LINKING METRICS TO OUR MISSION AND VALUES
Community Rebuilders seeks to practically implement practices that foster, strengthen and maintain equitable outcomes. We seek to provide goods and services and interactions that reduce and ultimately eliminate disparity, marginalization and discrimination while increasing inclusion. To this end our work and this document have been influenced by and include content recommendations from The American Society of Public Administration’s Center for Accountability and Performance.
We acknowledge that the terms “fairness” and “equality” are subjective and have excluded them from our definition.
DEFINITION: Social Equity refers to policy formulation and implementation, public management practices, the provision of goods and services and organization/consumer/ stakeholder interactions that reduce (and ultimately eliminate) disparity, marginalization and discrimination while increasing social and political inclusion.
We strive to be deliberate in considering how actions, programs and policies impact different social groups. Even the most comprehensive approach to social equity measurement will not be as effective and beneficial to the widest range of stakeholders if it is not conscious of the impacts to marginalized populations.
We engage in ongoing effort to produce a culture that values social equity. A culture which values issues of equity dedicates resources (human and financial) to develop sound strategies to implement highly comprehensive approaches for social equity measurement.
We understand that effective and meaningful social equity practices are not void of historical and social context. Considerations of both historical and social contexts offer meaning to measurement data and a clearer picture to evaluate and understand shifts in equity.
Ultimately, it is only when equity is experienced by those who are most marginalized, underrepresented or not represented that true social equity is achieved.
Harvard Kennedy School Government Performance Lab recommended metrics are used to link metrics to Community Rebuilders mission and effort to promote social equity. We believe that measuring racial disproportionality based on the following key metrics can also inform and to drive better outcomes and increased social equity for people experiencing homelessness.
Metric 1: Racial disproportionality
Type: Outcome Metric
Purpose: Racial disproportionality metrics monitor demographics, identify disparities in who enters the system/specific programs, level of service received and likelihood of achieving positive outcomes.
Level of Application: Overall, Program specific, Organization specific
Metric 2: Racial distribution of service provision
Type: Process Metric
Purpose: Comparing this metric to estimates of homeless households by race can help identify if there are racial disparities in the provision of services.
Level of Application: Overall, Program model across the CoC, Individual program, Program model