Equity questions in the plan you already write

Where the questions have to live

Most equity questions fail for the same unremarkable reason: they are asked in a document nobody has to open, at a point in the calendar when nothing can be changed, by a person with no standing in the decision. Fixing that is less about writing better questions than about placing ordinary ones properly.

Placement has three parts. The question attaches to a section of a document that is already required — the line-item sheet, the sourcing plan, the announcement draft — so that answering it is part of finishing the work rather than an addition to it. A named person answers it, preferably the person who already owns that section, so that the answer arrives with the authority to change the number. And the answer is written in the same place as the rest of the plan, so that the next person who opens the worksheet reads it whether they were looking for it or not.

One more thing separates a question that works from one that does not: it has to be answerable with information someone in the room either has or can get before the decision. Asking whether a plan supports the division's commitments produces a yes. Asking which of these four lines reaches people the service is currently reaching least well, who knows that, and by what date produces either an answer or an admission that nobody knows — and the admission is itself useful, early, and cheap.

A short equity-impact page for a project budget or procurement plan

Six fields that attach to a budget worksheet, sourcing plan or grant announcement your unit already produces. Filled example shown; copy the field labels and answer them for your own item.

Decision and what it moves Contract for community engagement on an upcoming service change. Moves a one-time amount, about four months of one staff member's time, and the sequence of the engagement relative to the decision point.

Who gains reach and who carries the cost Gains: households already connected to a provider, who will hear through existing channels. Carries the cost: households with no provider relationship, who speak a language the notice is not written in, and the community organizations who will be asked to explain the change whether or not we pay them.

What we are choosing not to fund Regional awards, in favor of one statewide award; a plain-language rewrite of the notice; a second round of engagement after the decision. Recorded here so the pattern is visible across items rather than only inside this one.

Access and language written into the line Interpreting and translated notices budgeted as named lines, not contingency. Accessible formats and a screen-reader check of the solicitation and submission form included in the sourcing plan. Payment for community advisors budgeted at a stated rate.

Whose expertise shaped this and what we paid for it Two disability-led organizations and one culturally specific organization reviewed the draft scope before the amount was set, compensated at the stated rate. Their two changes to the award structure are noted in the sourcing plan.

Owner, date and the check Each field answered by the section owner in the planning meeting and recorded in the same worksheet. Reviewed at the agreed point with one question: did any answer here change a number, a term or a date? If not, the questions are rewritten or dropped.

Copy the six field labels into the budget worksheet, sourcing plan or announcement template your unit already uses, answer them for the next item you plan, and set the date for the check.

Browse and download only. Staff notes are not typed or saved on this page.

Answerable, and not

Not answerable: Have equity considerations been taken into account? Answerable: Which of these lines reaches people the service currently reaches least well, and who knows that?
Not answerable: Is this procurement inclusive? Answerable: Which organizations could respond to these terms as drafted, and which term would stop the three we most want to hear from?
Not answerable: Are we being accessible? Answerable: Which line pays for interpreting, translated notices and accessible formats, and who checked that the submission route can be used with a screen reader?
Not answerable: Did we engage the community? Answerable: Who reviewed this before the amount was set, what were they paid, and what changed because of them?
Not answerable: Will this reduce disparities? Answerable: What would we expect to look different in a year if this works, and which figure would show it?

Write down what you are not funding

What you can change

You control whether the plan records only what was approved, or also the short list of what was requested, considered and declined this cycle.

What to watch for

Do not let the declined list live only in people's memory. Nothing that is never written down can be looked at across items, and a pattern that cannot be looked at cannot be changed.

Your next step

Add three lines to the next plan: what we chose not to fund, why, and what would have to be true next cycle for that to change.

Try a situation

Your unit's project budget template is set by a shared planning cycle, and the cycle is tight. There is no appetite for a new step, no one is going to open a second document, and you have roughly twenty minutes inside a planning meeting that already exists.

How do you add equity questions so that they survive the cycle?

Draft a separate equity impact form to be completed and attached to every project budget.

Attach one question to each section of the template that already exists, name the person who answers it in that meeting, record the answer in the same worksheet, and set one date to check whether an answer ever changed a number.

Raise the questions out loud at the review meeting when the budget is presented for approval.

Carry this forward

Put the questions in the document that already exists. A separate equity attachment becomes a separate, optional process, and optional processes lose to deadlines.
Two questions asked at drafting beat twelve asked at signature. After a solicitation is posted or a price is accepted, most answers cost money to act on.
Write down what you are choosing not to fund. A budget is as much a record of what was declined as of what was approved, and the declined list is where the pattern usually shows.
An answerable question names a line, a person and a date. A question that only invites a paragraph will get one, and nothing else will change.

A scenario about adding questions to a fixed planning cycle with no spare meeting time, a one-page equity-impact tool you can copy, and a private reflection.

Copy the page into the budget or procurement template your unit already uses, fill it in for the next item you plan, and set a date to check whether any answer changed a number or only lengthened the document.

What you’ll be able to do

Where the questions have to live

A short equity-impact page for a project budget or procurement plan

Answerable, and not

Write down what you are not funding

What you can change

What to watch for

Your next step

Related modules in this area

Try a situation

Carry this forward

Your next step

Equity questions in the plan you already write

What you’ll be able to do

Where the questions have to live

A short equity-impact page for a project budget or procurement plan

Answerable, and not

Write down what you are not funding

What you can change

What to watch for

Your next step

Related modules in this area

Try a situation

Carry this forward

Your next step