1. What is parity?
Parity refers to a condition in which the percent distribution of program participants by race and gender (as measured by contacts) is proportionate to, or within reasonable limits of their respective percent distribution in the potential recipient audience/population (as established from census data or "best" estimates" from other sources). Florida's "reasonable limit" is plus or minus 4%, as indicated in the Planning and Reporting Guide. (The Federal view on "reasonable limits" is within 80% of the minority potential. This is a difference, but for clarity, we will stay consistent since we do not have a problem with low minority percentages in the potential population.)
Under our present system of parity, if the potential audience is 80% White and 20% Black, perfect parity would be 80% of the contacts being White and 20% being Black. If 85% of the contacts were White and 15% Black, the particular program would be out of parity with respect to Blacks. Likewise, if 65% of the contacts were White and 25% were Black, the program is out of parity with respect to Whites. We haven’t emphasized this aspect very much, unless it is way out of kilter, because the central issue is to be sure we are reaching minority audiences within at least parity. In the case of having "above parity" in Black contacts, at least we are making good efforts in reaching the Black audience.
2. What is the difference between potential audience and targeted clientele (audience)?
Potential audience (clientele) is a broad term that's been around Extension since the original days of Affirmative Action, as a means of grouping people by a particular category (typically the Extension program areas). Usually there is census data that we can draw on. For example:
- Commercial agriculture -- the number of owners and/or operators (by race and gender) of commercial agriculture enterprises (commodities) in the county (usually by enterprise, since we often program that way). Data traditionally comes from the Census of Agriculture, but the farm laborers often drop through the cracks, and the Federal Officials using are concerned about this;
- Community Resource Development -- leaders and citizens (government officials, members of organizations, etc.) who may need assistance on issues and programs of community and public concern;
- Energy -- potential recipients might include hospitality business owners, building construction and real estate personnel, condos managers and association members, etc.;
- 4-H Youth -- youth population of 4-H age in the county;
- Family and Consumer Sciences -- total number of citizens in the county;
- Homeowner Horticulture -- total number of people who own homes, or more inclusive, the county population for each racial ethnic group;
- Natural Resources -- public officials, general public concerned about natural resources;
- Sea Grant -- persons who live, work, or participate in coastal activities that relate to coastal, marine, estuaries and wetland resources.
We throw around these terms a lot, but "targeted clientele" is seemingly used to refer to more definitive subsets of the broader potential audiences above (such as youth-at-risk, small dairy operators, oyster farmers, owners of $50,000 homes or below, single mothers, the "elderly" etc. But, the total potential audience could also be called "targeted clientele". Therefore to some extent, it is a play on words.
So, its largely whom we are programming for. We may program for the total audience within the program area, and if so, perhaps potential audience is the most useful term. Or we may program for a more specific subset, call that a "targeted audience", and report against the racial and female composition of that group as best we can determine it. Of course in narrowing our group, we want to be sure that we are not systematically or purposefully excluding minorities or females, as we have a responsibility as an organization to reach those groups. In most of our "targeted audience" situations the audience is very likely to include minorities in a proportion equal to or above that of the broader program area or the population of the county.
The Federal Officials primarily look at the racial and gender composition of the total contacts by Extension in the county in terms of the racial and gender composition of the county, and the contacts of each agent in terms of the racial and gender composition of the county. They usually don't get as specific as we do in our reporting, unless things don't measure up, and then they begin to look more specifically at where the problem(s) might be. In most cases, rightly or wrongly, they will compare the contact data for each program with the racial and gender composition of the county (perhaps they don't trust us to come up with potential data from other than census sources).
3. I have participation registration sheets in my office. What should I do with them?)
Affirmative Action files should be kept in the respective county offices, with sign in registration / participation sheets coded by race and gender. Individual faculty should keep all registration or participation sheets for every program in either their own Affirmative Action files, or in the central office files. It is recommended that these be kept for at least five years in order to analyze trends in program participation.
4. How do I handle compliance letters from home school clubs?
Home school club compliance letters should be signed by the club leader(s) and kept in the respective county Affirmative Action files. They, just as any other 4-H club, should state that the club is open to all youth regardless of race, creed, color, national origin, gender, disability, etc. The key thing here is that the home school or any other club does not discriminate against potential members on the basis of race or gender. If a faculty member works with the county Home School Association, you will want to have them also sign a letter of compliance.
5. Who really needs to sign compliance letters? Give us some examples.
The guideline on compliance letters is: for 4-H clubs, the organizational leader(s); for HCE clubs, the club president: for organizations or groups worked with the president or head of the organization or group (president of cattlemen's group, president of farm bureau, president of garden club, president of condo association, etc. New letters must be obtained every 5 years, or whenever the leader or head officer changes.
6. Is it better to design a county major program around a specific audience, in order to better target the audience, than to create a broad county major program which includes more of the population, but has a greater risk of not meeting parity?
This is a philosophical issue in terms of programming. It may be better to target specific audiences and thereby potentially have a more manageable and focused program and potentially greater impact from the effort. However, there are a lot of other considerations: political, the total number of people an agent is expected to work with, etc. As indicated previously, the Federal Officials are going to check us primarily against the county population composition, so we need to encompass minorities (and females) in our target groups (which will probably happen naturally). Of course, our concern with parity is not with the total number reached (or contacts), but with relative percentages of minorities and females within the number that we do reach. We could reach only a few people and still be in parity, although we perhaps did not have much impact in terms of a potential audience of many, for example.
7. Why do 4-H and HCE need to do All Reasonable Efforts and other program areas don’t?
4-H and HCE clubs have historically been the greatest perpetrators of racial discrimination in Extension. Therefore, the all reasonable effort requirement helps assure that this does not happen.
8. Club boundaries are really difficult to draw. What quick suggestions do you have that make sense?
Club boundaries are difficult to draw, and there is no quick fix on this. It is suggested that the Expansion and Review Committee be involved, as this is one of their roles. Common boundaries are roads, streams, housing projects or subdivisions, political subdivisions, or traditional community patterns. Or if nothing else works, a designated radius around the club within which at least 80% of the club members reside. However it is done, the key thing is to avoid any suspicion of gerrymandering lines according to racial areas. The next challenge is coming up with the racial composition of the area designated. That's why political subdivisions are easier to use -- there usually are specific population data available for them. Otherwise, estimates have to be made -- with the help of the Expansion and Review Committee.
9. What should I do about a 4-H club or HCE club in an interracial community (even one minority), when they are not part of the targeted or potential audience (too old, too young, etc.)? It seems we are comparing apples and oranges?
Report the racial make-up of the community on the club compliance report, indicate that the club is all of one race, and make a notation (*) that there are no minorities in the community that fit into the club membership category, etc., and indicate that the club is in compliance and all reasonable effort is NA. Remember that if there is one minority that does fit into the club membership category, the club is not in compliance and All Reasonable Efforts must be exerted.
10. What specifically should an Expansion and Review Committee do?
4-H Expansion and Review Committee is to assist in delineation of geographic areas (4-H program service areas and/or community boundaries), determine needed 4-H clubs or other 4-H units within such areas, help determine the racial composition of those areas if more definitive data are not available, and assist in procedures to secure volunteer adult and youth leadership.
11. Is the coding only for media, membership lists, or general mailings? What do we do if we can't find out?
The media mailing list would simply list the media outlets (radio, newspaper, TV) that serve the county. Any media that focus on minority audiences we would want to have on the list. These outlets should all routinely receive notices of program offerings including the nondiscrimination statement in the body of the notice. Clientele mailing lists should be coded by race and gender (indicate minorities and females by an appropriate symbol by the individual's name.) Membership lists should be done likewise. We can only code the minorities that we can identify as such, or others can identify for us. We simply do the best we can.