Did you know that you can request an interpreter through Alliance CaRES if needed by a foster parent, birth parent, child, or other involved person?
Providing interpreters is one way that families can be given or denied equal access to services. There are many other ways that the system and people in it can create or remove obstacles for people, and the federal Administration for Children and Families (ACF) recognizes that many of these are tied to historic racism, perpetuating inequality in treatment. The ACF invites feedback on improvements for equity – read their request below.
As President Biden wrote in his Executive Order on Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government Visit disclaimer page , “equal opportunity is the bedrock of American democracy and our diversity is one of our country’s greatest strengths. But for too many, the American Dream remains out of reach. Entrenched disparities in our laws and public policies, public and private institutions, have often denied that equal opportunity to individuals and communities. Our nation faces converging economic, health and climate crises that have exposed and exacerbated existing inequities, while a historic movement for justice has highlighted the unbearable human costs of systemic racism…the federal government’s goal in advancing equity is to provide everyone with the opportunity to reach their full potential.”
In May, ACF released a Taking Action on Equity letter and now we are moving forward with our #EquityinAction initiative. Through this initiative we are pursuing a robust approach to advance equity across our programs and processes. We want to identify, assess, and implement alternatives to our current processes to rectify inequitable burdens and level the playing field. Some of these inequities may manifest as limited English proficiency, lack of internet connectivity and profession-specific language use, to name a few.
Join us in our mission to foster health and well-being by providing federal leadership, partnership and the resources to effectively deliver compassionate human services. We ask that you let us know how processes can be improved to be more equitable for the communities serve, and we can be a part of the solution.