Erie Racial Justice Policy Initiative

Background

The Erie Racial Justice Policy Initiative is a Better Together Council-sponsored policy action project facilitated by the Jefferson Education Society that engages with multiple stakeholders in the City of Erie to identify and implement local public policy reforms that address the most pressing racial justice opportunities within the City of Erie. The belief is that by working together, we can achieve policy wins.

What is racial justice? Racial justice is the systematic fair treatment of people of all races that results in equitable opportunities and outcomes for everyone. All people are able to achieve their full potential in life, regardless of race, ethnicity or the community in which they live.

What is racial justice policy work? The racial justice public policy work of this initiative is work that specifically proposes and implements public policy to address racial justice challenges that can be solved at the local level.

Although racial justice work can occur at a variety of levels of action, we are focused on policy changes that can be made within the City of Erie.

Cities across the country are in various stages of addressing racial justice and the approaches to policy changes are diverse.

Some cities have developed policy alongside community groups to eliminate fees, waive debt, and change some operating procedures that put disproportionate financial pressure on poor and low-income families and on communities of color. Some examples are waiving traffic fines en lieu of community service, suspending accrued library fines, eliminating the charges for calls to family when being detained in a county jail, and ensuring that individuals do not lose their driver’s licenses because of the inability to pay traffic fines.

Other cities have undertaken assessments of opportunities for advancing racial equity that have resulted in city government-specific equitable workforce recruitment, procurement, and service delivery goals and policies.

Overall, cities across the country are demonstrating that it is possible to have significant impact on racial justice through concerted public policy action at the local level.

Questionnaire for Potential Partners

We are in the process of identifying what local racial justice public policy work is already underway in the City of Erie and are seeking partners for this initiative. The Erie Racial Justice Policy Initiative is in a position to provide modest funding for 12 partners over the next year. We invite you to take this short survey so that we can better understand what efforts your organization is already involved in and so that we can contact your group to participate in the Racial Justice Initiative. If your organization or group is not selected to participate in this initial round, we will keep everyone updated on other opportunities to be involved. To be considered, please reply by April 30, 2021. Thank you!

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* 1. What is the name of your group or organization?

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* 2. Is racial justice important to the work that your group or organization does?

Yes, racial justice is essential to our work because we focus on issues that are often linked to race.

Yes, racial justice is important to some of our work because some of the outcomes we want to achieve can't be achieved without making advances in racial justice

Yes, racial justice is becoming important to our work and we are thinking about how to engage on racial justice.

We have not identified racial justice and equity as important to our work.

None of the above

Other (please specify)

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* 3. Often, racial justice work intersects with other policy work. What are the key areas of focus for your group or organization? (for example, education, environmental justice, etc) (Check all that apply)

Education and lifelong learning

Public planning, policy, and policy making

Housing and homelessness

Equitable development

Food access and security

Employment and dignity wages

The criminal legal system and restorative justice

Policing

Health, trauma, and healing

Environmental policy and stewardship

Disabilities and accessibility

Civic engagement, including voting and voters rights

Racial justice

Other (please specify)

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* 4. What are the goals of your group or organization? (Check all that apply)

Improving health and well-being

Improving housing opportunities and promoting tenant rights

Improving employment opportunities and ensuring dignity wages

Improving educational opportunities and fair funding

Ensuring that the criminal justice system is unbiased and equitable

Ensuring equitable development

Ensuring that the City of Erie's policing is unbiased and equitable

Reducing childhood poverty rates

Disrupting the school-to-prison pipeline and reducing mass incarceration

Other (please specify)

None of the above

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* 5. What public policies are your group or organization working to advance in the City of Erie?

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* 6. What are the main ways your group or organization approaches policy reform in the City of Erie? (Check all that apply)

Social media campaigns

Engaging with traditional media platforms (print, radio, and television)

Community organizing, canvasing, and public demonstrations

Orchestrating "contact your elected officials" campaigns

Meeting with elected officials and attending public meetings

Registering citizens to vote and encouraging participation in elections

Other (please specify)

None of the above

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* 7. What has been the biggest obstacle to achieving policy change in the City of Erie for your group?

Insufficient funding

Technical skills of our organization (i.e. community organizing, social media optimization, volunteer organization, strategic planning etc.)

All volunteers with no paid staff

Insufficient collaboration in Erie

Challenges accessing or working with the City

Other (please specify)

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* 8. What is the progress your group or organization has made in achieving its public policy goals for Erie?

We have already been successful in getting our policy proposals implemented in the City of Erie.

We have been working with the City and feel confident that our proposals will be adopted.

We are working with stakeholders to advance our policy proposals in the City of Erie.

We are working with stakeholders to develop a strategy to advance our proposals.

We are working with stakeholders to develop proposals that will advance our policy goals in the City of Erie.

We are working to identify stakeholders to work with on advancing our goals.

Other (please specify)

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* 9. Do you collect data on the impact of your group or organization’s work?

Yes

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* 10. If yes, what data do you collect?

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* 11. Who is the contact person for your racial justice work?

Name

Company

Address

Address 2

City/Town

State/Province

ZIP/Postal Code

Country

Email Address

Phone Number

OPTIONAL QUESTIONS

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* 12. How would you identify your group or organization?

Non-profit with 501c3 status

Grassroots community group or collective without non-profit status

For-profit organization

None of the above

Other (please specify)

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* 13. Does your group or organization have paid staff?

Yes

Other (please specify)

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* 14. What is your group or organization's annual budget?

Under $15,000

Between $15,000 and $49,999

Between $50,000 and $150,000

Between $150,000 and $500,000

Over $500,000

Other (please specify)

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* 15. What are your current sources of funding? (Check all that apply)

Donations

Grants

Corporate sponsorships

None of the above

Other (please specify)

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* 16. How does your audience engage with your group or organization? (Check all that apply)

Phone

Newsletter

Website

Social Media

Other (please specify)

None of the above

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* 17. What are the demographics of your group or organization? (Check all that apply)

Men

Women

Other Gender

Native American

African American

Latino/a American

Asian American

Muslim American

New American

Caucasian American

Pacific Islander

Under age 20

Between the ages of 20 and 50

Over age 50

Differently Abled

None of the above

Other (please specify)

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* 18. Does your group or organization have a website or social media handle?

Yes

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* 19. We would appreciate it if you could please provide your web address or social media handle here.

Thank you!