EQUITABLE ACCESS

Identify, inventory, and engage Wake County organizations and advocates that can help connect people groups, who are hard to reach, underserved, marginalized and/or isolated by geography, culture, language or other discriminatory characteristics, that historically encounter barriers to human and social services.

  • No matter what is in our heart or how good our intensions, it is easy to fall into an unintentional act of discrimination. However, whether the act is intentional or unintentional, we are still responsible for discriminatory actions and their impacts. For organizations NOT in receipt of agency funding (at any tier, municipal, state, or federal), it is an issue of organizational policy. For organizations utilizing agency funding streams, contracts and funding can depend on compliance with non-discrimination requirements and regulations. Please see the links and fine print found within the Title VI Assurances attached to contractual agreements with government agencies.

    Examples of not so obvious discriminatory practices: Eastern Wake County is geographically isolated from many of the services readily found within the urban core of Raleigh’s city limits. If an organization located in Raleigh receives funding from state, federal, or county sources for the benefit of clients in Wake County, it would be a discriminatory provision of services for members of protected people groups in the Knightdale/Wendell/Zebulon area who qualify for program participation -- if no reasonable means of access was provided and barriers to the program aligned with the basis of their protected status. Organizations have a responsibility to provide outreach into those communities about their programming opportunities, to understand the barriers to participation for the local protected population groups, and to offer alternative solutions. Mitigating solutions for a geographically isolated community might include transportation, a different program access point that is closer to participants, or a program time that is not in conflict with employment or lack of childcare. Equity means we understand the needs of the individuals we are serving and meet their needs where they are.

    Language assistance is another unintentional mine field for discrimination. President Bill Clinton signed Executive Order 13166 in 2000. The Order was designed to improve access to services for people with Limited English Proficiency (or people who speak English as a second language or less than well) and was based on Title VI of the Equal Rights Act which prohibits exclusion from participation or the denial of benefits on the basis of national origin. Simply stated, it requires organizations who receive federal aid funds (agency funding at any level) to ensure access to vital information for people who are not proficient with the English language.

    Many of our local organizations provide brochures translated into Spanish. However, the measuring stick for translation and interpretive services is the number of people who speak a specific language within Wake County. See The Tool – LEP for more information. Over 4 percent of Wake County population has Limited English Proficiency. Based on the Department of Justice’s SAFE HARBOR Guidelines, we also meet requirements for translation and interpretative services in Chinese, Vietnamese, Gujarati, French, and African Languages. Language Access also includes targeted outreach and inclusion initiatives for communities where these languages are spoken. These are communities where cultural, religious, and ethnic diversity is concentrated and trust is yet another barrier to mainstream services. It is important to that this step is taken utilizing key community anchors and exercising cultural competencies. Again, EQUITY means meeting our neighbors where they are and where their need is.

    These are just two examples that stem from the application of the non-discriminatory regulations. Need help with developing and implementing compliance, diversity, and inclusion practices? We can help you connect to organizations and team members. Connect to Equitable Access Team.

    Non-discrimination Regulation:

The Connection

Equitable Access is the root cause of disproportionate representation of disparities in determinants of health and wellbeing for people protected populations.  It begins with barriers intrinsically laced throughout legislation, it filters down through programs and processes, across service silos, and it flows all the way to the very basic fundamentals of daily life.

According to the US Census Bureau’s article, Poverty Rates of Blacks and Hispanics Reached Historic Lows in 2019. However, despite reduction in minority representation living in poverty, inequalities still remain for all major race and Hispanic origin groups.

In 2019, nationally…

  • Blacks in poverty was 1.8 times greater than their proportionate share of the total population.

  • Hispanic/Latino national origin in poverty were 1.5 times greater than their proportionate share of the total US population.

  • Whites made up almost 60% of the total US population, but just over 41% of the population in poverty.

However, Data USA profiles Wake County showing…

  • Whites make up the majority share, 40%, of the total poverty population in Wake County

  • Blacks make up approximately 25%

  • Hispanic/Latino national origin comprise about 19%

  • Youth 18 and 24 years of age have the majority share by age, with females slightly higher than males, but significantly worse off than their male counter parts ages 25 to 75.

Data from the Census Bureau - ACS 5-year Estimate

Active Projects

Project 1
The CPN will focus on an outreach designed to engage culturally isolated community members in Wake County. This includes the development of community anchors and organizational members willing to help disseminate information about services and resources at the grass-roots level in their perspective communities, encourage volunteerism in cultural sensitivity trainings, and the provision of linguistic peer support. The deliverable will be an inventory of Wake County organizations and advocates that can help connect people groups who are hard to reach, underserved, marginalized and/or isolated by geography, culture, language or other segregating characteristics, that historically encounter barriers to human and social services.

Project 2
The CPN will work with NC DOA’s Commission of Indian Affairs to raise awareness about local American Indian communities within Wake County and the Triangle. The goal includes opening access to services, benefits, and connectivity for inclusion in for American Indians and Native Americans in our Region to connect with services and opportunities for their community.