ACF Equity in Action Initiative

Dear Grantees and Partners,

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) has a clear goal to build a more just and equitable nation with systems that treat everyone with fairness.  Fairness requires that we meet our communities where they are and not where we want them to be.  We must level the playing field and we know that we cannot do this critical work without you.   

As President Biden wrote in his Executive Order on Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government , “equal opportunity is the bedrock of American democracy and our diversity is one of our country’s greatest strengths.  But for too many, the American Dream remains out of reach.  Entrenched disparities in our laws and public policies, public and private institutions, have often denied that equal opportunity to individuals and communities.  Our nation faces converging economic, health and climate crises that have exposed and exacerbated existing inequities, while a historic movement for justice 
has highlighted the unbearable human costs of systemic racism...the federal government’s goal in advancing equity is to provide everyone with the opportunity to reach their full potential.”  

In May, ACF released a Taking Action on Equity letter and now we are moving forward with our #EquityinAction initiative.  Through this initiative we are pursuing a robust approach to advance equity across our programs and processes.  We want to identify, assess, and implement alternatives to our current processes to rectify inequitable burdens and level the playing field. Some of these inequities may manifest as limited English proficiency, lack of internet connectivity and profession-specific language use, to name a few.

Join us in our mission to foster health and well-being by providing federal leadership, partnership and the resources to effectively deliver compassionate human services. We ask that you help us engage parents, youth, and families by sharing ACF’s position statement both  within your organization and with your partners and ask how processes can be improved to be more equitable for the communities serve.  Please let us know how we can be a part of the solution.

Take Action:  If you, or those you work with, know of process improvements, ACF is gathering that feedback via email.  Please send your feedback directly to RaceEquity@acf.hhs.gov.