The Pesticide Educational Resources Collaborative (PERC) is proud to highlight the impact of a $127,000 investment supporting WorkLife Law’s Dar a Luz: Legal Rights for Farmworkers during Pregnancy and Postpartum project. 

The project supports pregnant and postpartum farmworkers in promoting safer working conditions by increasing access to workplace protections and paid leave, enabling them to step away from environments where pesticides may be present. 

Project Impact at a Glance:

• 165 community health workers trained
• 75 farmworkers received direct legal support to reduce possible exposure risk
• Communities reached across approximately one-third of California counties
• 100% of participants reported the training would change how they practice

Pesticide exposure during pregnancy can affect both maternal and child health. Through this project, community health workers are equipped to support farmworkers in taking practical steps to promote safer working conditions and navigate environments where pesticides may be present. 

One farmworker, a Mixteco-speaking mother, was initially denied pregnancy-related disability benefits that would have allowed her to step away from work in environments where pesticides were possibly present. With support from the Dar a Luz helpline, her case was successfully appealed, resulting in more than $15,000 in benefits and the opportunity to focus on a healthier pregnancy. 

“This funding allowed us to reach far more community health workers than we originally planned and build widespread community knowledge that will last and improve the health of community members for generations,” said Juliana Franco, Senior Staff Attorney for WorkLife Law. “We now have a multilingual training model already in use across California. Each trained promotora or community health worker can support dozens of farmworkers to protect their health and that of their family. That is the kind of lasting, community-based impact we set out to achieve.”

The knowledge imparted through this training has already reached thousands of workers in California - each community health worker is estimated to have reached 40 workers in just three months following their training. 

Emily Ripken, PERC’s Program Coordinator for Ag Community Non-Profits, said, “This reflects AgCBP’s core mission: to support community-based solutions that enhance worker well-being and advance safer practices around pesticides through practical, scalable approaches. ”

Importantly, this work was designed to last. Community health workers are now applying what they have learned in their own communities, extending the project's reach well beyond the grant period.

PERC is the Pesticide Educational Resources Collaborative, a 5-year cooperative agreement between the EPA’s Office of Pesticide Programs and University of California Davis Division of Continuing and Professional Education, in collaboration with Oregon State University. Suzanne Forsyth is the PERC Director at UC Davis Continuing and Professional Education. Kaci Buhl is the PERC Deputy Director at Oregon State University.

Questions? Email [email protected].

This article was originally published by PERC.