USDANEWS VOLUME 56 NO. 3 - MARCH 1997

Glickman Announces Civil Rights Plans; Releases Team Report

by Ron Hall, Office of Communications

"It is time to heal. We cannot change the past, but we can and will set a new course for the future of this Department."--Dan Glickman

"I look at today as the point of departure on the road to victory."--Pearlie Reed

Secretary Dan Glickman and Pearlie Reed, associate chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service and team leader of USDA's Civil Rights Action Team, used those respective statements to set the tone during a briefing of USDA's Subcabinet and other senior officials on February 28. The briefing was also made available by video feed to USDA employees located at headquarters offices, and broadcast live by satellite to employees at field locations.

The purpose of the briefing was to present the findings and recommendations contained in a report titled "Civil Rights at the United States Department of Agriculture--A Report by the Civil Rights Action Team."

Glickman had established the 15-person Team in December 1996 to examine a number of issues related to civil rights at USDA, including employment at the Department and the delivery of USDA's programs and services to its customers.

Accordingly, during January Team members held a series of 12 "listening sessions" at various sites around the country to hear from members of the public--especially USDA employees and socially disadvantaged and minority farmers. The Team was also charged to do a thorough audit of USDA civil rights issues, both inside and outside the Department, and to provide recommendations to him by mid-February. The January 1997 issue of the USDA News carried a story about the Civil Rights Action Team's approach.

The Team's 121-page report to Glickman is organized into four general areas of concentration: "Lack of Management Commitment to Civil Rights," "Program Delivery and Outreach," "Workforce Delivery and Employment Practices," and "Organizational Structure of Civil Rights." The report includes 92 recommendations, with implementation plans for each one.

The text of the report was immediately made available to employees and others via the USDA home page at http://www.usda.gov/news/civil/index.htm

"...this report will not gather dust," Glickman advised. He added that most of the recommendations were feasible and that some may need further review. But he emphasized that "I've set a hard-and-fast deadline of six months for implementation of those recommendations that can move forward immediately."

"And," he added, "I expect full cooperation from the Subcabinet and all my senior managers."

Before highlighting the actions he was initiating in response to the Team's recommendations, Glickman noted that he had named Reed to serve as acting assistant secretary for administration. Assistant Secretary for Administration Wardell Townsend resigned that post effective March 8, after having served in that position since May 1993.

Other actions Glickman announced included:

• seeking legislative authority to convert all non-federal county positions in the Farm Service Agency to federal employee status;
• seeking legislative authority to ensure that every county committee includes a voice for underrepresented groups;
• suspending foreclosures on minority-owned farms, in cases of alleged discrimination, until the particular circumstances can be reviewed by an independent, diverse team;
• working to eliminate the backlog in both program and equal employment opportunity complaints within 120 days;
• making all EEO complaints filed before Jan. 1, 1997 eligible for alternative dispute resolution;
• vesting the office of the assistant secretary for administration with the authority to review the civil rights records of USDA agency heads and Subcabinet officials;
• creating a civil rights arm of the Office of the General Counsel;
• establishing a national commission on small farms "to develop an aggressive strategy for keeping this important American tradition alive and well into the next century;"
• creating a Department-wide workforce planning and recruiting effort;
• creating an Office of Outreach that would coordinate Department-wide efforts "to ensure that we reach all the people who need or can benefit from [USDA's] services;"
• requiring annual civil rights training for all USDA employees;
• continuing USDA's civil rights hotline at 1-800-358-4309 (voice) or 1-800-520-0446 (TDD), for employees and others to call if they feel their individual situations have not been adequately addressed.

Glickman also released, under his signature and dated February 28, a "Civil Rights Policy Statement." Included in its message was the affirmation that "I am committed to ensuring the civil rights of USDA's customers and employees. Every customer and every employee must be treated fairly and equitably and with dignity and respect. There are no exceptions. There are no excuses."

The Statement also advised that "I hold my subcabinet, agency heads, and managers all responsible for civil rights at the Department. Reprisal of any kind against employees or customers will not be tolerated. In fact, putting it in the strongest terms possible, at USDA there will be a zero tolerance policy for retaliation of any kind."

"Only by working together and by living up to the letter and the spirit of this policy," the Statement concluded, "can USDA be called the 'People's Department'." ¤

Return to:
Inside the "USDA NEWS"
Past Issues
News and Current Information
USDA's ...Homepage