WKU News

The Office of Head Start is using the term “Equity” quite a bit these days and it may be leaving some of you wondering just how are they defining things.

The playbook that seems to be informing OHS’ thinking may be found here -- Start with Equity: 14 Priorities to Dismantle Systemic Racism in Early Care and Education.

The focus of this study is the priorities needed to dismantle systemic racism in early care and education. The thought is that these priorities need to be worked into each program’s approach to providing services. Many of you have likely received from NAEYC a similar document. Both of these documents are likely to impact organizational design for quite some time.

Another good resource on Equity is the library assembled by the good people at Community Commons. Here is a search result for "equity" from Community Commons.

At this site, readers will find a plethora of information such as addressing socioeconomic root causes where poor mental health is consistently associated with socioeconomic disadvantage, such as poverty, income inequality, unemployment, and low level of education, income and socioeconomic status. Policy approaches that alleviate poverty, reduce income inequality, boost incomes, expand employment, and close achievement gaps have the potential to support mental well-being and thriving. The included policies offer a starting point for multi-solving for mental health with upstream action on socioeconomic root causes to a Racial Equity Data Hub where inequalities, biases, violence, and disenfranchisement have been accessed and documented as both data and shaded maps.

Looking at things from an even wider perspective is the Time Magazine Issue: The Story Behind TIME’s First-Ever Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC)-Led Issue.

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