2020 Office of Equity Task Force Final Proposal OFFICE OF EQUITY TASK FORCE FINAL PROPOSAL To request this document in another format, call 360-236-4110. Deaf or hard of hearing customers, please call 711 (Washington Relay) or email [email protected]. Para solicitar este documento en otro formato, llame al 360-236-4110. Clientes sordos o con problemas de audición, favor de llamar al 711 (servicios de relé de Washington) o envíe un correo electrónico a [email protected]. Task Force Staff: LinhPhung Huynh, Project Manager Esmael López, Community Engagement Coordinator Hannah Fernald, Administrative Coordinator For more information / Para más información: Christy Curwick Hoff Manager, Governor’s Interagency Council on Health Disparities 360-688-4699 [email protected] Website: www.healthequity.wa.gov & healthequity.wa.gov/TheCouncilsWork/OfficeofEquityTaskForceInformation Statement of Acknowledgement We are indebted to those who came before us, and we recognize that efforts in diversity, equity, and inclusion did not begin with this Task Force nor will they begin with the Office of Equity. We recognize and honor the tremendous efforts our communities, agency staff and leaders, and legislators have contributed to advancing DEI throughout our state and within our government. This includes the work over many years to identify and implement best practices, to demand transparency and accountability, and to establish the Washington State Office of Equity in statute. We urge our state leaders to remain committed to advancing these efforts and ensure this commitment is manifested through meaningful change and tangible benefit for communities across the state. We are deeply grateful to all those who traveled beside us on this yearlong journey. Your hands and hearts have lifted this work up. Words cannot fully capture nor do justice to your greatest aspirations. At minimum, we hope this proposal accurately captures your demands for an equitable, inclusive, and accountable government. Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Equity Equity Statement Developing, strengthening, and Equity requires a commitment to bold action. supporting policies and procedures It begins with the acknowledgement of that distribute and prioritize historical systems of institutional racism and resources to those who have been oppression that have led to the uneven historically and currently distribution of benefits and burdens in our marginalized, including tribes. communities. Racism is ingrained in our history and deeply embedded in our institutions, Equity requires the elimination of affecting all sectors. An equitable decision- systemic barriers that have been making process prioritizes community-led deeply entrenched in systems of solutions, driven by those most affected. inequality and oppression. Equity Generational healing takes time and requires us achieves procedural and outcome to embrace discomfort and practice humility. fairness, promoting dignity, honor, and respect for all people. Equity ensures everyone has full access to the opportunities, power, and resources they need to flourish and achieve their full potential. Diversity Describes the presence of differences within a given setting, collective, or group. An individual is not diverse – a person is unique. Diversity is about a collective or a group and exists in relationship to others. A team, an organization, a family, a neighborhood, and a community can be diverse. A person can bring diversity of thought, experience, and trait, (seen and unseen) to a team — and the person is still an individual.1 Inclusion Intentionally designed, active, and ongoing engagement with people that ensures opportunities and pathways for participation in all aspects of group, organization, or community, including decision making processes. Inclusion is not a natural consequence of diversity. There must be intentional and consistent efforts to create and sustain a participative environment. Inclusion refers to how groups show that people are valued as respected members of the group, team, organization, or community. Inclusion is often created through progressive, consistent, actions to expand, include, and share.1 1 State Human Resources (within the Office of Financial Management) coordinated work around a glossary of equity-related terms, see Appendix F. OFFICE OF EQUITY TASK FORCE 2 | FINAL PROPOSAL Contents Foreword ............................................................................................................................ 5 Executive Summary .......................................................................................................... 8 The Office of Equity Task Force ..................................................................................... 12 Government-to-Government Relations ...................................................................... 16 Community Engagement .............................................................................................. 19 Learning from Others’ Journeys .................................................................................... 27 Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic ........................................................................... 41 RECOMMENDATIONS Our Greatest Hopes for the Office of Equity............................................................... 54 Equity Definition & Guiding Statements ....................................................................... 53 Principles for Success ...................................................................................................... 60 Leading with Community .............................................................................................. 64 Urgent Work: Ensuring Equity and Access in Relief and Recovery Efforts ............... 69 Immediate Actions for the Governor and Legislature ....................................... 71 With Investment: A Fully Functional and Effective Office of Equity ........................ 75 Roles and Responsibilities for a Fully Resourced Office of Equity .................... 75 Organizational Structure ...................................................................................... 100 Operating Budget ................................................................................................ 106 Systems Transformation: An Equitable, Just, and Sustainable Future ................... 109 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 110 Appendices ................................................................................................................... 112 OFFICE OF EQUITY TASK FORCE 3 | FINAL PROPOSAL "Not all peoples have the same historic and cultural backgrounds. We honor that there is more than one belief system and accept that the values, knowledge, and behavior of a people must be understood within their own story and cultural context. Acceptance is the opposite of oppression." — Vicki Lowe, Descendant of the Jamestown S’Klallam and Bella Coola First Nations & Executive Director, American Indian Health Commission for Washington State OFFICE OF EQUITY TASK FORCE 2 | FINAL PROPOSAL Foreword Foreword From Jan Ward Olmstead and Benjamin Danielson, Chairs of the Office of Equity Task Force It has been a remarkable honor to participate in this yearlong effort to create and define the Office of Equity for the state of Washington. Our state will distinguish itself, once again, from all other states in the nation “The office boldly with the inception of this office. Beyond its equity-centering sculpts the tools to operating principles and pragmatic functions, the office is a make equity our manifestation of the raised voices of Washingtonians. The office north star.” boldly sculpts the tools to make equity our north star. The work to promote equity is timely. As our nation struggles to address longstanding racism with especially ardent purpose in this moment, a state Office of Equity represents a vital component at the right “As we reach earnestly for time. This moment in our nation’s history reveals substantive change, the that we have not done enough, that the existing efforts have been insufficient to excise racism’s transparency and accountability deeply rooted cancer from the fabric of our found in an Office of Equity will country. As we reach earnestly for substantive make this a permanent part of change, the transparency and accountability found state government.” in an Office of Equity will make this a permanent part of state government. We all pay for inequity. In terms of diminished dignity, deferred opportunities, and decreased health. Pragmatically, we all also pay for inequity financially. In terms of compromised work productivity, higher public service needs and healthcare costs. An investment in equity is a cost- saving venture, by any measure. “An investment in equity As is made clear in this report, the word equity is is a cost-saving venture, multidimensional and sometimes unsettling. Defining equity is its own challenging exercise in co-definition. It asks a by any measure.” group of people to struggle together in a way that feels like the healthy discomfort of growing pains. Creating processes based on equity is an exercise in challenging convention. It demands a deep and honest critical assessment of well-entrenched practices and comfort zones. A year of well-planned gatherings have been spent to define and assess equity in ways that assure the office will tangibly benefit Washingtonians. OFFICE