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Equity. Quality. Collaboration.

About

Alliance Racism & Discrimination Response Protocol

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Alliance Racism & Discrimination Response Protocol

The work of Minnesota Alliance With Youth (“the Alliance”) is shaped and driven by the three organizational values of equity, quality and collaboration.  The Alliance leads with the value of equity by challenging the status quo and resisting and confronting everyday racism.  Alliance staff serve as advocates for AmeriCorps members and Minnesota Youth Council (MYC) members as they encounter inequities, racism, or discrimination in any aspect of their service and tenure with the Alliance. The Alliance is dedicated to addressing educational inequities, disrupting systems of oppression, and furthering equity work. We partner with sites in this work and will support students, members, and sites in exemplifying these values.

Inequities impacting Alliance AmeriCorps members and MYC youth could include:

  • Experiencing microaggressions or racist comments 
  • Witnessing discrimination that causes harm 
  • Seeing youth be pushed out of schools or unjustly denied services
  • Serving in an unsafe or hostile environment (for example, being targeted based on race, color, sexuality, gender, creed, religion, age, disability, marital status, national origin, status with regard to public assistance or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law)

Pathway to Support

  • AmeriCorps members are encouraged first to seek guidance from their direct site supervisor and/or Alliance Trainer but can reach out to ANY Alliance staff, Alliance Promise Fellow Leader or Alliance VISTA Leader at any time.  If a member feels that an Alliance staff member is causing harm, they can reach out to National Service Director Lauren Van Schepen lvanschepen@mnyouth.net or Lead Practice Officer Kita Yang, kyang@mnyouth.net
  • MYC members are encouraged to seek guidance from their Adult Partner and/or MYC staff or any staff at the Alliance. If an MYC member feels that an Alliance staff member or Adult Partner is causing harm, they can reach out to Director of Youth Partnerships, Brandon Brooks, bbrooks@mnyouth.net or Lead Practice Officer Kita Yang, kyang@mnyouth.net
  • MYC members, AmeriCorps members, site supervisors or adult partners may submit a concern/complaint via the electronic Disclosure Form or via email to Lead Practice Officer Kita Yang, kyang@mnyouth.net
  • Site supervisors and/or MYC Adult Partners witnessing an AmeriCorps member or MYC member causing harm should reach out to the Alliance staff member supporting that program or Lead Practice Officer Kita Yang, kyang@mnyouth.net
  • The Alliance will honor confidentiality in each situation as much as possible. 
  • If an AmeriCorps member or MYC member does not feel comfortable reaching out to any Alliance staff member, they may contact either of the Board of Directors Chairs, Jody Warden (jodywarden@hotmail.com) or Tiaryn Daniels (tiaryndaniels7@gmail.com).

Alliance Response 

Once the Alliance is made aware of an issue, we commit to responding (within 48 hours or 2 business days) in a restorative way, and ultimately to protect the interests of the young people involved through the following process: 

  • Determining the necessary stakeholders involved in the incident through the following key questions:
    1. What is the harm experienced, and by whom? Is there an immediate threat to their personal safety? 
    2. What are the Alliance or host site policies related to situation?
    3. Has there been a violation of the AmeriCorps member agreement, host site agreement, Alliance MOU, or MYC policy handbook?
    4. Has there been a violation of student rights?
  • Listening and seeking to understand the issue from multiple perspectives
  • Reviewing the incident and process to determine if an investigation is necessary
  • Determining a plan to provide support OR if reasonable efforts are not being made to address the situation, taking steps to dissolve the relationship. (For example, potentially removing the AmeriCorps member from their site, removing the MYC member and/or terminating our partnership with the host site or Adult Partner.)
  • Communicating our proposed course of action to the necessary stakeholders and providing any additional follow through or support.

Download a PDF of the Alliance’s Racism & Discrimination Response Protocol.