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Appendix A Developing the Social Justice Goal Introduction Until recently, social justice was an issue that was primarily addressed by nongovernmental and/or grassroots organizations, including faith-based groups, political parties and advocacy organizations. According to Jackie Byers, Research Director for the National Association of Counties, only three local governments in the United States have so far considered social justice in their work: Marin, Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz Counties, all in California. However, none of these counties have actually established a "Social Justice Goal." Orange County is one of the fast local governmental bodies to consider adopting social justice as a framework for its planning, programs and actions. Timeline During a retreat in 2002 for the Board of County Commissioners' (BOCC), Commissioners members expressed interest in pursuing a social justice goal for Orange County. Together with the Human Services Management Team (HSMT), the County Manager's office began by drawing up a list of programs and potential needs that could be addressed in the document. HSMT's recommendations and discussions on the issue incorporated the Human Services Reform Task Force Final Report, which had been presented to the BOCC in September 1996. In November 2003, the County's human services directors added new items for general discussion, such as wages sufficient for housing, family-friendly practices in the workplace and ways of ensuring fair and equitable distribution of public resources and services across all population groups. During a BOCC meeting in February 2004, the Commissioners requested that the Department of Human Rights and Relations (DHRR) work on a social justice goal through the County's Human Relations Commission (HRC). The BOCC asked the HRC to make recommendations on the document to the BOCC. As a first step, the DHRR began working with Professor John Calmore, Reef C. Ivey Distinguished Professor of Law at UNC' to define a foundation upon which a social justice goal could be built. This basis would provide information on what social justice entails and how it might be implemented by a local government entity. On February 16 and April 18, 2005, Professor Calmore met with members of the HRC and BOCC to help them understand more precisely the concept of social justice. Professor Calmore also met on March 8, 2005, with members of the HSMT to discuss implementation aspects specifically. WHAT IS SOCIAL JUSTICE? According to Professor Calmore, there is no "ultimate" definition for social justice. Each community must define social justice for itself and decide how to prioritize the issues involved. There are, however, four elements common to most descriptions of social justice (see Appendix C): 1. Substantive (actual), not just formal (legal), equality of opportunity. 2. A focus on eradicating the underlying causes of oppression (i.e., racism, sexism, homophobia, economic inequity, etc.) 3. An expansive view of rights, including explicitly those rights not always recognized in courts of law or by local governments 4. A reliance on witnessing, critiquing and speaking out as key components. Professor Calmore's research shows that while social justice advocates seek a more just society generally, they tend to focus particularly on people who are marginalized, disenfranchised, subordinated, excluded and under-represented as community members. To form Orange County's social justice goal, he suggested we ask the following of our community members: 1. What gaps in justice do you see? 2. What basic necessities, if any, are absent for any community groups? 3. What frustrates the hope of progress for various community groups? 4. What circumstances constrain community members from taking advantage of opportunities? 5. What, in the name of social justice, can this local governmental body do to provide redress and close inequality gaps? 1 For more information on internationally acknowledged expert in social justice lawyering and social justice practice John Calmore, please see Appendix C. OR`IA'GG' COUNTYSOCL4L JUSTICE GOAL