Equity Review Checklist

Content

Use this checklist when you are creating or revising a policy, program, practice, communication, or decision. It is a quick equity scan, a way to catch problems before they reach the people we serve. For significant decisions, use the full Equity Analysis Toolkit; this checklist is the everyday version. Who is affected. • Have I named who this affects, including communities that are often underserved? • Have I looked at impacts by race, disability, language, age, and geography, not just on average? • Have I involved the people most affected, or at least sought their perspective? Access and fairness. • Can people with disabilities use this fully, including the appeal or exception path? • Is it available and understandable in the languages people use? • Is it written in plain language at about an eighth-grade level? • Does any requirement screen people out for reasons unrelated to the goal? Burdens and benefits. • Who benefits from this, and who carries the burden or cost? • Could this widen an existing gap, even unintentionally? • What is the worst-case impact on the most vulnerable person it touches? Follow-through. • How will we know if this is working or causing harm? • Who owns fixing it if a problem shows up? • Is there a clear, fair way for someone to raise a concern? If any answer gives you pause, slow down and address it before moving ahead. A few minutes here prevents a real harm later. When in doubt, ask the consultant.

Ask: Have I named who this affects, including communities that are often underserved?

Ask: Have I looked at impacts by race, disability, language, age, and geography, not just on average?

Ask: Have I involved the people most affected, or at least sought their perspective?

Ask: Is it available and understandable in the languages people use?

Ask: Is it written in plain language at about an eighth-grade level?

Ask: Does any requirement screen people out for reasons unrelated to the goal?

Ask: Who benefits from this, and who carries the burden or cost?

For all staff, use Equity Review Checklist to define the decision, compare evidence and impacts, document limits, and name the owner; use the guidance in the immediate task, check impact and access, and ask for help when authority is unclear. Start by ask: Have I named who this affects, including communities that are often underserved?

Do not replace official legal, policy, clinical, supervisory, program, or Tribal authority.

Do not infer an individual's identity, preferences, needs, or experience from group-level information.

State uncertainty, use current authoritative sources, and escalate when the decision exceeds the user's role.

Use this checklist when you are creating or revising a policy, program, practice, communication, or decision. It is a quick equity scan, a way to catch problems before they reach the people we serve. For significant decisions, use the full Equity Analysis Toolkit; this checklist is the everyday version. Step 1. Ask: Have I named who this affects, including communities that are often underserved? Step 2. Ask: Have I looked at impacts by race, disability, language, age, and geography, not just on average? Step 3. Ask: Have I involved the people most affected, or at least sought their perspective? Step 4. Ask: Is it available and understandable in the languages people use? Step 5. Ask: Is it written in plain language at about an eighth-grade level? Step 6. Ask: Does any requirement screen people out for reasons unrelated to the goal? Step 7. Ask: Who benefits from this, and who carries the burden or cost?