HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 10-08-20; 3 - Government Alliance on Racial and Equity (GARE) Progress Report - Advancing Racial Equity and Transforming Government Progress Report 1
ORANGE COUNTY
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT
Meeting Date: October 8, 2020
Action Agenda
Item No. 3
SUBJECT: Government Alliance on Racial & Equity ("GARE") Progress Report: Advancing
Racial Equity and Transforming Government Progress Report
DEPARTMENT: Human Rights and Relations
ATTACHMENT(S):
INFORMATION CONTACT:
Advancing Racial Equity and
Transforming Government: Annette Moore, (919) 245-2317
Progress Report
PURPOSE: A Progress Report on the work of the Orange County Government Alliance on
Race & Equity ("GARE") staff cohort that has trained with other North Carolina jurisdictions
since October 2019 to advance racial equity and create a plan to undo structural racism in
County government.
BACKGROUND: The Government Alliance and Race & Equity ("GARE") is a national network
of governments working to achieve racial equity and advance opportunities for all. GARE
features three emphases:
• Supporting jurisdictions that are at the forefront of work to advance racial equity.
• Building pathways for new jurisdictions to begin doing racial equity work, including
cohorts of new jurisdictions.
• Expanding and strengthening local and regional collaborations that are broadly
inclusive and focused on achieving racial equity.
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.
Each jurisdiction received tools and resources, including:
• A racial equity training curriculum, to equip cohort participants to implement the
training with other employees;
• A Racial Equity Tool to use in policy, practice, program and budget decisions;
• Support to identify and launch pilot projects that demonstrate racial equity
outcomes in your jurisdiction;
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• A capacity building plan and organizational structure to institutionalize equity
within their jurisdiction;
• Example policies and practices that helped advance racial equity; and
• Support to develop a Racial Equity Action Plan
The Orange County team is comprised of fifteen diverse team members. Department Directors
were asked either to self-select or to select a member of their staff for the team. If through that
process the team was not filled, then co-leads selected county staff so that there was a diversity
of members and skills and departments on the team. The members of the team are: Annette
Moore, (Co-Lead), Human Rights and Relations, Nancy Coston, (Co-Lead), Social Services,
Brenda Bartholomew, Human Resources, Melvyn Blackwell, Human Rights and Relations, Erica
Bryant, Child Support Enforcement, Brennan Bouma, Asset Management Services, Diogenes
DeLosSantos, Information Technology, Desmond Frierson, Criminal Justice Resource, Jennifer
Galassi, Sherriff's Office, Ashley Hager, Food Council/County Manager's Office, Sarah
Pickhardt, Emergency Services, Rachel Raper, Board of Elections, Juliet Sheridan, Health,
Quintana Stewart, Health, Robert Williams, Solid Waste.
The One Orange GARE team developed a mission statement: One Orange is a commitment by
Orange County leaders and staff to uncover and address implicit racial biases in our institution
to ensure that race can no longer be used to predict life outcomes in our community.
GARE Training has been intense. Members of the team have not only had to attend training but
also had meetings outside of the training, committee meetings, and additional homework. The
pandemic has been an obstacle in getting both the training and the racial equity plan completed
in September as we anticipated.
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 racial equity collaboratively both within the county and regionally. In Orange County, working
collaboratively, we could break down not only institutional racism but also systems racisms.
Other regional partners are Durham City, Durham County, Caswell County, Greensboro, and
Raleigh.
Several weeks ago, we met with Chapel Hill and Carrboro to discuss having one Countywide
Racial Equity Plan that would include different local community strategies. Now that
Hillsborough is a member of CARE, we have invited them to be a part of this collaboration. We
want 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
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accountable for the work we are required to do. The other jurisdictions will be taking this Racial
Equity Progress Report to their Boards in October.
FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no financial impact.
SOCIAL JUSTICE IMPACT: Fosters a community culture that rejects oppression and inequity.
The fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race or color; religion
or philosophical beliefs; sex, gender or sexual orientation; national origin or ethnic background;
age, military service; disability; and familial, residential, or economic status.
Enables full civic participation — Ensure that Orange County residents are able to engage the
government through voting and volunteering by eliminating disparities in participation and
barriers to participation.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT: There is no Orange County Environmental Responsibility Goal
impact associated with this item.
RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board provide staff with
feedback on the Racial Equity Progress Report.
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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
• Passing Civil Rights laws, which made racial discrimination illegal, but, after more than 50
years, racial inequity continues to exist.
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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 negatively
impact communities of color. We will invite not only Hillsborough,who is not in the GARE cohort
but is a member of GARS, but also other regional partners to participate.
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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 highlightingthe 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
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.
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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
ii. Counter. Open the audience's minds to an alternative explanation of
frameworks about race. Unconscious attitudes and stereotypes toward
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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
• Implementing accountability structures that align with local government equity efforts
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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 overtime. 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.
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