Boston College

Charles H.F. Davis III, Ph.D. — Assistant Professor of Clinical Education, USC Rossier School of Education

C.N. Le, Ph.D. — Sociology Faculty and Director of Asian & Asian American Studies, UMass Amherst

Delia Cheung Hom, Ed.D. — Director, Asian American Center, Northeastern University

Ed Flynn — Boston City Councilor, District Two

Hurnan Vongsachang — Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, MPH Candidate

Janelle Wong — AAPI Data Senior Researcher and Professor of Asian American Studies

Jennifer Lee — Professor of Sociology, Columbia University

Kari Kokka, Ed.D. — Assistant Professor, University of Pittsburgh

Karthick Ramakrishnan — AAPI Data Director and Professor of Public Policy

Keon M. McGuire — Assistant Professor, Higher & Postsecondary Education, School of Social

Transformation, Arizona State University

Kimberly A. Truong, Ph.D. — Director of Inclusion Programs, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Michelle Wu — Boston City Councilor At-Large

Min Hyoung Song — Professor of English and Director of the Asian American Studies Program, Boston College

Oh Myo Kim — Assistant Professor of the Practice, Counseling, Developmental, & Educational Psychology, Boston College

OiYan A. Poon, Ph.D. — Assistant Professor, Higher Education Leadership, Colorado State University

Ramsay Liem — Professor Emeritus of Psychology, Boston College

Rosann Tung, Ph.D. — Director of Policy, Research, and Evaluation; New York University, Metropolitan

Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools

Steven R. Ultrino, Ed.D — State Representative for the 33rd Middlesex District

Sumun L. Pendakur, Ed.D. — Chief Learning Officer and Director, USC Equity Institutes, Race and Equity Center

Tryan L. McMickens, Ed.D — Assistant Professor of Higher Education; Director, Administration of Higher Education Program, Suffolk University

Usha Tummula-Narra — Associate Professor of Counseling, Development, and Educational Psychology, Boston College

Vanessa S. Na, M.A. — PhD Student, Higher Education – Indiana University Bloomington; Co-Founder/Board of Directors – Project Ava

(source:http://sampan.org/2018/02/data-disaggregation-moves-forward-major-step-toward-equity-by-improving-statewide-data-collection/)