TO: Mayor and City Council
THROUGH:
FROM: Keith Stahley, City Manager
SUBJECT:
title
Assessment of equity in City programs and services.
Ward(s): All Wards
Councilor(s): All Councilors
Neighborhood(s): All Neighborhoods
Result Area(s): Result Areas - Good Governance; Natural Environment Stewardship; Safe and Healthy Community; Safe, Reliable and Efficient Infrastructure; Strong and Diverse Economy; Welcoming and Livable Community.
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SUMMARY:
summary
Incorporating equity in the delivery of the City’s programs and services is a priority in the City Council’s Policy Agenda, or annual work plan. The City engaged Moss Adams, to perform an equity assessment of a sample of community-facing services and programs to assist the City in advancing its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts. This work included: (a) an assessment of the DEI maturity of community-facing services and programs; and development of (b) an equity assessment toolkit that could be used to assess DEI maturity of community-facing services and programs and identify opportunities for improvement to policies, practices, procedures, and/or outcomes; (c) a DEI planning tool for the planning of new projects, programs, or services; and (d) recommended DEI-related performance measures.
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ISSUE:
Receive update on recently completed Equity Assessment of existing City programs and services.
RECOMMENDATION:
recommendation
Information only.
body
FACTS AND FINDINGS:
A recently completed Equity Assessment of the City of Salem’s existing programs and services (Attachment 1) reflects some programs are advancing and addressing equity. Overall, however, the City is at the beginning stages of incorporating equity into its programs and services.
At this City Council meeting, Council will be provided an overview of the Equity Assessment from Moss Adams (Attachment 2). Staff will be available to discuss a planned approach to the primary recommendations outlined in the report, including a projected timeline for:
1. Developing a shared understanding of equity across City staff and leadership
2. Continuing efforts to increase the diversity of the City’s workforce
3. Creating a unified approach to community engagement
4. Establishing clear equity-related goals and strategies
5. Developing a process to regularly assess efforts
6. Incorporating equity into standard City decision-making by utilizing the tools or other processes
7. Developing Citywide policies and procedures to advance equity
8. Building capacity for pursuing equity initiatives by allocating funding and increasing staffing support
BACKGROUND:
Incorporating equity in the delivery of the City’s programs and services is a priority in the City Council’s Policy Agenda, or annual work plan. The City engaged Moss Adams, to perform an equity assessment of a sample of community-facing services and programs to assist the City in advancing its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts. Work on the Equity Assessment was conducted from June to December 2023.
Courtney Knox Busch
Chief Strategy Officer
Attachments:
1. Equity Assessment, Moss Adams.
2. Presentation_Equity Assessment Report Update, Moss Adams
3.