Race Equity Strategies

The OES Race Equity Unit promotes equity and the reduction of disparities based on race and ethnicity among our staff and the populations we serve. Created in 2019, the Race Equity Unit has been leading the agency's efforts to reduce racial disproportionality, become an anti-racist organization and address other inequities facing the staff, children, youth, and families we serve.

The office was founded thanks to the advocacy of the Race Equity Cultural Competence Committee.

Key Projects
Key Data Resources
Equity Initiatives in New York City

Some key projects of the Race Equity Unit include the following:

Local Law 174 ACS Race Equity Action Plan - Local Law 174 requires ACS, DOHMH and DSS to complete "equity assessments" to identify policies and practices that may be implemented to address disparate outcomes on the basis of gender, race, income and sexual orientation, and to create "equity action plans" to address disparate outcomes identified by the agencies. ACS's equity action plan focuses exclusively on addressing racial the following racial disparities: Rates of Abuse and Neglect investigations based on race/ethnicity.

Rates of court ordered supervision and foster care based on race/ethnicity
Length of stay in foster care based on race/ethnicity
Prevention case openings based on race/ethnicity
Rates of detention admissions and Close to Home admissions based on race/ethnicity

ACS will submit its final Local Law 174 report the summer of 2023.

Local Law 132 - Law 132 of 2021 requires ACS to report on demographic information and develop a plan to address disparities. The demographic information refers to race/ethnicity, gender, community district, primary language, and other categories that ACS deems relevant.

Executive Order 45 - This executive order directs agencies to identify disparities in their work based on race/ethnicity, gender identity, gender expression, income, and other factors. The Mayor's Office for Economic Opportunity helped conceive and champion this executive order and is leading its implementation by providing the guidance and accountability structure for agencies. The executive order also requires certain city agencies to report on five Citywide Equity Metrics (CEM). The metrics are to be disaggregated to identify potential disparities and will be reported annually in the Social Indicator and Equity Report (SIER).
The following are the five citywide equity metrics:

Residents Served - to identify whom City programs are reaching
Services Locations - including the available demographic characteristics of the areas served by the location points of service delivery
Diversity in Employment and hiring by the agency
Contract Utilization by domain and agency, including Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprises (M/WBE) distribution
Key Internal Agency Practices - which is a description of key internal agency practices designed to ensure equitable service delivery, including any specialized positions, committees, or programs.