Creating Inclusive Agencies:Assessing Organizational Readiness & Capacity for Engaging LGBTQ+ Communities Introduction The success of sexual violence services and prevention efforts within any specific population is highly dependent upon the organization and its staff members having the skills and knowledge needed to value and affirm all members of the community. Before reaching out to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning (LGBTQ+ ) communities, or trying to implement prevention strategies or survivor services, organizations should first assess their current organizational and individual (employee-specific) capacity to appropriately engage with LGBTQ+ people in affirming ways. Organizations that do not do this internal assessment risk alienating LGBTQ+ communities by having organizational structures, processes, or individual staff members that perpetuate harm. People who are LGBTQ+ may interpret these negative contacts as those organizations lacking the competency to serve the needs of LGBTQ+ communities. In fact, evidence suggests that it does not necessarily require a personal negative experience to influence one’s opinion about an organization; rather, the mere perception within a community that an organization is transphobic or otherwise prejudiced can be enough to prevent people from seeking out services or terminating their services prematurely. For the purposes of this document, organizational capacity can be understood as the structures, processes, resources, and willingness to develop and implement sexual violence prevention strategies and survivor services with the LGBTQ+ communities. Individual capacity is defined as the knowledge, skills, and motivation to do this. There are steps that organizations can take to build capacity for engaging LGBTQ+ communities, facilitating prevention efforts with LGBTQ+ communities and providing services to survivors who identify as LGBTQ+. This resource outlines these steps, as well as some areas for consideration and activities to help organizations move even further toward a more inclusive, affirming agency. What is Readiness and Why Do It? Increasing organizational capacity first requires an understanding of both community needs and organizational readiness. Readiness for change has been defined by Holt and colleagues (2007) as: ● a comprehensive attitude that is influenced simultaneously by the content (i.e., what is being changed), ● the process (i.e., how the change is being implemented), ● the context (i.e., circumstances under which the change is occurring), and ● the individuals involved (i.e., characteristics of those being asked to change). Capacity is revealed through an understanding of readiness: the readiness to work with LGBTQ+ people. Once we understand how ready an organization, and the individuals that make up the organization, are to appropriately take on a particular issue, then an organization can work toward increasing its capacity to do its intended work. We learn an agency’s capacity level by using a readiness assessment. The assessment “score” is a real-time snapshot of organizational capacity and is considered capacity at baseline. It is the responsibility of an organization to strategize ways to increase its capacity to arrive at where it would like to be. Sexual violence agencies working with LGBTQ+ communities must focus on promoting healthy LGBTQ+ relationships, encouraging strong interagency collaborations, and providing competent services and prevention efforts. When agencies take the time to assess internal readiness and then address the needs discovered, they are exhibiting an earnest desire to support their LGBTQ+ community members. As indicated above, this document will address two different types of capacity-building through readiness assessment: organizational and individual. While these two types are not necessarily mutually exclusive, they do require different strategies. Organizational Readiness Organizational readiness refers to the degree to which an organization has the systems, policies, and protocol in place to provide culturally affirming services to LGBTQ+ people. Determining the capacity of an organization to provide this level of service requires an assessment. Capacity assessments are generally structured tools composed of multiple indicators that help an organization determine how it is currently functioning. Organizations can then use the assessment results to create action plans based on the gaps identified and the desired benchmarks. Organizational readiness can be gauged by better understanding an organization's capacity to be an effective, welcoming and affirming space for LGBTQ+ people to go for support and/or partnership. Organizational capacity areas can include: ● policies directed toward clients and staff; ● protocol used when welcoming people into the space, answering the phone, or making decisions about where to hold events; ● iconography used to decorate the office; or, ● general decisions and traditions that trickle down to impact organizational culture and climate (e.g., inviting people to share their pronouns on name tags and at the beginning of meetings). For some organizations, a good first step in assessing readiness would be to connect with a local LGBTQ+ community agency (if one exists), as a community-specific agency may already have an organizational capacity assessment of their own or they may be aware of pre-existing instruments that they would recommend. Links to assessment tools are in Appendix A of this resource. A word of caution: resist extracting information or services from LGBTQ+ organizations and communities without either already being in authentic relationship or providing some level of compensation. Far too often minoritized communities are approached for their labor and their stories without appropriate recognition. It is also important for organizations to have some knowledge about culture and language use within LGBTQ+ communities, as well as an understanding of the larger social and political context. However, it is not possible for anyone, including LGBTQ+ people themselves, to have exhaustive knowledge of LGBTQ+ culture, as culture is vast, and language is ever-changing. Additionally, LGBTQ+ people hold multiple identities simultaneously that may impact how they are treated as they move through the world. For instance, if someone is Black and transgender, they could identify as having more negative experiences due to their Blackness than their trans-ness. In other words, it is impossible for any of us to fully understand another’s experience, particularly when a person holds one or more identities different from ours. For this reason, it is vital that organizations strive for cultural humility about communities of which they are not a part. Cultural humility is a self-reflective process that acknowledges the importance of lifelong learning, power analysis and partnership with minoritized communities who can best speak to their lived experiences. Individual Readiness Individual readiness includes the ability of staff to recognize and respond to their own and others’ homophobia, transphobia, heterosexism, and cissexism. This provides the foundation for staff attitudes, knowledge, and beliefs that demonstrate respect and dignity toward LGBTQ+ communities and individuals, which the organization can then cultivate and reinforce. Within the context of building organizational capacity, individual readiness speaks to how ready staff and volunteers are to actionably affirm the existence of LGBTQ+ people both inside and outside the organization. In order to assess readiness specific to the individuals that comprise your organization (e.g., front line staff, leadership, etc.), it is best to collect original data that captures the knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs of all people involved in all internal and external activities. This means that it is just as important to understand the Executive Director’s ability to support LGBTQ+ clients, staff, and volunteers as it is to understand the ability of case managers, the Fiscal Director, the Board, volunteers, and the person who answers the phones. Each person, regardless of their role, plays a part in creating an organizational climate and, therefore, each person’s approach to working with LGBTQ+ clients is important to understand. This point cannot be understated, as often well-intentioned agencies only include staff who they perceive to have direct client contact in their assessments. What is often the case is that: 1) Organizations underestimate how many people actually have client contact and 2) People miss the importance of including key decision- and policy-makers who may technically not have direct client contact but whose work is integral to client experiences. Collecting Data Original data collection could be qualitative, quantitative, or both. Data collection could include the use of a pre-existing data collection tool or the creation of a new tool (you can find links to Organizational Assessment tools in Appendix A). If agencies decide to create their own tool, it is vital that they partner with LGBTQ+ people to know what questions to ask. Ideally, an agency will use a pre-existing data collection tool to drive their work. The tool should be created by or recommended by a reputable source and perhaps even vetted with LGBTQ+ community members to ensure it is an appropriate fit. Once you determine the kind of data you are going to collect, you want to plan out your methodology. If you are going to collect qualitative data, consider whether to hold focus groups, key informant interviews, or both. Decide where you will hold the groups and/or interviews and how you will choose participants. If finances allow, consider compensating people for their time. Quantitative data collection warrants similar questions. One of the key differences is that if you are collecting quantitative data, you generally want to have many more participants than with qualitative data. More information on data collection methods can be found in Appendix B. Building Capacity in the Gap Areas Once completed, the assessments reveal where individuals and agencies have areas for growth – this is the time to plan on taking some steps toward building capacity in those areas. Capacity building is defined as the process of building and strengthening the systems, structures, cultures, skills, resources, and power that organizations need to serve their communities. The assessment results, then, should drive agency action planning. Your action plan or strategic plan can include strategies, responsible parties, timelines, budget, and more. There are many templates your agency can access for free online to build out the plan. What is important is that there is a direct “if/then” relationship between your assessment results and your capacity building strategies. For example, if your assessment results reveal that staff at your agency are often misgendered, then this may warrant whole organization training and new organizational policy. Regardless of the strategies that your organization chooses to implement, it is vital that organizations partner with LGBTQ+-specific programs and agencies whenever possible. This is to ensure that services are both culturally-affirming and borne out of lived experience. As to not reinvent any wheels, organizations should also do their due diligence to research pre-existing supports and services for LGBTQ+ people that are present in the same service area as the organization. These supports and services could be offered at an LGBTQ+ specific organization or a general organization. It’s imperative that your agency does not duplicate efforts if the efforts are in line with the needs identified by LGBTQ+ people themselves. For instance, if your local LGBTQ+ community center has a robust support group for LGBTQ+ survivors of child sexual abuse, it may be an opportunity for your organization to uplift their efforts rather than create redundant programming. What follows is a non-exhaustive list of potential capacity-building strategies on which your organization could embark. The following disclaimers apply: 1) None of these strategies in isolation are a magic pill; rather, many, if not all, are prerequisites for an LGBTQ+-affirming organization and 2) organizations should not pick a strategy without considering organizational readiness and researching pre-existing supports and offerings from LGBTQ+ specific partners. Organizational Policy and Protocol ● Be sure the agency’s mission or values statement includes LGBTQ+-inclusive language. For example, listing out issues or core values that support equality: This agency works to end the oppression of all people. This agency values and celebrates the diversity of our community and strives to protect the rights of everyone. ● Display noticeable and affirming images and statements. The physical environment can say a lot to a victim/survivor and the public. ● Provide information specific to LGBTQ+ issues, such as same-gender sexual assault. If there are none available, contact your local or regional LGBTQ+ center for information or ideas to guide you when creating a pamphlet or other materials for survivors who identify as LGBTQ+. ● Create a workplace that is open and affirming to employees as well as to job applicants who identify as LGBTQ+. For example, does family leave include adoption or care for a partner? Are there all gender and/or gender inclusive bathrooms with affirming signage? ● Develop a team to review paperwork and policies. Invite individuals who identify as LGBTQ+ to join the review team and develop a process to gather feedback from LGBTQ+ community leaders. This can include anything staff or volunteers will need to complete either online or in paper form. ● Ensure that the agency’s non-discrimination statement for staff and volunteers clearly bans discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. ● Write intake forms in terms that are gender neutral or explicitly inclusive of various sexual orientations and gender identities. For example: rather than providing two options under gender (male or female) leave a blank space for the client to fill in. Similarly, you can give clients the opportunity to self-identify their own sexual orientation by inviting them to fill in a blank space. At a minimum, sexual orientation should include bisexual, pansexual, heterosexual, gay, lesbian, and queer. Having multiple boxes (or the ability for a client to self-identify) indicates to the client that you and your office are conscious of and sensitive to LGBTQ+ issues. Note: It is important to consider WHEN it is necessary to ask individuals about their identities, as it does not always feel safe or comfortable for everyone to share this level of personal information about themselves. As an example, too often people are asked their sex assigned at birth when this level of information is neither necessary for services nor required by a funder. If you are required to ask information of people that may seem disconnected from the services they are seeking, your organization may want to include a note to the client about why this information is being asked. In fact, it may help to create a sense of trust on the part of the client if your organization ALWAYS shares its justification for asking these questions! ● Using gender neutral language like “partner” when asking about a survivor’s sexual or relationship history allows individuals to be more open about their personal lives. Training and Professional Development ● Require LGBTQ+-inclusive anti-oppression training for staff and volunteers. Provide opportunities and resources for staff and volunteers to begin to unlearn oppression, perhaps with the assistance of outside agencies. Make sure the trainings are not one-time “token” trainings that have no follow-up or connection to everyday operations and projects. ● Include exercises and conversations that look at individual privilege and biases in staff and board meetings, volunteer trainings, and other agency conversations. ● All supervisors should have training and support in addressing bias and discrimination among staff and volunteers. Collaboration ● Contact local LGBTQ+ organizations for more information and as an opportunity to begin a collaborative relationship. ● Create collaborations with school administrators, educators, and other organizations that work to support LGBTQ+ students in schools so that they may be in a better position to reach school-aged children and youth in that community. ● In collaboration with LBGTQ+ community-based organizations, identify and apply for new funding to bridge gaps and address the intersections of sexual violence and other forms of oppression. ● Join or establish a community-based task force of multidisciplinary partners to foster systemic changes and violence-free norms around violence against LGBTQ+ communities. ● Build support for policy education related to LGBTQ+ issues, highlighting the impact on victims of sexual violence. You can demonstrate your support for LGBTQ+ communities through briefs, position statements, and educational opportunities. ● Make certain that organizations and agencies to which staff and volunteers make referrals are also LGBTQ+ affirming. Consider offering your support to other agencies to help them conduct their own readiness assessments and build more inclusive programming. Services and Outreach ● Offer some specific support groups for victims/survivors of sexual assault who identify as LGBTQ+. ● Be sure your existing outreach materials are inclusive. For example, information on drug and alcohol facilitated sexual assault, survivors with disabilities, internet safety, etc. - all these materials should include individuals who identify as LGBTQ+. ● Provide a table or booth at LGBTQ+ specific events with information on sexual assault prevention and what your agency provides (e.g. LGBTQ+ pride festivals). Remember to ensure that the language in your materials is explicitly inclusive. ● Provide agency information and sexual assault information at local LGBTQ+ centers. ● Advertise your rape crisis hotline in local LGBTQ+ newspapers or LGBTQ+ center newsletters. Provide a website link on an LGBTQ+ center website and vice-versa. Public Education and Training ● If using scenarios or examples during presentations, include same-gender sexual assault as well as sexual assault against persons who identify as LGBTQ+. Be prepared to combat LGBTQ+ specific myths that may arise. ● Become comfortable talking about LGBTQ+ sexual assault and LGBTQ +issues. Practice out loud if needed. ● Do not make assumptions about the sexual orientation and/or gender identity of members of the audience. Be aware of language that assumes heterosexuality and cisgenderism. When using inclusive language, try to truly represent expansive experiences. For instance, if you say ‘LGBTQ” make sure you don’t only talk about individuals who identify as lesbian or gay. Prevention Education ● Teach individuals bystander intervention skills and how to interrupt oppressive remarks against individuals who identify as LGBTQ+. For example, advising students on how to respond when a classmate says, “That’s so gay.” ● Work with a local school district to implement LGBTQ+-inclusive sexuality education and sexual violence prevention programs that are comprehensive in focus, culturally affirming, and responsive to the link between sexual violence and various forms of oppression. Review the school policies on responding to sexual violence, bullying, and sexual harassment with an eye toward students who identify as LGBTQ+. ● Use same-gender couple examples in prevention materials, on agency websites, and in prevention programming. Use gender neutral language in all curricula and outreach materials. Conclusion Eckstrand and colleagues (2017) highlight five components needed for successful organizational change efforts: 1) Engaged leadership; 2) strong partnerships between organizations and the communities they serve; 3) dedicated resources; 4) ongoing training and development; and 5) ongoing monitoring and quality improvement. Change will only occur if organizations are earnestly committed to a rigorous and vital process of self-discovery, accountability, and follow through. Too often organizational leadership becomes disinvested in the change process when assessment results are not what they had hoped or assumed. For this reason, it is vital that organizational leadership approach capacity building with commitment and humility. Leadership sometimes feels daunted by the work ahead; it is important to remember that this is an agency-wide opportunity that should also include the Board of Directors, staff, and volunteers. Additionally, the capacity building phase is a good time to seek out and foster inter-agency collaborations, particularly with LGBTQ+ specific organizations. However, organizations should avoid exploiting LGBTQ+ organizations by expecting them to teach everything there is to know. Rather, organizations should seek authentic, mutually beneficial partnerships and should find ways to compensate all minoritized people for their labor. Increasing organizational capacity to work with LGBTQ+ people in affirming ways is a journey on which all agencies should want to embark. While the journey may be intensive, no organization that is earnestly committed to doing the work of dismantling systems of oppression can do authentic work without this step. Footnotes 1. In an attempt to honor people as individuals first and not by a particular aspect of who they are, and for the sake of consistency in the guide, we have used terms like “individuals who identify as…”. Please keep in mind that some people do not identify with the term LGBTQ or with LGBTQ communities and may use other terms to describe their community and/or personal sexual or gender identity. It is important to reflect the terms used by individual victims/survivors and communities. Respect Together uses “LGBTQ+” as an umbrella term for people who identify within a broad spectrum of sexual orientations, gender identities, and expressions, which may or may not be explicitly contained within this acronym, as the range of identities reflected by these communities is diverse and ever-changing. The selection and use of the term “LGBTQ” in this guide is intentional as most of the available research is about people who identify as LGBTQ. It is not meant to exclude people who might identify differently. 2. Lim, G., Lusby, S., Carman, M., & Bourne, A. (2023). LGBTQ victim-survivors' experiences and negotiations of service worker and service system discrimination. Journal of Family Violence. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-023-00554-2 3. Flaspohler, P., Duffy, J., Wandersman, A., Stillman, L., & Maras, M. A. (2008). Unpacking prevention capacity: An intersection of research-to-practice models and community-centered models. American Journal of Community Psychology, 41(3-4)182–196. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10464-008-9162-3 4. Holt, D. T., Feild, H. S., Armenakis, A. A., & Harris, S. G. (2007). Toward a comprehensive definition of readiness for change: A review of research and instrumentation. In W. A. Pasmore & R. W. Woodman (Eds.), Research in organizational change and development (Vol. 16, pp. 289–336). Elsevier. 5. Tervalon, M., & Murray-Garcia, J. (1998). Cultural humility versus cultural competence: A critical distinction in defining physician training outcomes in multicultural education. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 9(2), 117-125. http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/hpu.2010.0233 6. Eckstrand, K., Lunn, M., & Yehia, B. (2017). Applying organizational change to promote lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender inclusion and reduce health disparities. LGBT Health, 4(3), 174–180. http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/lgbt.2015.0148. Appendix A Organizational Assessment Resources Source Link Organizational Self-Assessment Demonstrate LGBTQ Access https://endgv.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Organizational-Self-Assessment.pdf Organizational Assessment Tool for LGBT Cultural Competency National Center for Lesbian Rights and California Rural Legal Assistance http://laaconline.org/wp-content/uploads/Assessment-tool-1.pdf A Guide for Primary Care Clinics to Improve Services for Sexual and Gender Minority (SGM) Patients LGBTQ Primary Care https://lgbtqprimarycare.com/ Prevention Research Center Tools and Guides University of Maryland School of Public Health https://sph.umd.edu/research-impact/research-centers/university-maryland-prevention-research-center/umd-prc-tools-and-training/umd-prc-tools-and-guides Self-Assessment Tool: “Is Your Agency Ready to Serve Transgender and Non-Binary Clients?” Forge https://forge-forward.org/resource/self-assessment-tool/ Service Access Assessment Toolkit The New York State Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, & Queer Intimate Partner Violence Network https://avp.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/AVP_NYS_LGBTQ_IPV_Network_Service_Access_Assessment_Toolkit_draft_Jan28.pdf Appendix B Data Collection Resources Source Link Evaluation Toolkit National Sexual Violence Resource Center https://www.nsvrc.org/prevention/evaluation-toolkit Community Toolbox Section 5: Collecting and Analyzing Data University of Kansas https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/evaluate/evaluate-community-interventions/collect-analyze-data/main Best Practices for Planning and Facilitating Anti-Oppressive Focus Groups Youth Research and Evaluation EXchange https://youthrex.com/evidence-brief/best-practices-for-planning-facilitating-anti-oppressive-focus-groups/