Revisions to the Federal Standards for Race and Ethnicity Data Collection

SHADAC and Health Equity Solutions

On Monday, July 15, State Health and Value Strategies hosted a webinar on the revisions to the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Statistical Policy Directive No. 15: Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity. The revisions update the federal standards for race and ethnicity data collection for the first time since 1997. The updated standards for race and ethnicity use a single combined question, include a new minimum ethnicity category for people who identify as Middle Eastern or North African, and require the collection of more detailed race and ethnicity data by all federal agencies. The standards also reinforce collection standards—race and ethnicity should be self-reported and individuals should have the option of reporting multiple races and ethnicities—and provide updated guidance on how to report the new categories.

During the webinar, experts from the State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC) and Health Equity Solutions reviewed the new OMB standards for race and ethnicity data collection, described the history of federally-defined race and ethnicity data collection standards, and highlighted the motivations for the revisions. The webinar also featured a discussion of the implications for health equity and provided guidance for implementing the standards in partnership with key stakeholders.

 

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