HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 10-06-20; 12-5 - Information Item - Memorandum - Racial Equity Progress Report 1
HUMAN RIGHTS & RELATIONS
Cultivating Community Through Social Justice
MEMORANDUM
TO: Board of County Commissioners
FROM: Annette Moore, Director
RE: Racial Equity Progress Report
DATE: September 15, 2020
In the 2019-20 budget, the Orange Board of Commissioners approved funds to support
a team of Orange County staff to be a part of a GARE North Carolina Learning
Community of government jurisdiction working to advance racial equity by addressing
institution and structural racism. Each jurisdiction made a one-year commitment to the
learning process.
in May, with the murder of George Floyd and the ensuing protest, awareness of the
need for racial equity has grown exponentially around the Country. In June, the Health
Director, Quintana Stewart, declared structural racism a health crisis in Orange County.
The Board of County Commissioners also passed a resolution condemning the murder
of George Floyd and committing to dismantling structural and institutional racism in
Orange County government and throughout Orange County. The Board directed the
Department of Human Rights and Relations to lead the One Orange Racial Equity
Team in developing a Racial Equity Plan using the Government Alliance on Race and
Equity Model to bring a first draft of the plan back to the Board in September 2020.
Although the pandemic has impacted the work of the GARE core team, it has also
created an opportunity for us to reimagine how we move forward advancing racial equity
as a region. Instead of looking at racial equity from a jurisdictional position, we believe
we should be looking at racially equity collaboratively both within the county and
regionally. In Orange County, working collaboratively we could be working to break
down not only institutional racism but also systems racisms. Other regional partners are
Durham City, Durham County, Caswell County, Greensboro, and Raleigh.
This week we met with Chapel Hill and Carrboro to discuss having one Countywide
Racial Equity Plan that would also include different local community strategies. Now
that Hillsborough is a member of GARE, we are hoping to invite them to be a part of this
a collaboration. We could leverage our shared resources with one another. This
thinking would also carry over regionally as well. We believe the attached Report
outlines the steps that we will take to put a comprehensive countywide racial equity plan
together that is not only data-driven but keeps us accountable for the work we are
Mailing Address: Office Address:
P.O.Box 8181 1000 Corporate Dr.,Suite 400
Hillsborough,NC 27278 Hillsborough,NC 27278
Telephone(919)24S-2487 • Fax(919)890-0398
2
required to do. We want bring this Racial Equity Plan back at the October 6 meeting.
The other jurisdiction will also bring this information to their boards.
3
ORANGE COUNTY RACIAL EQUITY PLAN: PROGRESS REPORT
INTRODUCTION
Throughout the country more and more communities are committing to achieving racial equity.
Many are seeking collaboration and technical assistance as they make plans to turn their
commitments into actions. The Government Alliance in Race & Equity (GARE) is a national
network of government agencies working to advance racial equity. Over the past decade, a
growing field of practice has emerged based on lessons learned from practitioners, as well as
academic experts and national technical assistance providers. GARE brings together
governments throughout the country to provide racial equity training, racial equity tools,
sharing best practices, peer-to-peer learning, and academic resources to help strengthen work
across jurisdictions. GARE also has cohorts that provide intense training that focus on a body of
practice, including, racial equity training curricula, racial equity tool, model policies, and
infrastructure model tools.
Since October 2019, Orange County, Carrboro, and Chapel Hill each have had a team of staff in
a North Carolina GARE Learning Community Cohort to Advance Racial Equity. The North
Carolina Learning Community is comprised of nine North Carolina local governments and one
agency. This Learning Community, the first-ever in the South, has been an opportunity to build
institutional capacity to advance racial equity within our local jurisdictions to dismantle
systemic and institutional racism.
WHAT IS "RACIAL EQUITY"?
The Government Alliance on Racial & Equity defines racial equity as "when race can no longer
be used to predict life outcomes and outcomes for all groups are improved."
• The difference between racial equity and equality is that equity is about fairness, while
equality is about sameness.
• Equity cannot be achieved until everyone starts from a level playing field.
• Across all indicators of success, racial inequities continue to be a factor (e.g., education,
housing, criminal justice,jobs, public infrastructure, and health).
Over the history of our country, government has created and maintained a hierarchy based on
race, of who succeeds, fails, benefits, and burdened by the laws, policies, and practices.
Inequities are sustained by historic legacies, structures, and systems that support these
patterns of exclusion. To achieve racial equity, a fundamental transformation of government is
necessary.
In prior years, the government has focused on addressing the symptoms of racial inequity by:
• Funding programs and services that have proven to be mostly ineffective at addressing
underlying causes; and
1
4
• Passing Civil Rights laws, which made racial discrimination illegal, but, after more than
50 years, racial inequity continues to exist.
Government efforts, instead of focusing on symptoms of racial inequity, should focus on the
policies and institutional strategies that are driving the production of inequities.
WHY RACE?
Race is a social construct and not biological, as people often think. Defining racial categories
has changed over the years. Issues involving race are often "the elephant in the room" but
rarely discussed with a shared understanding. To advance racial equity, it is imperative we talk
about race.
In the United States, while race, income, and wealth are closely connected, racial inequity is not
just about income. Even when income is the controlling factor, there still exist many inequities
across multiple indicators of success, including education, jobs, housing, health and
incarceration. It is important to talk about race to advance racial equity. To advance racial
equity, we must normalize the conversation about race and operationalize strategizes for
advancing racial equity. In advancing racial equity, we will also be building systems that allow
us to address income and wealth inequity and recognize the bias that exists based on gender,
sexual orientation, ability, age, and religion. Focusing on race allows us to develop a
framework, tools, and resources that apply to other areas of marginalization, recognizing that
different strategies will be necessary to achieve equity in other areas.
ADVANCING RACIAL EQUITY IMPROVES OUR COLLECTIVE SUCCESS
Focusing on racial equity is critical in helping us achieve different outcomes for our
communities. The goal is not just to eliminate the inequities between whites and people of
color, but to increase and enhance the success of all groups. To eliminate disparities, we must
strategize based on the experiences of communities being underserved by existing institutions,
systems, and structures. To understand the experience of those communities, they must be
included and engaged. In this process, we move past looking at disparities and find racialized
systems that are costly and, depress outcomes, and life chances for all groups. Systems that
are failing communities of color failing are us all by depressing life chances and outcomes.
RACIAL EQUITY IS STRATEGY FOR CHANGE
Over the last several decades, we have seen the introduction of many policy and programmatic
efforts to advance racial equity. These individual efforts are essential but are not enough. A
comprehensive strategy is necessary to achieve racial equity. Over the next several months,
we will work with the GARE teams of Carrboro and Chapel Hill to develop a Countywide Racial
Equity Plan. The Countywide Racial Equity Plan will focus on undoing racism both within our
own individual jurisdiction and across our institutions that combine to create a system that
2
5
negatively impact communities of color. We will invite not only Hillsborough, who is not in the
GARE cohort but is a member of GARE, but also other regional partners to participate.
The combined GARE Team will form committees to concentrate on various aspects of the Racial
Equity Plan. The committees will focus on the Racial Equity Tool, Community Engagement, Data
Collection and Analysis, Training, and Communication, Evaluation, and Accountability. In
addition, teams will continue with their own jurisdictions demonstration projects begun
through the Learning Community program. In November or December, a symposium will be
held for elected officials and other interested persons highlighting the work of the GARE local
and regional teams.
The Combined local GARE Teams will use GARE's six proven strategies described below in
advancing racial equity and government transformation to create a shared equity framework to
develop a Racial Equity Plan.
1. Building organizational capacity:
o Build internal organizational infrastructure by inviting a diverse array of
stakeholders to collaborate toward a shared vision of equity.
2. Develop and Implement a Racial Equity tool;
o Develop and implement a racial equity tool that mechanizes the practice of
considering racial impact when making and implementing policy. Include the
following:
■ Promote racially inclusive collaboration and engagement;
■ A Racial Equity Scorecard that uses data and metrics to develop
strategies to close gaps and track progress;
■ Develop and implement Integrated program and policy strategies for
eliminating racial inequity;
■ Develop cross-section, cross-jurisdictional partnerships to achieve
systematic structural and institutional change; and
■ Educate internal and external stakeholders on racial issues and raise
racial awareness.
3. Developing a Racial Equity Index to track racial equity metrics to measure success,
develop baselines, and set goals. Use data to develop strategies to close gaps and
track progress over a period. Metrics can also be used to align outputs with outcomes
across cross-departmental and cross-jurisdictional lines to evaluate community
progress on racial equity throughout the County.
4. Develop Community Engagement Plans. Partner with other institutions and
communities to partner in this work together. Partner with Stakeholders, including
communities of color, to have a "collective impact" to advance racial equity. Collective
impact refers to when a group of organizations from different sectors work on a
common issue to solve a specific social problem.
5. Communicate to communicate and act with urgency. - When change is, a priority and
urgency felt, change is embraced and can take place quickly. While racial equity is a
3
6
long term goal, we are committed to prioritizing action with a shared vision, specific
priorities, and strategic actions and organizing that can lead to change.
6. Develop an Accountability Plan. Build an institutional accountability mechanism and a
clear plan of action that demonstrates accountability to elected officials and a
transparent way to show responsibility to the community.
Committees Structure and Formation
While community participation will be sought throughout each step of the racial equity process,
it will be a necessary to have community members partners in the discussion of a plan for
community engagement and accountability. Committees will be staffed GARE team members
from all jurisdictions, as well as staff and others with expertise in specific areas.
Racial Equity Tool Committee. The Racial Equity Tool Committee will lay out a process and a
set of questions to guide the development, implementation and evaluation of policies,
initiatives, programs, and budget issues to address the impact of racial equity. The racial equity
tool will help align racial equity goals with desired outcomes.
The Racial Equity Tool looks at:
1. Desired Rules. Community Indicators measurements that quantify the achievements of
the desired results
2. Data Collection &Analysis. Whom do the policies, programs, initiatives, and budget
issues negatively impact? Where are the gaps?
3. Community Engagement/Partnership. How was the community engaged? Are there
opportunities to expand engagement and partnership? Design a Community
Engagement Plan.
4. Strategies. Create a root cause analysis for racial disparities. Determine and refine your
priority strategies to maximize racial equity. Organize outcomes and performance
measures. Use community engagement/partnership to get feedback on the negative
impacts based on performance measures and root causes analysis to disparities.
Identify short and long-term strategies and organize outcomes to achieve desired
results.
5. Implementation. Develop an implementation plan. Using the Racial Equity Toolkit,
develop one short strategy and one long-term strategy, which includes an action step,
person (or agency) responsible, deadline, and what resources are needed.
6. Communication, Evaluation, and Accountability. How will we ensure accountability,
communicate with stakeholders, and evaluate results?
a. How will the impacts be documented and evaluated? Are you achieving the
anticipated outcome?
b. How will you continue to partner and deepen relationships with impacted
communities while you continue to achieve organizational outcomes?
c. Craft a message using Race Forward's ACT Tool:
i. Affirm. Hook and engage the audience by immediately mentioning
phrases and images that speak to their values
4
7
ii. Counter. Open the audience's minds to an alternative explanation of
frameworks about race. Unconscious attitudes and stereotypes toward
individuals and social groups that "affect our understanding, actions, and
decisions." (Adapted from Kirwan Institute)
iii. Transform. End your message with a solution that leaves your audience
feeling engaged and included in your next steps.
Community Engagement Committee. Develop a plan to provide for meaningful community
engagement. Consider the current and unlikely partners needed to accomplish the
organizational outcomes. Who are the decision makers with whom you need to inform,
consult, or collaborate?
Building meaningful community engagement/partnership toward power shift means:
1. The desired result is co-designed and shared by both government and the community.
2. Community engagement expectations and processes are aligned between the
community and government.
3. Government is ready to listen, hear, and implement input from all communities,
especially impacted communities of color.
4. Government is ready to make a transformational and structural change toward a new
power dynamic.
5. Principles of community engagement at the enterprise level are known and carried out
across all departments.
6. Designate a specific department to provide coordination, training, and technical
assistance to other departments seeking to engage and build partnerships with the
community.
7. A guide exists and is shared broadly across the enterprise.
Racial Equity Index Committee. The use of data and metrics to track progress of County's racial
equity initiatives and to follow trends in racial disparities. Metrics will also facilitate the
alignment of outputs with outcomes and the coordination of efforts across departments and
jurisdictions. The Racial Equity Index will be a transparent public access to data with built
public data dashboards to help assess questions of equity. The dashboards contained within the
Index will include sub-county maps and key performance indicators (KPIs) to help track
essential indicators and equity performance. Wherever possible these KPIs would be
disaggregated by geography, race/ethnicity, income, and gender. This data may be used to
address historical oppression by:
• Examining existing policies and procedures
• Equitably targeting use of resources
• Fostering equity-centered decision making (ie. in policies and procedures)
• Guiding community-centered engagement
• Developing a participatory budgeting process
• Unifying local response to pressing issues
• Creating a user-friendly, public facing data portal
• Collaborating across institutions and systems
5
8
• Implementing accountability structures that align with local government equity efforts
The Racial Equity Index Committee will develop a countywide Racial Equity Index and
Community Scorecard to track equity metrics across Orange County. Data demonstrating racial
inequities is frequently available. What is not often available is data tracking the progress of
the strategies used for closing the gaps over time. Metrics and data can be used to align
outputs with outcomes across cross-departmental and cross-jurisdictional lines to evaluate
community progress on racial equity throughout the County. If the goal is to eliminate racial
inequities and improve success, we must follow the impact of our efforts over time so we can
see the effect of our efforts. Measurement at the program level is needed to track the impact
of specific public investment and policy changes.
The model used for the Racial Equity Index will be a local modified version of the Policy Link's
National Equity Atlas. To see examples of these resources as:
a. Policy Link National Equity Atlas https://nationaleguityatlas.org/research#reindex
b. Equity Profile of Battle Creek, MI
https://www.policylink.org/sites/default/files/BattleCreek-profile.pdf
c. Policy Link Racial Equity Tool:
https://nationaleguityatlas.org/research/index-findings
Training Committee. The training committee will develop a plan to provide training to
policymakers, managers, staff, boards and commission members, and community partners to
build capacity to advance racial equity and to embed racial equity into countywide systems.
Evaluation and Accountability Committee. The Evaluation and Accountability Committee will
develop an Evaluation Plan based on the principles of the Results-Based Accountability ("RBA")
framework. RBA is a national model and provides a disciplined, data-driven, decision-making
process to help local governments take action to solve problems. An Evaluation Plan will help
local governments apply racial equity principles embedded into the Results-Based
Accountability (RBA) methodology into Racial Equity Action Plans.
6