The Department of Community and Human Services envisions a community in which residents enjoy a sense of well-being, safety and self-sufficiency.

The Department of Community and Human Services provides effective and essential safety net services that measurably improve or maintain the quality of life for Alexandrians. 

Additionally, the programs overseen by the Alexandria Community Services Board provide compassionate and effective services that support self-determination, recovery and resiliency for Alexandria residents affected by mental health conditions, developmental disabilities and substance use disorders.

• Equal Access
  Our services are available to all people regardless of economic status, language, race, sex, ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity and expression. 
• Dignity and Respect
  We promote self-determination and honor the dignity and rights of the people we serve.
• Cultural Competency
  We honor the cultural backgrounds, values and preferences of the people we serve.
• Ethics and Accountability
  We are ethical stewards of the resources entrusted to us and are accountable for our actions.
• Collaboration 
  We partner with individuals, families, service providers and the community to ensure that our services promote responsive, efficient and innovative solutions to current and emergent challenges. 
• Competency
  We employ a qualified, empathetic and diverse staff recognized for creativity and professional achievement.  
• Integrity
  We communicate consistently, honestly and openly and demonstrate integrity in all aspects of our work.
• Continuous Improvement
  We employ innovative best practices and we strive to continuously improve our programs and services based on outcomes. 

The DCHS Leadership Team acknowledges that racism exists within our department, society and institutions. Racism functions on interpersonal, institutional and structural levels and has created inequities across all indicators for success that are deep and pervasive. 

We recognize that for generations, anti-blackness and racism have harmed Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) in psychological, physical, economic, social and political ways.

To actualize our agency mission, vision and values, we commit to eliminating inequities stemming from racism that negatively affect our workforce, our clients and our community. 

This will require that DCHS operates with racial equity as a core value to ensure an inclusive work environment, where all people, cultures and identities are of equal value.

We commit to aligning our programs, policies and practices to achieve our vision because “well-being, safety and self-sufficiency” cannot exist in the absence of racial equity.

This work is even more critical within an organization such as ours, as we have the privilege, the responsibility and the opportunity to serve individuals who have significantly been impacted by systemic racism.  We must work to eliminate its impact on our clients and to ensure that we are not complicit in creating, perpetuation or upholding this system.  As a Leadership Team we are accountable for leading the racial equity work of the DCHS in partnership with the Racial Equity Core Team.  We commit to this work with both a sense of urgency and permanency with a steadfast manner to address its importance. We commit to real change and we also want you to commit to joining us in doing this work.

We commit to the following actions to address the racism and absence of equity in the department:

Reporting and Responding to Acts of Racism

Commitment: We will address racist acts and instances of microaggressions to minimize harm to BIPOC and assure safety for staff to report discrimination, mistreatment, and incidents along with non-retaliation policies for individuals to report incidents.

Actions: 

1. A racial equity complaint process will be developed for staff to use.
2. Disciplinary actions will take place in response to racist incidents.
3. Feedback will be gathered through surveys and other methods on individual experiences to determine progress and areas of challenge.
4. Follow up will take place with those who have been subjected to racism, microaggressions.
5. Data will be tracked to determine where complaints are coming from: a unit/gender/race/ethnicity/age demographic and if the violators are the same individual(s) or in the same reporting chain.

Policies, Procedures and Data Analysis

Commitment:  We will identify and change DCHS policies and practices that perpetuate structural and institutional racism for clients and staff and contribute to/maintain organizational and outcome inequities.

Actions:

1. All aspects of DCHS’ work (budgeting, policy development, programs, operations, resource allocation and services) will be reviewed using a Racial Equity Tool.
2. Qualitative and quantitative (client and employee) data, disaggregated by race, will be reviewed.  Strategies and action plans will be developed to respond to findings that indicate systemic inequities.
3. Both qualitative and quantitative data will be used to inform decisions/actions related to racial equity.
4. Measurable individual and program performance goals that advance racial equity within the Department will be incorporated into Work Plans.
5. Policies will be evaluated regarding the impact they have on BIPOC and how they contribute to inequities.  This will be done utilizing Racial Equity Tools.

Hiring, Promotional, Performance and Disciplinary Actions  

Commitment:  We will assess and address racism present in personnel decisions and actions.

Actions:

1. Onboarding and orientation will include a focus on racial equity and expectations for each employee.
2. Hiring, promotion, discipline, termination, and pay practices will be analyzed and reported to identify and address inequities.
3. Language regarding racial equity will be added to performance evaluations of staff and management, with specific metrics for assessment.
4. Efforts will be put in place to increase recruitment and advancement of BIPOC, particularly in management and leadership positions.
5. Individuals will be held accountable for discrimination, micro/macro-aggressions in the workplace:
   1. Corrective Action Plans will be put in place for offenders (individual or programs) which clearly identify consequences for not meeting action plan objectives.
      
      **Accountability mechanisms and consequences will be established.

Training and Professional Development

Commitment: We will provide training and professional development to ensure all staff are fully equipped to address their own bias and to effectively serve our clients.

Actions:

1. A series of facilitated race and reconciliation conversations will take place with the Leadership Team.
2. Mandated training will take place on all levels of the organization, including training on white supremacy, implicit bias, and micro-aggressions.
3. Clear expectations will be set for every employee regarding advancing racial equity.
4. Evidence-based/promising practices related to serving BIPOC clients will be used in programs.
5. Consultation and additional training will take place in areas in the department demonstrating increased need.
6. Open discussions with all employees about the impact of racism, stereotypes, and microaggressions will take place regularly.
7. Supervisors will incorporate racial equity in ongoing supervisory meetings and expectations.
8. A racial equity statement, accompanied by an attestation form, will be reviewed, and signed by all staff.

Caucusing and Safe Spaces

Commitment:  We will create a culture where BIPOC are comfortable sharing and are equally valued at decision making tables. 

Actions:

1. Ongoing safe spaces will be created for staff who are People of Color to convene, share, and debrief efforts to dismantle systems, processes and practices of racism, oppression, bias; this will include Black and Latinx caucuses.
2. White allyship groups will be convened to build relationships based on trust with BIPOC, provide support to BIPOC, and learn from BIPOC what that support can look like.
3. These efforts will be initiated by centering the voices, perspectives and experiences of BIPOC in conversations about race while supporting opportunities for safe, free and productive discussion among all staff, recognizing that regardless of one’s own race or ethnicity, individuals are at various points and follow differing paths along an anti-racist journey.
4. Non-reductive, non-dichotomous thinking and discussion processes will be encouraged to decrease polarization and divisiveness and to foster the surfacing of the most effective, attainable, and inclusive solutions to racism.  

It is the commitment of the Leadership Team to carry out the above activities in good faith and with a vision of the future where racial equity can be achieved throughout the department and with those we serve.  Our efforts, collectively, can in earnest advance the safety, well-being, and self-sufficiency of our entire community.  It is our obligation and our duty to assure that we are actively eliminating systemic inequities that are within our control and advocating and working to change those not fully in our control.