During the Inauguration, President Joe Biden talked about the need to end systemic racism.
Last week, Pennsylvania’s Department of Human Services took a step toward this goal by releasing its Racial Equity Report.
The agency runs programs to help more than three million people a year including the state's most vulnerable families. The sweeping report on racial equity examines inherent racism in state aid programs and states how DHS plans to promote diversity in its own ranks.
“Since the summer, I and others on the DHS leadership team have spent time looking inward to improve our understanding of systemic racism and inequality,” says Teresa Miller, PA Secretary of Human Services, “Because we serve an incredibly large portion of Pennsylvania’s population, we must be cognizant of history and able to address inequity through our work.”
Miller says the agency is following the new president’s lead.
“We established a racial inequality steering committee composed of employees across our agency to identify and advise on opportunities to address and dismantle systemic racism,” she says.
The report outlines steps the agency intends to take in the coming year.
It is available online at dhs.pa.gov.
