March 22, 2022
Who are we Leaving Behind?
Submitted by Jennifer R Wilson
I grew up the youngest of three children. My brother and sister are 7 and 9 years older than me. As a young child, it felt like I got left behind a lot. They got to go to school…I had to wait until I was 5. They got to drive, go on fun 4-H exchange trips, and do all sorts of cool things…but I got left behind.
No one likes to be left behind. It stinks to see others having fun, learning, or interacting in ways that you can’t -- or perceive that you can’t.
One of the hallmarks of extension programming is that it is open and available to all, and we make educational resources available to those most in need. We do this regardless of where they live, what language they speak, what religion they practice or whether they can afford to pay.
Yet a look at our statewide parity statistics would tell us that we’re still leaving people behind. To calculate parity, we look at the demographic make-up of a geographic area and compare that with the demographics of those who are participating in extension programs. Extension programs are in parity when the percentage of each racial/gender/ethnic category in our client contacts (program participants) is within 80 percent of that category in the potential clientele group (local population).
Across the state, we’re only achieving roughly 20 percent parity with Black/African American and Asian audiences and 40 percent parity with Hispanic audiences.
Collectively we’ve got to do better and stop leaving people behind. This isn’t the job of just certain local units or certain agents within a local unit. It’s everyone’s job. It’s important that each local unit check in annually to see how they’re doing and change outreach strategies if they’re falling short of the mark. It’s so important, in fact, that it’s one of our civil rights compliance requirements to do a parity analysis and discuss it with your local board.
It can be challenging to achieve parity in all gender, racial and ethnic categories, but it’s important to know where you stand on a yearly basis and have a plan for continuous improvement. We often hear local units say that their local unit is homogenous, and therefore, they don’t need to undertake special outreach efforts to work with underserved audiences. Unless everyone in your local unit is participating in an extension program, you’ve got room for improvement.
Looking at the data to see who in the community isn’t participating in your programs is the first step to improving outreach. You may also need to look beyond race, ethnicity and gender data to see if socio-economic status, geographic location, religion or other factors are causing certain populations to miss out on extension programs. Your agents, board and program development committees can then brainstorm ways to reach those underserved audiences. Some strategies for doing so may include:
• Holding programs in different locations.
• Partnering with other organizations who’ve already gained the trust of your target population.
• Building relationships with new groups to better understand their needs.
• Inviting members of new audiences to be part of PDC discussions.
• Involving members of target audiences as PDC and board members.
The Kansas Data Center has several helpful tools to help you learn more about your community, including population maps that can help pinpoint community demographics down to specific neighborhoods.
Let’s keep working hard to bring extension programs to EVERY Kansan.