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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012 - Human Relations Commission - Annual Report1 Human Relations Commission 2012 Annual Report As Community leaders and advisors to City Council, we research, deliberate and take proactive and responsive measures to promote the dignity of individuals and groups in Fort Collins. HRC Mission Statement Executive Committee: In an effort to strengthen teamwork, improve meeting efficiency, and integrate new members more easily and effectively into the Commission, the following were completed in 2012: Consistent meeting planning, organization and facilitation including education around Robert’s Rules. Teamwork training – 5 meetings had a separate agenda item and time dedicated to building teamwork and strengthening relationships among Commission members resulting in closer connections and improved performance on projects and collaboration both inside and outside the Commission. “After Action Reviews” (AAR) were conducted after each major event including the HRA Breakfast and Elder Abuse Forum to analyze what worked, what didn’t and how to build on these for the future. Initiation and implementation of a mentoring program for new members; new members were paired with experienced members to assist them with questions, answers, policies, etc. Educational Outreach Committee: Consistent with the HRC’s Work Plan for 2012 as revised by City Council, two HRC members met twice with their Council Liaison, Mayor Karen Weitkunat, to ensure compliance with Council’s directives. To that end, the HRC accomplished the following: o Conducted a special training meeting with the Youth Advisory Board (YAB) and discussed a Board self-assessment tool developed by HRC members 2 o Met with the Commission on Disability (COD) and suggested they consider coordinating annual award events of the COD, HRC, and Women’s Commission (WC ) on the same date starting in 2014 o Suggested the COD consider appointing a liaison from COD to periodically attend HRC meetings o Attended various collaborative meetings with the WC including a Boards and Commissions (B&C) breakfast meeting to share ideas with members from several boards and commissions o Attended the B&C meeting in October in which two HRC members assisted in facilitation of table discussions and one HRC member served on that meeting’s planning committee to assist and support WC’s efforts. Based on its work, the HRC suggests that City boards continue to collaborate proactively and identify those areas where working together would be beneficial to the community and maximize our resources to create economies of scale. HRC also observed that there are many City-related initiatives which are unique to the specific missions and directives of those individual boards including the COD, HRC, WC and YAB A letter from HRC Council Liaison, Mayor Karen Weitkunat, was distributed in April 2012 to clarify the original intention of the HRC’s Revised 2012 Work Plan. This letter emphasized collaboration and initiatives with other boards to increase resource efficiency rather than evaluate specific boards and commissions. Based on the HRC’s interactions with these boards, the HRC wanted to share its conclusion that it is not practically feasible at this time to consolidate most activities of HRC with COD, WC or YAB or consider elimination of any of these boards. HRC hosted “Make It Stop: Elder Abuse Forum” (hereafter referred to as the Forum) on October 22 nd at the Fort Collins Senior Center. Mayor Karen Weitkunat introduced this important program to raise community awareness about elderly abuse and neglect. o The Forum was co-sponsored by HRC, Colorado State University’s (CSU) Center for Public Deliberation (CPD) and six other boards, commissions and councils: Disability, Senior Advisory, Women’s, Youth Advisory, Larimer County Office on Aging, and Senior Center. o The HRC Chair moderated a distinguished panel composed of speakers from the following offices: Larimer County District Attorney, Fort Collins Police Department Crime Prevention, Adult Protection Services, PVHS Emergency Services, the AARP Foundation and AARP Elder Watch. A video of the panel’s informative and insightful comments as well as audience Q&A 3 participation can be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-if6p- CRcug&feature=plcp o Students from the CPD facilitated intergenerational roundtable discussions with a focus on improving elder abuse prevention, increasing monitoring, reporting and intervention, and discussing broader issues about culture change concerning the aging. o Over 135 people attended including one State Senator and two State Representatives who each expressed appreciation to HRC for this program. Each also advised HRC of their intent to address the reporting aspect of elder abuse in the Colorado State Legislature to the extent that there is available funding. o The CPD has prepared a draft Initial Report consolidating raw data provided by attendees. The CPD will issue a subsequent Final Report later in 2013 which will add detailed analysis of the key themes derived from the raw data in the Initial Report. Once these reports are finalized, they will be emailed to City Council, conference attendees who provided their email addresses. The report will also be sent to the following organizations which attended the Forum to provide the public with an opportunity to meet with over 30 community resources in one venue at one time and talk with these professionals about their services. o Community Resources participating at the Forum included the above seven co-sponsoring boards, AARP Foundation, Adult Protection Services, Alzheimer’s Association, Arc of Larimer County, ARCH, Aspen Club, Catholic Charities, Colorado AARP Elder Watch, Colorado Coalition for Elder Rights and Abuse Prevention, Connecting Health, Elder Care Network, Elderhaus, Fort Collins Police Department – Crime Prevention, Fort Collins Senior Center, Larimer County District Attorney, Foundation on Aging, Larimer County Office on Aging, Larimer County Ombudsman, Loveland Senior Advisory Board, Meals on Wheels, Poudre River Public Library, SAVA, Touchstone Health Partners, and United Way 2-1-1. An HRC member attended a 3-day training session called “Stop the Hate” sponsored by CSU, a train the trainer program. An HRC member also participated at this program. Three HRC members have been trained at CSU as CPD facilitators. Also, two HRC members are listed in the CPD’s 2011-2012 Annual Report for their volunteer work as community associates assisting students in class and at public meetings. Two HRC members managed a booth at the Fort Collins High School Diversity conference on April 21 st . 4 HRC members participated in the Citizen Liaison Program which included training and a police ride-a-long to increase public awareness and better understand the role of the Citizen Review Board. Government Relations Committee City Council, Citizen Review Board, Commission on Disability, CSU’s Center for Public Deliberation, Senior Advisory Board, Women’s Commission, Youth Advisory Board and Larimer County Office on Aging Advisory Council meetings were attended and/or monitored. A number of guest speakers spoke at HRC meetings. Subjects included diversity, social justice, tolerance, financial planning, medical care for low income families, police services, the Citizen Review Board, and the LGBTQ community. The HRC maintains a list of translators available to citizens who may need language translation assistance. Members of the HRC received a proclamation from Mayor Karen Weitkunat declaring December 10, 2012 as International Human Rights Day. As a means of improving communication both with members of City Council and other boards and commissions, subsequent to each HRC monthly meeting, the HRC sends out summary bullet points highlighting key topics and events discussed by HRC. A member of the HRC is serving on the Martin Luther King Day Planning Committee. An HRC member has received the honor of being selected as a Martin Luther King Day Parade leader. Members of the HRC also assisted in judging the Youth Writing Contest coordinated by the Black/African American Cultural Center at CSU for entries by middle school students in the Poudre School District. Media / Community Recognition Committee: HRC conducted its annual search for individuals, groups, companies or organizations which promote acceptance and respect for diversity in the City of Fort Collins. o An HRC Annual Awards Breakfast was held at the Northside Aztlan Community Center on May 1 st . o HRC recognized successful candidates in the following five categories with awards for Police and Emergency Service, Senior, Adult, Youth and Organization. o The Guest Speaker was Mary Ontiveros, Colorado State University’s Vice President for Diversity. o The Awards Breakfast was attended by approximately 130 people. 5 o The event was coordinated with the Women’s Commission which presented its annual Marcile N. Wood award for advancing the status of women in the community. HRC made multiple presentations and distributed HRC event flyers to City Council and members of the Fort Collins community. The Commission also produced HRC information pamphlets and PowerPoint slides. Several “Soapbox” articles and letters to the editor were written by HRC members and published in the Fort Collins Coloradoan as well as in other print and news media. Members of the HRC also participated in radio interviews on KRFC FM and made public presentations promoting the Elder Abuse Forum.