The Role of Human Services Agencies in Advancing Climate and Environmental Justice

Factors in our physical environments and the weather around us profoundly impact our mental, physical, and economic well-being. Recent increases in the frequency and severity of natural disasters have highlighted this impact and shown us how human services agencies are called to respond and adapt in periods of disruption and uncertainty. Human services agencies can play a key role in finding innovative ways to build and maintain resilient communities that holistically support people before, during, and after natural disasters. At APHSA, we see that addressing environmental factors and understanding the short and long-term stress they place on the people we serve is crucial to our mission of creating thriving communities built on human potential. We are committed to supporting our members in pursuing environmental justice for all people.

Featured Resources

What’s new in environmental justice and human services?

A Human Services Role in Environmental Justice and Climate Resiliency A Human Services Role in Environmental Justice and Climate Resiliency
 

Watch the previously recorded webinar connecting the topic of environmental justice and human services.

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Making Connections to Advance Environmental Justice: #WhatEJMeansToMe Making Connections to Advance Environmental Justice: #WhatEJMeansToMe

A blog post from APHSA
 
 
 

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Building Resilience: Quarterly Newsletter Building Resilience: Quarterly Email Newsletter
 
 

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What is environmental and climate justice?

  • Environmental justice: The fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people, regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. This goal will be achieved when everyone enjoys the same degree of protection from environmental and health hazards and equal access to the decision-making process to have a healthy environment to live, learn, and work.
  • Climate justice: A movement that recognizes the disproportionate social, economic, public health, and other adverse impacts on communities with low incomes and communities of color, often the people and places least responsible for the problem. It seeks solutions that address the root causes of climate change while addressing a broad range of social, racial, and environmental injustices.

Other Key Definitions

  • Environmental racism: The concept of environmental racism emerged in the United States in the 1980s to refer to the socially uneven distribution of pollution and environmental resources along racial lines. The term “environmental justice” initially referred to the movement that arose to confront environmental racism, but it has since expanded to encompass multiple forms of environmental inequities and problems.
  • Racial equity: A process of eliminating racial disparities and improving outcomes for everyone. It is the intentional and continual practice of changing policies, practices, systems, and structures to prioritize measurable change in the lives of people of color and ensure that they experience the same outcomes as their white counterparts. You can read more here about APHSA’s work to advance racial equity in human services.
  • Slow-moving vs. Fast-moving impacts: The climate and environment can be impacted slowly over time (such as increasing pollution in the water or increasing heat in the atmosphere) or quickly (such as the direct and immediate impacts of wildfires or hurricanes).
  • Weather and Climate Resilience: The ability of an individual, household, or community to manage and recover from the impacts of severe weather events and a changing climate while adjusting to prevent those impacts from worsening.

Our Work So Far

Our Work So Far

For the past several years, APHSA has been exploring and holding conversations with our members and partners at the local, state, and federal levels about the intersections between human services and environmental and climate justice.

  • In 2021, APHSA began meeting regularly with partners at Mathematica to discuss opportunities for shared engagement in this work.
  • Also in 2021, our President and CEO Tracy Wareing Evans published a memo in APHSA's Policy and Practice magazine entitled “Connecting our Work to Environmental Justice.”
  • At the 2022 National Health and Human Services Summit, APHSA and Mathematica held our first workshop on environmental and climate justice. Shortly afterward, APHSA and Mathematica hosted another workshop at APHSA’s Economic Mobility and Well-Being Conference, focusing particularly on environmental and climate impacts on food security.
  • In 2023, APHSA and Mathematica have been bringing together partners across focus areas such as public health, disaster response, and built environment to help inform further work and continuing conversations with human services leaders, including on Mathematica’s podcast On the Evidence. This spring, APHSA, and Mathematica administered a nationwide survey of state and local human services agencies to assess if and how environmental and climate justice is a part of their current work, and have continued to hear from our members and partners about how this shows up in their work.

Throughout this time, APHSA and our partners have been creating publications to build, refine, and continue the conversation about the unique role of human services in advancing environmental justice. You can find these resources and others below.

To keep in touch about the continuing work we are doing, please fill out this short form below.

APHSA/Mathematica Resources
Date Title Source/Author(s) Summary
Spring 2023 Human Services’ Unique Position: Flexing New Ways to Pursue Environmental Justice Chloe Green, Colleen Psomas, Matt Stagner, and Alex Bauer In this article from APHSA’s Policy and Practice magazine, co-authors from APHSA and Mathematica summarize high-level takeaways from a recent podcast (below), discussing the role that human services can play in advancing environmental justice and listing a few actions that agencies can take to move this work forward.
Date Title Source/Author(s) Summary
1/2/2023 Human Services Agencies Can Advance Environmental Justice Michael A Becketts, Tracy Wareing Evans, Shavana Howard, and Matt Stagner In this episode of the Mathematica podcast On the Evidence, the guests examine the roles that human services agencies can play in securing environmental justice. They discuss the various areas in which environmental issues overlap with the duties of human services agencies, including reducing food insecurity and mitigating the harm caused by increasing utility costs and more common extreme weather events.
Date Title Source/Author(s) Summary
1/1/2023 Human Service Needs and Disaster Displacement Mathematica The Office of Human Services Emergency Preparedness and Response in the Administration for Children and Families engaged Mathematica to create this report reviewing and summarizing existing literature and resources on disaster displacement and human services
Date Title Source/Author(s) Summary
8/31/2022 We Can’t Be on the Sidelines: The Role of Human Services in Advancing Environmental Justice Chloe Green, Alex Bauer, Colleen Psomas, Shaun Stevenson, Anu Rangarajan, Matthew Stagner, and Jacque Gombach In this article from APHSA's Policy and Practice magazine, co-authors from APHSA and Mathematica explain how human services professionals can leverage their positions and existing work to ensure that the populations they serve are not subject to inequities arising from the impacts of climate change.
Date Title Source/Author(s) Summary
7/14/2022 Environmental Justice Workshop Summary Mathematica Summarizes key takeaways from the EJ workshop co-hosted by APHSA and Mathematica at the 2022 Human Services Summit.
Date Title Source/Author(s) Summary
10/1/2021 Connecting Our Work to Environmental Justice Tracy Wareing Evans This President's Memo in APHSA's Policy and Practice magazine gives the perspective of APHSA's president and CEO Tracy Wareing Evans on why EJ is connected to the work of APHSA and the Human Services sector. She emphasizes the impact of disasters like Hurricane Katrina and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on the communities that human services agencies support and how human services can help communities recover from such disasters and build more resilient systems to lessen their impact.

APHSA/Mathematica Resources
Date Title Source Summary
6/13/2023 Homelessness and Climate Change: A Roundup of Resources for Communities Before, During, and After Disasters United States Interagency Council on Homelessness This resource roundup provides an inventory of tools that can help communities develop strategies to address the unique needs of people experiencing homelessness before, during, and after environmental disasters and hazards. The resources cover the following topics: Relevant Federal Funding, Disaster Preparedness, Disaster Response, Disaster Recovery, Environmental Hazards, Engaging People Experiencing Homelessness, and Community and Federal Contacts for Coordination
Title Source Summary
Energy Justice Dashboard Office of Economic Impact and Diversity The Energy Justice Dashboard (BETA) is a pilot data visualization tool that displays DOE-specific investments in communities across the country experiencing disproportionately high and adverse economic, human health, climate-related, environmental, and other cumulative impacts.
Title Source Summary
Justice40 Initiative The White House This webpage explains the White House's Justice40 Initiative, a commitment that 40% of the overall benefits of certain Federal investments flow to disadvantage communities which are overburdened by environmental issues.
Date Title Source Summary
11/14/2023 EJScreen Environmental Protection Agency This mapping tool allows users to overlay national data on environmental and demographic indicators
Date Title Source Summary
10/24/2023 Environmental Justice Grants Environmental Protection Agency This webpage lists EJ-related grants, funding opportunities, and technical assistance resources
Date Title Source Summary
8/16/2023 Learn about Environmental Justice Environmental Protection Agency This webpage lays out the EPA's definition of environmental justice and how the EPA integrates it into their work.
Date Title Source Summary
9/29/2023 The Impact of Climate Change on American Household Finances U.S Department of the Treasury The US Treasury released this report on climate change and financial well‐being. This is the fast facts overview of the fuller report.
Title Source Summary
Climate and Health Outlook Portal The Office Of Climate Change and Health Equity (OCCHE) The Health and Human Services Office of Climate Change and Health Equity is providing prospective risk data related to several key climate risks.
Date Title Source Summary
2023 Community Disaster Resilience Zones Platform Tools Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) The Community Disaster Resilience Zones platform provides users the opportunity to view information on the census tract designations included in the first selections of disaster resilience zones.
Date Title Source Summary
8/14/2023 Heat Island Community Actions Database U.S. Environmental Protection Agency A Community Actions Database to help communities learn about actions they can take to reduce heat islands. Includes dozens of examples of state and local voluntary initiatives and mandatory policies for advancing heat island cooling strategies.
APHSA/Mathematica Resources
Date Title Source Summary
2023 Growing Quality Green Jobs Jobs for the Future This report utilizes the Green Transformation Cycle, a data-driven framework developed by Jobs for the Future and the Burning Glass Institute, to illustrate the economic transformation into green jobs that is currently underway. Their analysis of nearly 200 million online job postings demonstrates the prevalence of green jobs today and highlights key takeaways for a just transition to a green economy.
Date Title Source Summary
3/1/2023 Place Matters: The Environment We Create Shapes the Foundations of Healthy Development Harvard University Center on the Developing Child This working paper delves into how the physical environments where children live affect their development and health, the stark racial disparities in environmental quality, and the resulting health outcomes. Connecting environmental justice with child and family well-being lays out new directions in policy that can ensure that all children grow up in safe and healthy environments.
Date Title Source Summary
9/8/2022 The Health Care Consequences of Extreme Heat are Just the Tip of the Iceberg Center for American Progress This article summarizes the research on the health consequences of extreme heat, outlining both direct and indirect outcomes. It then provides recommendations for what policymakers can do to address rising heat and its impacts.
Date Title Source Summary
December 2023 Partnering For Climate Resilience: A Practical Guide to Community-Based Disaster Planning for Health Care Health Care Without Harm This tool kit provides a new approach to disaster planning and climate preparedness built on a partnership between health systems and the communities they serve, working together to plan for and mitigate the impacts of climate change. The guide provides a playbook and sample materials for healthcare institutions to partner with emergency planners, public health professionals, and community-based organizations to run a disaster scenario exercise to identify and address vulnerabilities and enable communities to withstand climate impacts better.
Date Title Source Summary
1/22/2021 Opportunities for state and local policy responses to climate change: A recap from the State and Local Webinar Series Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab In this blog post, the authors summarize takeaways from a webinar series in which researchers discussed strategies for state and local governments to reduce emissions and mitigate climate change and pollution impacts. Key actions include creating collaborative partnerships with state and local entities, using data to shape climate policies, and centering priority communities in climate change responses.
Date Title Source Summary
5/10/2018 The Environment That Racism Built Center for American Progress This article focuses on racial inequities in health, particularly those experienced by black mothers and infants. It describes how a person's built environment shapes their long-term health and how public policy creates the conditions of these built environments, typically in ways that perpetuate racial health disparities. It calls on policy-makers to recognize the role that racism has played in creating our built environments and actively use policy to pursue health and environmental equity.
Date Title Source Summary
3/6/2017 Environmental Racism Laura Pulido for the International Encyclopedia of Geography This article summarizes the concept of environmental racism, the origins of the term, and the history of the EJ movement and scholarship on environmental racism.
Date Title Source Summary
7/20/2016 Creating Safe and Healthy Living Environments for Low-Income Families Center for American Progress This report summarizes the significant impact that the condition of homes and neighborhoods have on the health of their residents, as well as the many barriers people face to consistently residing in safe, healthy, and suitable home environments.
Date Title Source Summary
December 2022 Food System Resilience: A Planning Guide for Local Governments John Hopkins Center for a Livable Future This planning guide is aimed at supporting local government staff and policymakers in creating a food systems resilience plan or integrating food systems resilience into a food, climate, or general resilience plan. It helps readers understand what resilience looks like and assess key ways local governments can help communities prepare for, respond to, and recover from food systems impacts of disruptive events.
Date Title Source Summary
September 2023 Climate Resilience Framework White House This National Climate Resilience Framework lays out a way to build a climate‐resilient nation. Once which will require an all‐hands‐on‐deck effort.
Date Title Source Summary
9/25/2023 Where Are Children in Head Start Exposed to Environmental Hazards? (Tool) Urban Institute in collaboration with Head Start and the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) View this Environmental Exposure Mapping Tool to better understand Head Start children's relative exposure to hazards by comparing which geographies are at risk of these environmental hazards, where children are enrolled in Head Start, and where those children are most at risk.
Date Title Source Summary
11/22/2022 The Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool Council on Environmental Quality Connected to the Justice40 initiative, this mapping tool is designed to identify disadvantaged communities that are marginalized and overburdened by pollution and underinvestment.
Date Title Source Summary
12/21/2023 Disaster Human Services Capabilities Playbook Administration for Children & Families Human service providers are often required to provide post‐disaster assistance in a challenging environment. This document outlines capabilities to help human services organizations perform key functions that facilitate the coordinated delivery of supports.
Date Title Source Summary
1/3/2024 Extreme Heat Affects Early Childhood Development and Health Harvard University, Center on the Developing Child Extreme heat affects infants and young children more than most adults—and potential impacts on their health and development can be lifelong



This project was supported by funding from the Bloomberg American Health Initiative at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Last updated: 2/15/2024, 12:46 PM