Policy and Advocacy

For staff leading policy and advocacy efforts at local United Ways, listed below are equity strategies and related approaches to advance your work in childhood and youth success, economic mobility and health.
 

Childhood and Youth Success Strategies:

STRATEGY: Increase access to high-quality early childhood educational experiences for BIPOC children to support school readiness.

Image Policy and Advocacy Approaches: Advocate for increased state subsidies for families that increase the affordability of childcare, early childhood, and Pre-K programs serving 0-5 years old. Advocate for continued/increased state and local investments in quality early childhood programs, especially those based in low-income communities and neighborhoods. Advocate for increased pay equity and enhanced benefits for early childhood workers (e.g., healthcare, retirement, and opportunities for continued education). Advocate for state quality ratings and improvement systems (QRIS) to ensure equitable opportunities for informal childcare programs to improve their ratings by removing barriers.

STRATEGY: Engage families, youth, schools and community partners to ensure that BIPOC students have access to K-12 high-quality, high-performing schools.

Image Policy and Advocacy Approaches: Advocate for changes in school/district policies to ensure that Black, Indigenous and other students of color have access to a rigorous college-preparatory coursework including GT, AP courses and IB curriculum. Advocate for district and state policies that align high school graduation requirements with college entry requirements (following minimum coursework requirements). Advocate for teacher preparation/licensure programs and job-embedded professional development to include implicit bias training. Advocate for equitable teacher assignments and compensation/bonus policies that ensure highest qualified teachers are matched to schools with greatest need. Advocate for changes in school curriculum to include relevant content that is inclusive of the history, culture, and lived experiences of people of color. Advocate for changes in school disciplinary policy, as needed, to ensure policies do not disproportionately “push out” students of color through suspensions/expulsions. Partner with local parent and youth coalitions to support their organizing efforts related to improving access, opportunities, and quality learning experiences in K-12 districts and schools for BIPOC students.

STRATEGY: Organize a system of school and community-based supports for BIPOC students as they progress through elementary, middle and high school.

Image Policy and Advocacy Approaches: Advocate for increased state and local investment in technology to close the digital divide, including closing gaps in Internet access, software and hardware availability. Advocate for state investments in training for teachers to strengthen their capacity to provide  online instruction. Advocate for increased school-based resources to close reading proficiency gaps, including Title I reading specialists, volunteer tutors and school-based literacy programs. Advocate for state and local funding to expand access to high-quality out-of-school time programs (afterschool and summer).

STRATEGY: Partner with K-12 (middle, high schools) and higher education systems to improve post-secondary access, persistence, and attainment for BIPOC students.

Image Policy and Advocacy Approaches: Work closely with state level college access networks to advance state level advocacy and policy strategies explicitly focused on increasing college enrollment of BIPOC students.    Advocate for universities and community colleges to conduct and share results of equity audits examining school practices and policies related to recruitment/outreach, curriculum access, representation, financial aid, faculty hiring, and 4-year graduation rates.

STRATEGY: Provide BIPOC high school and college students with timely supports and services to ensure college access, persistence and completion.

Image Policy and Advocacy Approaches: Advocate for states to increase support for schools that predominantly serve BIPOC students (e.g., public 4-year colleges, community colleges, historically black colleges & universities, Hispanic serving institutions). Advocate for expansion of state scholarships to facilitate college access for BIPOC students, especially those that are low-income, first generation, and/or seeking a degree in fields where career professionals of color are underrepresented (e.g. STEAM).

 

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Economic Mobility Strategies:

STRATEGY: BIPOC students complete advanced degrees, certifications, and/or technical training programs to secure well-paying jobs in high-growth sectors.

Image Policy and Advocacy Approaches: Advocate to expand Pell Grant eligibility to industry-recognized short-term credentialing programs. Advocate for pathways for individuals with DACA, TPS, and undocumented status to achieve permanent legal status and citizenship and a pathway to Federal financial aid. Advocate for tuition equity policies that ensure undocumented residents are not disproportionately burdened with out-of-state tuition rates at colleges and universities. Advocate for correctional education programs connected to in-demand occupations. Correctional education should be connected to re-entry goals with in-demand fields. Recommend for-profit and nonprofit partners conduct outreach and recruitment efforts with HBCUs, public universities, and community colleges educating majority BIPOC students. Work with post-secondary coalitions to advocate for community college credits being automatically accepted at 4-year public colleges, in facilitation of continued education for BIPOC students.

STRATEGY: BIPOC youth and adults advance to good jobs and careers in high-growth, high-wage sectors.

Image Policy and Advocacy Approaches: Advocate for programs that receive public funding to collect data disaggregated by race, including apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs. Encourage the State to invest in organizations with a demonstrated track record of effectiveness in serving BIPOC communities. Encourage employers to open advancement opportunities to embedded workers that complete education/training programs. Promote BIPOC participation and leadership in professional networks, labor unions and community organizations. Encourage these organizations to establish goals with tracking on the degree they are moving toward more inclusive representation. Encourage employers to sign a pledge committing to increase BIPOC representation in executive leadership, division and upper-level leadership positions. Set clear goals with merit raises attached to attainment. Measure success in terms of representation and the level to which an organization adapts norms established for an inclusive culture. Encourage employers to establish formal mentorship programs tracked by participation of BIPOC employees. Convene community members, including residents, students, employees, advocates, business owners and leaders, to host conversations exploring local conditions to identify opportunities to build more equitable cultures and institutions. Advocate for states and municipalities to “Ban the Box,” prohibiting public and private employers from asking for criminal history on job application. Delaying background checks until a job offer is made to a qualified applicant. Advocate for employers and training providers to set goals that increase BIPOC representation in  job readiness programs in high-growth sectors. Advocate for employers to set goals that increase the hiring of BIPOC. Recommend for-profit and nonprofit partners recalibrate hiring processes to eliminate bias in recruitment, interviewing, hiring, onboarding, and promotion. Mitigate the potential for implicit/explicit bias: o  Eliminate unnecessary educational requirements. o  List compensation information on job postings in assurance of living wages. o  Conduct blind reviews of resumes. o  Standardize candidate interview questions. o  Sample testing that objectively evaluates the quality of a candidate’s work.

STRATEGY: BIPOC have equitable opportunities to use quality and comparable financial products and services.

Image Policy and Advocacy Approaches: Advocate for state policies that cap interest rates and that eliminates or limits loan fees. Advocate for state policy that increase penalties for financial institutions found guilty of employing discriminatory and predatory lending practices. Advocate for states and localities to direct more financial resources to Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs). Advocate for government benefits to be disbursed via direct deposit. Advocate for financial institutions to actively review their policies and practices to identify and eliminate patterns of disparate treatment and discrimination on the basis of race. Advocate for public and private incentives that promote regular savings and investment.

STRATEGY: BIPOC individuals have safe, affordable housing.

Image Policy and Advocacy Approaches: Advocate for states and localities to ban practices that allow landlords to discriminate against tenants who use housing vouchers. Advocate for housing authorities to remove policies that exclude individuals with criminal convictions from living in affordable housing units.

STRATEGY: Increase BIPOC individual homeownership and ensure home valuations are determined equitably.

Image Policy and Advocacy Approaches: Advocate for public investment in home buying counseling and down payment assistance services. Advocate for state policy focused on fairness in lending practices to ensure potential BIPOC homeowners have access to comparable mortgage loans and interest rates.

STRATEGY: Facilitate BIPOC entrepreneurs access to capital, training, and opportunities for business development and expansion.

Image Policy and Advocacy Approaches: Advocate for local municipalities to designate Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds that promote BIPOC business development and expansion. Advocate for states and localities to direct more financial resources to CDFI’s that lend to small businesses. Advocate for the expansion of private and public grants available to help BIPOC entrepreneurs obtain the capital required to start a business.

STRATEGY: Ensure equitable business opportunities for BIPOC-owned small businesses.

Image Policy and Advocacy Approaches: Advocate for expansion of state and federal programs that give preferential status to BIPOC owned small businesses bidding for state and federal contracts. Advocate for transparent contracting processes (city, county) that include BIPOC owned businesses, targeted toward small business and microentrepreneurs. Convene corporate and nonprofit partners to advocate for procurement procedures that include BIPOC contractors and vendors.

Access to Health Strategies:

STRATEGY: Work with community partners and residents to strengthen and build healthy, supportive, resilient communities in areas with poor health outcomes, by addressing the social determinants of health.

Image Policy and Advocacy Approaches: Advocate for sidewalk connectivity and investment in green spaces that provide opportunities for walking, biking and other forms of physical exercise. Partner with advocates to support improvements to public transportation infrastructures. Advocate for equitable food procurement practices in large institutions, like hospitals and school systems. Advocate for policy issues that  address racism as a public health issue. Support federal funding to expand broadband/internet access through infrastructure investment and affordability supports for low-income households.

STRATEGY: Improve access to and quality of prenatal and postpartum care to women of color, with particular emphasis on Black women.

Image Policy and Advocacy Approaches: Advocate to make data on mortality from childbirth and pregnancy complications publicly available. Advocate for implicit bias training for those in obstetrics and gynecology. Support advocacy efforts that extend Medicaid postpartum maternity coverage past 60 days. Provide doula services. Support paid family leave efforts. Increase access to Maternal, Infant and Early Education Home Visiting (MIECHV) programs.

STRATEGY: Decrease infant mortality rates in BIPOC communities by supporting prenatal care and access to social needs for mothers and raising awareness of healthy infant development.

Image Policy and Advocacy Approaches: Advocate for expanded access to paid family medical leave. Support state and local tobacco control legislation. Increase access to affordable pediatric care, especially for children 0-5 years.

STRATEGY: Promote public and/or private health insurance enrollment among BIPOC.

Image Policy and Advocacy Approaches: Advocate for Medicaid expansion and/or implementation. While advocating for modernization, audit Medicaid enrollment and retention processes to assess accessibility.