Civil Rights

"...And Justice for All" poster is displayed prominently in the County Extension Office.

Affirmative action statement and ADA statements have been included in flyers and mailed correspondence developed by the County Extension staff announcing upcoming programs and newsletters

ICAN programming continues to be offered at the Santa Fe WIC office in which over 50% of the participants are spanish-speaking only.

Chick embryology lessons were presented to four first grade classes from Ramirez-Thomas Elementary School with the classes consisting of "spanish speaking only" students. This included handouts as well as an in depth display board.

A Kitchen Creations Workshop series was offered in April and May of 2010 in Santa Fe in which 60% of the 20 participants were hispanic, 2 of them were native american.

A food preservation workshop was made available for 17 participants at San Ildefonso Pueblo during the month of September 2010. Fiftteen of the participants were adults and two were children.

The 4-H Home Economist continued to provide Nutrition and Fitness programming once again during the 2009-2010 school year for at Salazar, Cesar Chavez and Agua Fria Elementary Schools for approximately 250 youth. The school populations contain over 90% hispanic youth with all of them qualifying for either free or reduced lunch.

A Hoophouse Construction Workshop was offfered at San Ildefonso Pueblo for the members of the tribe to learn the process of its construction and as a community event. Twenty-eight individuals participated in the project which was later used for teaching the tribal youth about gardening and marketing fresh produce at their local farmers market.

A Nutrition and Food Safety Workshop was presented by the 4-H Home Economist to a Girl Scout Troop in the Santa Fe Area.

A series of educational workshops were presented to youth at San Ildefonso Pueblo Day School by the 4-H Home Economist and the ICAN educator. The workshops consisted of money management, introduction to theater (via clowning) and nutrition and fitness.

The Agricultual Agent hosted a regional New Mexico Pueblo and Community Agriculture Conference in April 2010 geared for pueblo native american and hispanic farmers.

Civil Rights plans are supported by Lea County Extension personnel, not just through programming, but also through Equal Employment Opportunity statements on newsletters, fliers, brochures, and press releases. Programming plans are made to ensure that every effort is made to meet the requirements for Civil Rights. Programs in the county have shared this effort as we are now meeting the needs of minority clients.
Current makeup of the agents Advisory Committee is consistent with the demographics in the county and representation is evident. The advisory committee meets yearly and is active in the programming efforts for the Lea County Agriculture/4-H Program.

Civil rights efforts in Catron County have focused on making sure that all county residents are aware of programs in resources available to them through the Cooperative Extension Service. We keep media, producer and email lists for contacts.
We currently have a vacancy in The County Staff. I will be reviewing NMSU policy and procedures for announcements, search committees and the interview process.

2009 – 2010 Dona Ana County Civil Rights Report
ICAN/KIDS CAN Program Unit
Submitted by Gayla Weaver
ICAN Home Economist


ICAN/KIDS CAN CIVIL RIGHTS REPORT:

SITUATION STATEMENT:
Dona Ana County within New Mexico State University Cooperative Extension Service (CES), as the state’s 1862 land-grant university, recognizes the importance of diversity and inclusion in the development and implementation of Extension programs. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 states that no person on the grounds of race, color, religion, sex or national origin will be excluded from participation in or benefits of any program receiving federal funding. Dona Ana County ICAN program monies are received from two USDA federal grants. They are the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) grant and the Supplemental Assistance Nutrition Program (SNAP) grant funds.

TARGET AUDIENCE AND ACTIONS:
Civil rights compliance work is ongoing. The home economist uses civil rights artifacts collected, such as county demographic data, the public notification steps of programs, and data of who attends the programming, to determine gaps in outreach efforts and potential needs of underserved audiences.

Since Dona Ana County has a large number of Spanish speaking residents, all ICAN classes are presented and advertised in both Spanish and English. Almost all of our participant handouts are in Spanish as well as English. Affirmative action and ADA statements are used on all fliers, program announcements and advertisements for the Dona Ana County ICAN program. The USDA “…And Justice for ALL” poster showing the nondiscrimination policy statement and how to file a civil rights complaint is prominently displayed in the office area visited by the public and this poster is displayed at each ICAN adult and youth class. The ICAN representatives for the overall advisory board are representative of the gender and ethnic profile of Dona Ana County.

The home economist is aware of and contributes regularly to the Civil Rights file which is located in the central office area.

Gayla Weaver
ICAN Home Economist
Dona Ana County

Civil Rights plans are supported by Quay County Extension personnel, not only through programming, but also through Equal Employment Opportunity statements on newsletters, flyers, brochures, and press releases. Programming plans are made to ensure that every effort is made to meet the requirements for Civil Rights. Programs have shared this effort as we are now meeting the needs of minority clients (race, ethnicity, family type) by 30%.
Current makeup of the Advisory Committee was studied and changes were made to make sure that representatives from underserved audiences are in representation. An advisory committee meets yearly and is active in the programming efforts for the Quay County 4-H Program.