Our Purpose
The purpose of Office of Racial Equity & Social Justice (ORESJ) is to provide the vision, expertise, and framework necessary to make progress on DCYF’s commitment to advance racial equity and eliminate disproportionality. ORESJ offers expertise, tools, and resources in developing and achieving agency, division, and program level racial equity goals.
Our Approach
Lead with Race
We lead with race explicitly, not exclusively, because it is important to account for how race intersects with different forms of oppression and how racial equity and social justice affect all of us and our ability to thrive.
Normalize Racial Equity
We promote a shared understanding of key concepts on what racial equity means. Understanding key concepts as well as historical context of racism allows us to talk about race in a meaningful way that could transform culture and practices.
Organize Shared Relationships
We support building infrastructure and collaborations for achieving racial equity. By cultivating shared relationships across the breadth (all functions) and depth (up and down hierarchy) of our agency, we can change the norms, practices, and culture within our agency and the outcomes produced by our agency.
Operationalize Shared Responsibility
We support system transformation with equity-centered tools for decision-making, policy development, workforce development, contracts and procurements, community engagement, performance measures and accountability. We believe shared responsibility and shared relationships are keys to sustaining an inclusive environment for our staff and those we serve.
ORESJ Focus Areas
- DCYF Inclusive Racial Equity Change Team (DIRECT 2.0)
- LGBTQIA+ Workgroup
- Racial Equity Tools and Resources
- Coaching and Consultation