Civil rights standards are a good move

There are several reasons we feel a decision by the Cedar Rapids Civil Rights Commission to implement performance standards is a good one.

Discrimination has been and continues to place significant stain on many Iowa communities. Setting goals and tracking outcomes will help commissioners and paid staff members determine whether programming and outreach efforts are effective while keeping the public informed about issues brought to light and their resolution.

Adopting standardized metrics to measure public outreach and interaction will ensure taxpayer dollars are being used efficiently and send a clear message that discrimination will not be tolerated.

It's good policy for public agencies to set goals and track outcomes, including consumer feedback and accomplishments. Those who interact with the Civil Rights Commission should have an expectation that their concerns will be addressed in a timely and quality way.

We would like to see more public bodies follow the commission's lead.

Standards adopted by the Cedar Rapids organization were modeled, at least in part, after those adopted by the Iowa Civil Rights Commission, which cover most of the group's public-facing functions and are directly related to the organization's strategic plan.

For example, the state commission's goal of providing 'parties appearing before the ICRC … timely, quality resolutions” translates practically to response deadlines for agency employees and allows for internal staffing shifts when an investigation requires more legwork.

According to the state commission's fiscal year 2015 performance and action plan, the state body expects at least 80 percent of all discrimination cases to be mediated in fewer than 30 days from initial screening, and 85 percent of cases to be investigated in fewer than 60 days from when they are assigned.

Adopting a similar strategy will enable the Cedar Rapids Civil Rights Commission to clearly evaluate progress and areas for improvement.

Moving forward, we would like to see the commission set even more ambitious goals.

For instance, an initial goal of increasing by 15 percent participants' knowledge after attending training sessions could be incrementally increased. We'd like to see the commission strive for more than average marks from consumers.

But adopting standards will provide a good baseline measurement to start.

' Comments: (319) 398-8469; editorial@thegazette.com