Stories from the Field: Fairfax County, Virginia MILEPOSTS AND LESSONS LEARNED FROM A LOCAL JOURNEY TO ADVANCE EQUITY LINKING THE SILOS OF RACIAL EQUITY WORK APRIL 21, 2016
Source: Interaction Institute for Social Change, Angus Maguire, 3 artist; 2015
Mileposts in the Fairfax Journey Mid-2000 s 1990 s 2012-2014 2010 2015 Adopted FCPS Closing the Minority Achievement Gap Plan Initiated Institutional Analysis (IA) examining JJ front door Established Disproportionality and Disparity Prevention and Elimination Team Hosted Building on the Strengths of the African American Family Summit Convened Together We re the Answer Community Collaborative Established FCPS Minority Student Achievement Oversight Committee Formed Chantilly Pyramid Minority Student Achievement (FCPS) Established Early Intervention Strategy Team Adopted Strategic Plan to Facilitate Economic Success Released Equitable Growth Profile of Fairfax County Became member of Government Alliance on Race & Equity (GARE) Engaged in community conversations with john a. powell Released Institutional Analysis Established Successful Children and Youth Policy Team Launched Opportunity Neighborhood place-based pilot Attended GARE convenings 4
Navigating the Path: Disproportionality & Disparity Prevention and Elimination Team Cross-organizational team comprised of Human Services, Police and Schools staff Charged as Champions of Change to build upon agency-based initiatives underway and work systemically to ensure that outcomes are not predicted by race and disparities cease to exist Served as Thinking Partners for the Institutional Analysis Adopted a Change Framework to guide strategic actions Organized annual days of learning (grant funded) to raise awareness about systemic racism 5
Change Framework adopted by DDPET Influence Policy and Legislation Mobilize neighborhoods and communities Foster coalitions and networks Change organizational practices Educate Providers Promote community education Strengthen individual knowledge and skills Engage Champions Assess and utilize political capital Working with residents and community groups to increase their capacity to work on issues they have identified as important Expand partnerships to include additional systems and sectors (education, behavioral health, public safety, direct service providers, etc.) Convene new groups and individuals for broader goals and greater impact Develop community based and community driven resources Increase transparency o Data collection & data sharing o Communication o Vision Establish shared commitment and accountability Reexamine existing mission, philosophy and practices as they relate to disparate treatment and disproportionality Develop workforce skills and competencies to affect organizational practices Influence workforce attitudes and values with the goal of shaping organizational culture Reach groups of people with information and resources to promote equity Encourage the voice of children and families most impacted by disproportionality and disparities Address the social determinants that lead to disparate outcomes Identify and strengthen community supports for children & families Ensure Access Provide opportunities that lead to better life outcomes Sources: Contra Costa Health Services, http://cchealth.org/prevention/spectrum/ The Prevention Institute, http://www.preventioninstitute.org/spectrum_injury.html 6
Navigating the Path: The Institutional Analysis Quantitative Analysis insufficient Obtained outside funding and an outside partner, The Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP) IA is a diagnostic tool that: o makes the structures visible that shape, direct, and determine worker s actions and o shows how those structures produce poorer outcomes for youth and families of color. Examined the front door of juvenile justice also required a look at the most common pathways: schools and police Locally, required a discreet look at both the African American and Hispanic lived experience 7
IA Findings Shape Desired Results 1: Inadequate prevention services for some populations. 2: Often mental health, substance abuse and special education needs not sufficiently addressed. 6: Mixed documentation status of households compromises access. 3: Common, cross-system vision emphasizing collaboration not fully developed or implemented. 4: Systems privilege its need for efficiency over individual needs of families. 8: Interventions do not account for language and cultural barriers. 5: System interventions do not consistently support youth to stay connected to and complete school. 7: Truancy often a warning sign of more significant underlying needs of youth and family. Prevention and intervention efforts reach youth & families most likely to have poor outcomes because of race, language, cultural and economic barriers. A common, cross-system vision promoting the well-being of youth and families guides collaborative work among county agencies and community organizations. Approaches to working with families are trauma informed, culturally humble, flexible and individualized. Youth, especially those most likely to be hindered by socio-economic, race and/or cultural barriers are consistently supported to remain connected to and complete school. 8
Moving the IA Findings to Action: Dialogue with Directors Series Police JDRC (Juvenile Court) OFWDSVS (Office for Women) FCPS (Schools) Domestic Violence/ Trauma/ Bullying NCS (Neighborhood and Community Services) 9
Lessons Learned Difficult to keep race on the table - not a comfortable conversation Data challenges lacked standard data policy o Not available /not reliable by race / ethnicity o Different subcategories o First time for some agencies to examine their data this way Good work going on throughout the system but seldom linked or collaboratively planned or delivered Lacked a communications plan from the outset to share results from these sessions Seeds of change planted during these discussions Looking for best practice examples outside jurisdiction is value-added 10
Navigating the Path: The Successful Children & Youth Policy Team (SCYPT) IA finding was catalyst for the formation of SCYPT Critical infrastructure component outside of traditional bureaucracy brought elected officials, community, school and government leaders working collectively Sponsor leadership group for Equity work SCYPT elected officials paved way to bring equity conversation to full boards in committee Introduced equity framework and approach of the Government Alliance on Race & Equity (GARE) 11
Reframing: Disproportionality & Disparities Equity https://www.raceforward.org/research/reports/moving-race-conversation-forward Source: Race Forward: The Center for Racial Justice Innovation 12
Lessons Learned Fairfax is not alone as a jurisdiction working to achieve equity Journey starts where there is energy however, effecting change must involve all of government land use, transportation, budget, human resources, etc. Broadened the effort from disproportionality & disparities to EQUITY Framed the path forward in the context of opportunity structures Invaluable to learn best practices from peer jurisdictions who are doing intentional race equity work no need to re-create the wheel Leadership is a key component of equity work 13
Fairfax Components for Action "Inside" Leadership Work: Executive Leaders Elected Leaders "Outside" Leadership Work: multi-sector leadership inclusive of government as partner Leadership Influencing Policy & Legislation Organizational Capacity Building Changing Organizational Practices Adopt and implement tools and structures to support working intentionally to achieve equitable outcomes Apply equity tools in placebased projects Ensuring Access Data & Accountability Community Engagement Mobilizing neighborhoods & communities Ensure budget actions produce and sustain equitable outcomes Share metrics to track progress of achieving equitable outcomes Shared and clear communications Fostering coalitions and networks Engage and connect actions among Faith, Nonprofit, Business and Higher Education sectors Grow community capacity to ensure all voices influence decision making
Navigating the Path: Strategic Plan to Facilitate Economic Success Collaborative endeavor among Economic Advisory Commission and Board of Supervisors initiated in 2014 Thirteen month engagement / feedback process with more than 250 members of the community: including business, community, civic leaders, local chambers of commerce, area colleges and universities, and local residents Recognized the need to continue expanding our economic efforts because the region has confronted: o o o o Fewer federal jobs due to recession and sequestration Slow wage growth Job recovery that is focused on new sectors, such as health care, retail, and hospitality Higher office vacancy rates 15
Goals and Indicators to measure progress (Indicators are a working draft) GOALS 1 Diversify Our Economy 2 Creating Places Where People Want to Be 3 4 5 Improving Speed, Consistency, and Predictability of Development Review Process Investing in Natural and Physical Infrastructure Achieving Economic Success through Education and Social Equity 6 Increasing Agility of County Government DRAFT INDICATORS Employment in economy by sector New business starts by sector University Research Dollars Venture Capital Funding Dollars Development Activity project pipeline Tax Revenue / acre rate of change in Activity Centers Walk-ability/Bike-ability Scores Processing time for categories of zoning entitlement Average days to process and review major/minor site plans/building plans Rate of maintenance/reinvestment Value creation from P3 Projects Mobility related fatalities Stream quality index Racial composition of educational attainment Housing burden Disconnected youth - % of youth not in school or in labor force Employee adaptability and versatility (customer survey) Entrepreneurial and Intrapreneurial Initiatives http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/news/2016/social-equity-produces-economic-success.htm 16
Navigating the Path: Fairfax County Equitable Growth Profile (EGP) PolicyLink and USC Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE) led process The EGP is a tool that provides a framework to understand and track how a community performs on a series of indicators of equitable growth Intentionally requested the EGP examine only Fairfax County rather than the Washington Metro region Convened a multi-sector Profile Advisory Group to ground truth the data o Disaggregated data even further to reveal any nuances with immigrants within each racial / ethnic sub-categories Established a baseline of how Fairfax County stands in terms of equity 17
Fairfax Child Opportunity Index baseline Equitable Growth Profile, 2015 Sources: The Fairfax County Equitable Growth Profile, 2015 The diversitydatakids.org project and the Kirwin Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity
Lessons Learned Important to establish a shared equity/opportunity framework: o Shift in focus from people to structures and institutions o Structures are not neutral; they require intervention and monitoring if they are to achieve racial equity and promote inclusion o People are situated differently in structures o Race plays a direct and indirect role in the development of these structure Government plays a key role Partnerships, alliances, collaborations and networks are essential 19
Navigating the Path: Community Conversations Engaged audiences both inside and outside government Learning opportunity with collaborative multisector sponsorship Introduced and framed constructs of implicit bias, opportunity structures, United States history, role of government and targeted universalism 20
Essential Lessons Requires strategic intentionality to advance racial equity in the context of existing initiatives Acknowledge that Equity work is transformational - and the every day transactional work must align and support this transformation Cultivate internal organizational capacity and structures to provide a foundation to support equity work and advance equitable outcomes in community Communicate with clear messaging, framing and transparency Learn every day side by side with our community, our partners, our peers 21
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Resources Institutional Analysis: http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/living/healthhuman/disproportionality/the_story_behind_the_numbers _september_2012.pdf Strategic Plan to Facilitate Economic Success: http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/success/ Equitable Growth Profile: http://policylink.org/focus-areas/equitable-economy Government Alliance on Race & Equity: http://racialequityalliance.org/ Today s Presenters: Marlon Murphy Karen Shaban Marlon.murphy@fairfaxcounty.gov Karen.shaban@fairfaxcounty.gov 23