Expecting Justice is an initiative led by the California Department of Public Health and the San Francisco Department of Public Health and carried out by the California Preterm Birth Initiative to provide funding to programs to improve infant and maternal health outcomes among Black and Pacific islander people in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The project uses left-of-center framing for its programming, such as “efforts to reduce stress and the impact of systemic racism on Black and Pacific Islander parents across San Francisco.” The group launched what it calls the first pregnancy income supplement program in the United States, called the Abundant Birth Project, and operates several other programs including SisterWeb, Race Equity 101, and the Homeless Prenatal Program. ¹

Background

Expecting Justice was formed in 2017 as a joint project of the California Department of Public Health and the San Francisco Department of Public Health. One of the funders of the project, the Hellman Foundation, described the group as working to “eliminate health inequities for birthing people” and described its programs as “anti-racism training for medical and social service providers, doula support for Black and Pacific Islander parents, and other initiatives focused on supporting women and other pregnant people who are experiencing racial disparities.” ²

The group cites “historically racist policies” such as redlining and urban renewal as well as “unique social and environmental factors, including substandard and/or unstable housing, police violence, limited access to healthy foods and adequate nutrition, unequal educational opportunity, and poorer-quality employment opportunity” as reasons why 16 percent of black infants are born prematurely compared to 7.3 percent of white infants and 10.4 percent of Pacific Islander infants. ²

Abundant Birth Project

The most notable program operated by Expecting Justice is the Abundant Birth Project, which launched a pilot program that later expanded to create the a guaranteed income program to provide $1,000 a month to pregnant Black and Pacific Islander women in San Francisco. The program later expanded to four San Francisco Bay Area counties. ³

The pilot program for the Abundant Birth Project was funded by the Hellman Foundation’s Hellman Collaborative Change Initiative. The program subsequently received funding from an award of $1.1 million from Jack Dorsey’s #startsmall campaign, $200,000 from Genentech, and $200,000 from the San Francisco Department of Public Health. ³

In 2021, the Abundant Birth Project gave $1,000 per month to nearly 150 pregnant and postpartum women residing in San Francisco. In 2022, it was announced that the program would receive $6.5 million in city and state funding and will expand its services to Alameda, Contra Costa, Los Angeles, and Riverside counties. ³

Other Programs

Other programs either funded or operated by Expecting Justice include SisterWeb, a project of Heluna Health that operates a network of doulas in San Francisco; Race Equity 101, a training program for healthcare providers; and the Homeless Prenatal Program. ¹

Leadership

Nicole Jones was hired as the program manager for Expecting Justice as an employee of the California Preterm Birth Initiative. She previously worked in food banks and homelessness initiatives in San Francisco and her biography states a commitment to a “Public Health Critical Race Theory lens.” She received a Master of Public Health focusing on the “health implications of structural racism on chronic disease and maternal health disparities as well as exploring innovative solutions to disrupt structural racism and empower communities of color.” ⁴

1. “Expecting Justice.” California Preterm Birth Initiative. Accessed July 8, 2024. https://pretermbirthca.ucsf.edu/expecting-justice
2. “Expecting Justice.” Hellman Foundation. Accessed July 8, 2024.  https://www.hellmanfoundation.org/expecting-justice.html
3. “Abundant Justice.” California Preterm Birth Initiative. Accessed July 8, 2024. https://pretermbirthca.ucsf.edu/abundant-birth-project
4. “Welcome to our new team members!” California Preterm Birth Initiative. May 28, 2021. Accessed July 8, 2024.  https://pretermbirthca.ucsf.edu/news/welcome-our-new-team-members