By: Jackie Hardy, NDG Contributing Writer
In 2005 and 2007, Senate Bill 6 and Senate Bill 758 (SB) introduced Texas legislation that directed Child Protective Services to examine and address issues related to disproportionality and disparities targeting specific sites (including Dallas); then later expanded to the entire state.
In 2010, the Center of Elimination of Disproportionality and Disparities began with SB 501 passing a year later forming the Interagency Council (IC) led by Joyce James thus establishing the Center as the state of Texas Office of Minority Health.
Texas HHSC’s website defines disproportionality as ‘the overrepresentation of a particular race or cultural group in a program or system compared to their representation in the general population. Disparity is defined as the condition of being unequal and refers to the difference in outcomes and conditions that exist among specific groups as compared to other groups due to unequal treatment or services.’
Since its inception, the Center for Elimination of Disproportionality and Disparities has provided technical assistance and training which includes: webinars; conferences and symposiums; training coordination/facilitation; technical assistance and support for conversations on race and institutionalized racism; leadership development; and organizational assessment. These services are available to the state’s five Health and Human Services agencies and employees with support available to the juvenile justice, education, and health care agencies as well.
According to Stephanie Goodman, Communications Director of HHSC, one vital purpose for the creation of the Center for Elimination of Disproportionality and Disparities is to recognize that vulnerable populations interact with multiple Health and Human services programs and to identify opportunities for collaboration of various state and local agencies to reduce those barriers to equality; with the ultimate goal to eliminate disproportionality and disparities.
“Our goal is to bring awareness to the issue of disproportionality and disparities within systems and provide system leaders with the tools to identify policies and practices which create inequities within their systems,” commented Goodman in a written statement to North Dallas Gazette.
Texas has 11 Regional Centers for the Elimination of Disproportionality and Disparities with D/FW being Region 3. Region 3 Centers are located in: Dallas, Plano, and Fort Worth, which serves Collin, Dallas, Denton, and Tarrant counties.
Each Center also has a Disproportionality and Disparities Specialist. Maxine Jones-Robinson is one of the three Disproportionality and Disparities Specialists assigned to Region 3; where she currently serves Dallas County.
The Specialists responsibilities involve engaging the community and developing a Disproportionality and Disparities Advisory Committee to address disproportionality and disparities within HHCS systems in Texas.
“…The Disproportionality and Disparities Advisory Committees are made up of system leaders who seek to identify and address issues of disproportionality and disparities based on the data for the local communities,” adds Goodman.
The Disproportionality and Disparities Advisory Committee, according to HHSC, also share the responsibility and accountability with systems leaders by contributing to the goals and strategies that will improve the outcomes for the vulnerable populations.
Father Charles Hubbard, Pastor of Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Garland, serves on the Disproportionality and Disparities Advisory Committee for Dallas County. Hubbard’s passion is with the Criminal Justice system particularly as it relates to the inequality of treatment among adult black males. He expressed his concern over the difficulty many of them encounter in trying to find decent housing and/or jobs that pay above minimum wage once they have met the obligations of their time served.
“As Michelle Alexander says, ‘we have developing in our culture a vast underclass,’ and it will eventually hurt society in general and obviously hurt the men in the center of that kind of system,” adds Hubbard.
Organizing and facilitating town hall meetings are another important role of the Centers. The purpose for the town hall meetings is to bring awareness to the community about the issues of disproportionality and disparities; get feedback on issues impacting the community; and present an opportunity for community members to ask questions of various panelists and system leaders.
According to Goodman, the response to the town hall meetings has been great but they hope to see an increase with attendance in the effort to accomplish their goals for the meetings which are: providing community members with information on various systems affecting them; providing a forum that allows their voices to be heard; and getting community ideas on how health and human services can be improved.
“We would like to see these town hall meetings set up so that people will become aware of the reality of disproportionality; then they can talk about remedies and what can be done to change this,” comments Father Hubbard.
Past town hall meetings in Dallas have entailed panelists from various agencies and systems including juvenile justice, child welfare, education, housing, and health and mental health services. Agenda items discussed include communicating data by race and ethnicity based on some of the state’s programs.
Goodman expressed, “We plan to have two town hall meetings a year in Dallas County.
We encourage all to participate and ask questions as well as share their issues, concerns and ways to improve their community.”
The biggest challenge the Center for Elimination of Disproportionality and Disparities face has been capacity due to the large number of requests received for technical assistance and training; but per Goodman, the experience has been really good in terms of number of people who are willing to engage the Center in a new and courageous conversation that seeks to move systems to greater accountability for equity of all populations.
“Ultimately, we hope our efforts improve the quality of life for all Texans by encouraging equity in human service practices,” adds Goodman.
For information on how to sign up to get town hall meeting notices for Dallas County go to www.hhsc.state.tx.us; then click on “sign up for email update” box on the left margin or contact the Center for Elimination of Disproportionality and Disparities Dallas office at 972-283-6426.
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