Community Resilience & Response Task Force

Overview

The Community Resilience & Response Task Force (CRRTF) worked in collaboration with Resilient Wisconsin and Healthy Wisconsin (Department of Health Services) from March 2020 through December 2020. The Task Force aimed to integrate concepts of community resilience, equity, and mental health across the state COVID-19 pandemic response, as well as set the stage for just recovery and future emergency preparedness infrastructure.

A key objective of CRRTF was to strengthen individual and community resilience of groups vulnerable to disproportionate harm by the pandemic and the response. Work enhanced partnerships across sectors and provided Infectious Disease Management expertise, resources, and support. CRRTF collaborated with the Governor’s office, UW Extension, the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, additional experts, and anchor institutions, and worked on behalf of the UW Population Health Institute to leverage existing partnerships and resources.

CRRTF focused on providing support for and addressing concerns from the following sectors: spiritual advisors, law enforcement and first responders, community health care workers, incarcerated populations, mental and behavioral health professionals, domestic and interpersonal violence advocates, migrant workers, rural residents, communities of color, and long-term care providers.

Tools and Resources to Embed Equity in Response and Just Recovery Efforts

Embedding Equity in Rapid Response

  • Key Definitions: Building Shared Language — a document that serves as a grounding in shared language across tools
  • Community Resilience, Equity and Mental Health Considerations in Rapid Response (English, Spanish, Hmong) — a decision assistance tool designed to lead to strategies to prevent or mitigate adverse impacts and unintended consequences on marginalized populations in rapid response effort
  • Stakeholder Engagement in Rapid Response (English, Spanish, Hmong) — a tool designed to identify key stakeholders to engage when implementing specific action, policies, and guidance

A Just Recovery 

Narrative and Messaging 

  • Messaging During COVID-19 — a resource suite that includes guidance on applying a Transformative Narrative to communications during the pandemic, including topic-specific sample talking points to help advance health equity in COVID-19 response and recovery efforts (includes resources in English, Spanish, and Hmong)

Resources by Sector 

  • Sector Support Grid — a table listing related CRRTF work and resources, organized by the following sectors:
    • Migrant and Seasonal Workers
    • People Who are Undocumented, Immigrants, and Refugees
    • Spiritual Leaders
    • Interpersonal/Domestic Violence
    • Law Enforcement and Jails
    • Department of Corrections and Prisons
    • Long-Term Care
    • First Responders Workforce
    • Just Recovery for Rural Equity and Racial Equity
    • Health Care Workforce
    • Mortuary Affairs
    • Mental and Behavioral Health
    • Employer Groups
    • Worker Health and Safety
    • Reopening Wisconsin Schools