Barre City Equity Impact Assessment Tool

Equity is the condition that would be achieved when a person’s race or other demographic group membership is no longer predictive of that person’s life outcome.

Historically, policy has been made based on the needs and preferences of people in the dominant group, which has created disparate impacts for various demographic groups (e.g. Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, Low-Income Individuals and Families, People with Disabilities).

Some well-meaning policies are intended to be neutral, but end up having disparate negative impacts for groups who are not considered while drafting the policies and discussing impacts.

We recognize that failing to take into account all of our community members in our town policies and initiatives makes us vulnerable to poverty, homelessness, unemployment, abuse, and discrimination.

One crucial defense against disparate impacts of policies and programs is to conduct Equity Impact Assessments (EIAs) prior to budgetary or programmatic decisions.

The Equity Assessment Tool that the Diversity & Equity Committee is supporting was developed by the State of Vermont in 2020 and adapted for use by Barre City.

This tool was developed in part by the Racial Equity Advisory Panel with review by the Vermont Equity Task Force, led by Xusana Davis, who is the State of Vermont Executive Director of Racial Equity.

This tool was created as part of the Panel's charge in the Governor's Executive Order to remediate systemic racial disparities in statewide systems of government.

• Provide a systematic examination of how different groups will likely be affected by a proposed action or a decision.
• Minimize unanticipated adverse consequences in proposed policies, plans, and budgetary decisions.
• Reduce the risk of discrimination complaints.
• Maximize investments and staffing by anticipating needs, benefits, and harms.

• The assessment is best conducted during the decision-making process, prior to enacting new proposals.
• It is used to inform decisions, much like environmental impact statements, fiscal impact reports, and workplace risk assessments.
• Assistance in using the form is provided by the Barre City Diversity and Equity Committee.

SHORT Form

• Minimum required questions for first-pass review of proposals
• Quicker to complete

LONG Form

• Preferred version (provides more thorough analysis)
• For further review of promising proposals

The  Equity Assessment Tool form  can be downloaded and completed by the authors of the proposed policy, plan, or budget (e.g. city staff and council).

The completed form is submitted with the proposal and any supporting documentation to the Barre City Diversity and Equity Committee or other relevant committees for feedback and recommendations.

City staff or council may also contact the current State of Vermont Racial Equity Director or Policy and Legislative Affairs Director for additional guidance.

A fillable form has been created for city staff and council to use when reviewing a proposal prior to its adoption. In order to use the "fillable" function of the the tool, it must be downloaded and opened in a PDF viewer application.

The tool can be used for anything and we recommend you use it on multiple initiatives and policies to get the hang of it.

The Diversity & Equity Committee supports City departments and appointed committees and boards to build and ensure equity and inclusivity in city policy by using this tool. A brief evaluation of its use will indicate its effectiveness. We have used this tool with city staff on at least three initiatives.

The tool is designed to encourage creative thinking. More questions may arise than answers when first using the tool, but if some questions go unanswered, the tool can still be useful.

Implicit bias, when we have attitudes towards people or associate stereotypes with them without our conscious knowledge, and a tendency towards leaning on tradition, may inhibit honest assessments which diminishes the tool's ability to bring about equity. Others, such as the Diversity and Equity Committee, can assist in these circumstances to provide an equity perspective.

The Diversity and Equity Committee is in the process of organizing demographic data that can be utilized to answer assessment questions. They are also working on developing a more user friendly format for the form.

In order to make this tool useful and successful, we need your feedback and recommendations. Please work with the your Diversity and Equity Committee to improve the tool and its efficacy.