The purpose of Oakland’s Equity Indicators Report is to develop a baseline quantitative framework that can be used by City staff and community members alike to better understand the impacts of race, measure inequities, and track changes in the disparities for different groups over time. This framework can then be used to guide and inform policies that address these disparities.

In Oakland and across the Bay Area, there are wide disparities in economic outcomes for different groups. Structural barriers in society result in some residents having more access than others to economic opportunities that build wealth and financial stability. This Theme not only includes the standard measures of economic well-being (e.g., unemployment, poverty) but it also evaluates racial and ethnic disparities in the quality of jobs, business development, and elements of financial health.

Education has long been an area of well-known disparities in outcomes across racial and ethnic groups, both in Oakland and throughout the country. Yet, education is also perhaps the single most powerful tool to rectify disparities in other Themes, such as Economy. This Theme includes measures that span from traditional measures of student attendance and achievement to measures of teachers, recognizing that teachers play a critical role in a child’s education.

The Financial Health Topic includes three Indicators that consider economic security and stability through measures of banking, income, and poverty. The first Indicator measures disparities in the rate of access to healthy financial institutions in White and non-White zip codes. The second Indicator measures racial and ethnic disparities in median household income, while the third Indicator focuses on poverty.

Oakland has a long history of activism around issues of inequity and social justice. It is, therefore, not surprising that Oakland was chosen in 2017 to be among the first cohort of five cities to develop local Equity Indicators tools in partnership with the City University of New York’s Institute for State and Local Governance (CUNY ISLG) and with funding from the Rockefeller Foundation.

Public health relates to many of the other Themes in the Equity Indicators framework. Public health outcomes are tied to housing quality, environment, and neighborhood. Social determinants of health include poverty, employment, and educational attainment. The public health field has historically been dedicated to understanding and addressing racial and ethnic disparities in health outcomes, but the complexity of these issues contributes to the persistence of inequity.

The Oakland Equity Indicators framework is structured at four levels: Citywide, Theme, Topic, and Indicator. The Citywide framework consists of six Themes that cover broad areas of people’s lives: 1-Economy, 2-Education, 3-Public Health, 4-Housing, 5-Public Safety, and 6-Neighborhood and Civic Life. These Themes are not exhaustive, but were chosen based on areas of inequity in Oakland.

Public Safety is a critical area of concern for any city. Though national conversations have recently brought a lot of attention to racial and ethnic disparities in public safety, this is a long-standing problem area that can have severe negative impacts on communities of color.

The equal access accommodations Indicator is measured by comparing the percent of public contact position (PCP) employees who speak Spanish to the percent of Spanish speakers who have limited English proficiency (LEP) citywide. The Equal Access to Services Ordinance includes a requirement for City departments to offer bilingual services based on citywide demographics. In FY2016-2017, the two languages required by the ordinance were Spanish and Chinese. We chose to measure Spanish-speaking PCP employees for this Indicator because Spanish speakers comprise a larger proportion of the population.

Affordable, stable, and high-quality housing is a basic right of Oakland residents. Many Oaklanders face challenges in accessing adequate housing, and racial and ethnic minorities are even more disadvantaged. The Indicators in this Theme reveal disparities among individuals and neighborhoods and highlight the pressing need for more equitable housing policy.