Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Equity Studies topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Partnership for Southern Equity presents internal equity study; recommends equity officer, improved communications and immigrant/refugee supports
Summary
Partnership for Southern Equity presented its final internal equity study to the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners on March 18, recommending six actions to improve employee communications, adopt an equity review process for policies, appoint an equity officer under the CEO, create an internal welcoming/advisory team for immigrants and refugees, set training-accountability expectations, and complete a community-facing equity study.
Partnership for Southern Equity (PSE) presented the final report of a three-year internal equity study to the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners at the Committee of the Whole meeting on March 18, outlining six principal recommendations for county operations and next steps for implementation.
The consultants said their work — begun in April 2022 after the countypassed a 2020 resolution declaring racism a public-health crisis — combined about 20to 30 key stakeholder interviews, five multi-hour racial equity feedback sessions, an employee survey that received roughly 300 responses, and a four-county comparative analysis. PSErecommended an internal-to-external two-phase approach: strengthen internal systems and then gather community input to shape countywide resource allocation.
The reportlisted six primary recommendations: 1) conduct an internal communications audit and establish departmental equity liaisons; 2) adopt a policy-evaluation framework that applies an equity lens; 3) set countywide expectations and accountability for employee training and participation; 4) create a dedicated equity officer position under the CEO; 5) form an internal "welcoming DeKalb" advisory team to coordinate immigrant and refugee supports; and 6) complete a DeKalb County community equity study to guide public-facing resource allocation.
PSE presenters Kazim Woodbury and Jennifer Cobb described discovery work including interviews, 6-hour feedback trainings held Junethrough October 2024, and an employee survey. Woodbury emphasized internal operational recommendations and the need for an executive-level champion; Cobb highlighted staff interest in training, concerns about hiring transparency, and recurring comments about uneven resource distribution between North and South DeKalb.
During commissionersquestioning, several raised implementation and data issues. Commissioner Terry praised the study, called PSEwork "important," and urged the board to budget for next steps. Commissioner Nicole Messiah asked for more detail on communications recommendations; PSE said existing county email distribution failed to reach many employees in field roles and recommended mobile and physical channels plus departmental liaisons. Commissioners asked how many employees lacked county email access; PSE said the survey distribution highlighted gaps but could not on its own determine exact counts and recommended the communications audit to establish definitive numbers.
Commissioners also questioned the survey sample. PSE said about 300 employees responded, acknowledged that number is lower than ideal for a 3,000-plus workforce, and said the low response underlined the communications-access problem rather than invalidating the qualitative findings. Chief Operating Officer (COO) Williams and Chief Legal/Administration staff were asked to check how many staff have county email accounts; COO Williams said the administration would follow up.
PSE said the recommended equity officer would sit in the CEOoffice, coordinate with departmental liaisons and the proposed advisory council, and provide accountability and continuity. The advisory council would include representatives from core departments (public safety, watershed, libraries, human services and others) to develop consistent, culturally and linguistically accessible public-facing services. PSE also proposed a feasibility analysis and operational guidelines for a county Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs.
Next steps PSE proposed: share findings with internal stakeholders, work with county leadership on an implementation plan, and begin an external community equity study to gather resident feedback and identify disparities in service deployment. Commissioners asked for the full report to be distributed to each commissioner and their offices; PSE agreed. Several commissioners signaled support for placing implementation recommendations on a future agenda for formal consideration and potential budget requests in mid-year discussions.
The board thanked PSE and its steering and equity lead teams for the work. No formal county action or vote to adopt the recommendations occurred at the March 18 meeting; PSE and administration staff said they would prepare an agenda item for future consideration and return with additional details.
