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Concord work group advances draft intake form and reporting channels after focus-group feedback
Summary
The Bias and Hate Incident Reporting Work Group agreed on a four-part intake form and multiple reporting channels after focus groups flagged barriers such as confidentiality concerns, fear of retaliation, and skepticism that reports prompt action. Members assigned drafting tasks and will consult Town counsel and IT before returning with drafts.
On Feb. 24, 2026, the Bias and Hate Incident Reporting Work Group met in Concord to review focus-group findings and advance a draft intake form and reporting plan intended to make bias- and hate-incident reporting more accessible and trusted.
Deborah Dorfman, a member of the Bias and Hate Incident Reporting Work Group, said the group’s outreach aims to attract participants from underserved communities and communities of color and that a third focus group is scheduled for March 8 at the Concord Main Library. Paul Boehm, also a work-group member, described recurring barriers the focus groups have surfaced: under-reporting of noncriminal incidents, concerns about confidentiality, skepticism that reports will prompt action, fear of retaliation (including in business settings), and immigration-related fears. He said members agreed that “building trust will require clear, timely follow-up and transparency about what happens to individual reports and to aggregated data.”
The work group agreed on a four-part structure for the intake form. First, the form will capture the reporter’s perception of the motivator (for example, race, religion or belief, sexual identity, age, language), allow multiple selections, and always include an “other” option; wording will center on the reporter’s perception rather than trying to prove an offender’s intent. Second, the form will include a type-of-harm field (physical, verbal, intimidation, vandalism, slurs, etc.), with a descriptive free-text section to let intake staff assign subcategories later. Third, the form will ask where the incident occurred (workplace, public area, private space, educational setting, etc.). Fourth, a narrative section will let reporters describe the incident in their own words and specify identity and anonymity preferences and any desired follow-up or support.
Agnes Lubega-Kalisa volunteered to draft the type-of-harm and location-category language, and Mr. Boehm and Ms. Lubega-Kalisa will prepare draft components for review at the next meeting. The group discussed removing a separate “employment/professional status” motivator in favor of capturing those cases under “other” to avoid overcomplicating the form and to preserve usability.
On technical and privacy issues, the work group emphasized the need to support anonymous reporting while also using authentication and bot-prevention measures where feasible. Mr. Boehm said he will invite the Chief Information Officer (or a team member) to discuss human-validation tools and other technical options, and he will follow up with Town Counsel on anonymity and confidentiality options. The group agreed the intake page and form must clearly state mandated-reporting caveats so reporters understand when information must be referred to police or other authorities (for example, criminal acts or child endangerment).
Members also agreed residents should be able to report via multiple channels: an online submission form hosted on a town landing page, a telephone hotline ideally answered by a live person during business hours (with possible after-hours routing to civilian police-station staff), and an in-person option for those unable to use electronic channels. The group stressed language access and disability accommodations. Town Manager Kerry Lafleur and Assistant Town Manager Jessica Porter shared observations from neighboring communities that the work group will benchmark, and members identified Sudbury, Acton, and Belmont (and selected universities) as comparison sites to add to the next agenda.
The work group scheduled additional work sessions for March 17 and March 24 and noted operations could extend to May 1 if more time is required to finalize system design, benchmarking, and the concluding report. Deborah Dorfman will compile a summary of all three focus groups after the final session.
Separately, the work group approved the minutes of its Feb. 3, 2026 meeting. Deborah Dorfman moved to approve the minutes; Agnes Lubega-Kalisa seconded; all members voted in favor.
The meeting adjourned at 7:25 p.m.; minutes were submitted by Magnolia Begley, Human Services Generalist.
