How to advance racial equity in human services agencies
DownloadRacial equity and inclusion are essential for the well-being and prosperity of all communities, especially those served by human services agencies. For example, Black and Indigenous children and families are more likely to experience family separation, health disparities, and economic insecurity than their white counterparts. To address these inequities, human services agencies need to embed racial equity and inclusion into all aspects of their work—from individual practice to organizational structures and systems to external service delivery. This requires a clear and adaptable framework that supports transformative and sustainable change.
ICF’s Racial Equity and Lived Expertise Systems Change Model does just that.
A new framework to advance racial equity and inclusion
Informed by research, literature, and practice experience—as well as ICF’s internal efforts to advance racial equity and inclusion—the Racial Equity and Lived Expertise Systems Change Model is designed to help human services agencies advance racial equity in their work.
The model has five core components:
1. Prepare to integrate racial equity and lived expertise into systems and practices. 
2. Assess/explore gaps and needs.
3. Adapt/develop new and/or existing practices and programs to integrate racial equity and inclusion. 
4. Implement/scale adaptations. 
5. Monitor/evaluate to understand what is working and what needs to be further refined.
Throughout each component, the model emphasizes the integration and leadership of people with lived expertise, especially Black, Indigenous, and other people of color who have direct experience with human services systems. The model also focuses on building individual and organizational capacity to support a healthy and motivated culture that embraces and sustains racial equity and inclusion.
Key benefits of the Racial Equity and Lived Expertise Systems Change Model
While multiple frameworks and models are available for organizations pursuing racial equity, those available for use in human services settings have limitations that may create challenges for agencies seeking to fully embed racial equity and inclusion throughout their organizations and systems.
Unlike other models that may tokenize or exclude people with lived expertise, the Racial Equity and Lived Expertise Systems Change Model helps agencies build capacity to meaningfully engage them as partners and decision-makers in all aspects of change efforts.
It also helps agencies leverage and adapt existing efforts to embed racial equity and inclusion more intentionally. It uses a clear, systematic, stepwise approach with tools, resources, and technical assistance to support uptake—and even includes a process for developing and measuring indicators of behavior change within a continuous quality improvement approach.
The model is adaptable to meet the needs and context of individual agencies, communities, and teams, and can scale to embed racial equity and inclusion throughout all aspects of an organization’s work.
Download our paper for a complete walk-through of the Racial Equity and Lived Expertise Systems Change Model. By using it, you can improve outcomes for the children, families, and communities you serve—especially those who experience the most disparate outcomes.
