Council of the Southern Mountains

CSM Affirmative Action Plan

ADOPTED BY

COUNCIL OF THE SOUTHERN MOUNTAINS

OCTOBER 15, 2017

SECTION I - INTRODUCTION

CSM enters this Affirmative Action Plan (AAP) with good faith for the purpose of promoting equality of opportunity into its hiring and service provision programs.  CSM seeks to increase the recruitment of qualified women and/or minorities for possible selection into employment and service programs in the event women and/or minorities are underutilized.  CSM hereby adopts the following nondiscriminatory Pledge and Plan.

SECTION II - EQUAL OPPORTUNITY PLEDGE

CSM commits to the following Equal Opportunity Pledge:

The recruitment, selection, employment, and training of employees will be without discrimination because of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex.  CSM will take affirmative action to provide equal opportunity in hiring and service provision.

SECTION III - UTILIZATION AND ANALYSIS, GOALS AND TIMETABLES

In order to allow positive recruitment and full utilization of minorities and women in CSM hiring and service programs, CSM pledges to identify outreach efforts under Section IV which will be undertaken.  The purpose of the analysis is to determine the minority and women’s labor force in the local labor market area.  Once the labor force is determined, CSM can determine if deficiencies exist in terms of underutilization of minorities and women.

SECTION IV - OUTREACH AND POSITIVE RECRUITMENT

CSM includes the following outreach and positive recruitment efforts that would reasonably be expected to increase minority and women’s participation in employment and services by expanding the opportunity of minorities and women to become aware of the availability of each.  Possible actions include:

A.         An announcement of specific openings must be disseminated in advance at the earliest date for application at each interval to the following agencies/organizations: 

-           Women’s Organizations/Centers

-           Local Schools

-           Employment Service Centers

-           One Stop Centers

-           Vocational Education Schools

-           Other Organizations/Centers (which can effectively reach minorities and women)

-           Newspapers (which are circulated in the minority community and among women)

The announcement will include the nature of the job of service available, requirements for the position or service, sources of applications, and the CSM equal opportunity policy.

B.                     Participation in workshops conducted by employment service agencies for the purpose of familiarizing school, employment service and other appropriate personnel with the CSM programs and current job opportunities. 

C.                     Cooperation with school boards and vocational educational systems to develop programs preparing students to meet the standards and criteria required to qualify for entry into the workforce, including CSM.

D.                     Internal communication of the CSM’s equal opportunity policy should be conducted in such a manner to foster understanding, acceptance, and support among the various board members officers, supervisors, employees, volunteers and clients, and to encourage such persons to take the necessary action to access CSM services and employment opportunities.

E.                    Engaging in programs such as outreach for the positive recruitment and preparation of potential applicants; where appropriate and feasible, such programs will provide information for experience and training/education required.  In initiating and conducting these programs, CSM may be required to work with other sponsors and appropriate community organizations.  CSM will also analyze the feasibility to initiate programs to prepare women and encourage women to enter traditionally male programs.

F.                     CSM will make appropriate provisions in this affirmative action plan to assure that those who apply for employment or services are afforded full and equal opportunity for hiring or admission into the assistance programs.

G.                     Granting advance standing or credit on the basis of previously acquired experience, training, skills, or aptitude for all applicants equally.

H.                    Other appropriate action to ensure that the recruitment, selection, employment, and participation in programs will be without discrimination because of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex (e.g., advantages in advertisements, industry reports, articles, etc., use of present minority and female as recruiters; career counseling; development of reasonable procedures to ensure employment opportunity, including reporting systems, on-site reviews, briefing sessions).

SECTION V - ANNUAL REVIEW OF AFFIRMATIVE ACTION PLAN

CSM will make an annual review of its current Plan and its overall effectiveness and institute any revisions or modifications warranted.  The review will analyze (independently and collectively) the affirmative action steps taken by the agency for evaluating the positive impact, as well as the adverse impact in the areas of outreach and recruitment, selection, employment, and training. CSM will work diligently to identify the cause and effects that result from their affirmative action measures.  CSM will continually monitor these processes in order to identify the need for a new affirmative action effort and/or deletion of ineffective existing activity(ies).  CSM will continually monitor the participation rates of minorities and women in employment and service programs in an effort to identify any type of underutilization through WV FACS Pro.  If underutilization exists, corrective action will be immediately implemented.  The goals and timetables also will be reviewed periodically as determined and updated where necessary.

SECTION VI - OFFICIAL ADOPTION

The Council of the Southern Mountains hereby officially adopts this Affirmative Action Plan.

Randal  Johnson, Executive Director

LABOR MARKET AREA DATA

Total Labor Force in Labor Market Area: 3,285-McDowell County Only – 2012 Census Estimate

Number Women: 29.6% of Labor Force

Number Minority:  11.9 % of Labor Force

The General Availability of Minorities and Women with the Present or Potential Capacity for hiring or to receive services.

  Number Women:   29.6%

  Number Minority:  9.1%

SPONSOR’S WORKFORCE DATA

Number Women:   54  (79 %)

Number Minority:  22  ( 32%)

DETERMINATION OF UTILIZATION

Minority Underutilization:            Yes                         No

Female Underutilization:             Yes                         No

(Note: all factors need not be weighted equally.)

SPONSOR’S GOALS:

The sponsor agrees to make good faith efforts to attain the goal of selecting 25 % minorities and 50% women during the next year or hiring period. These goals shall not be used to discriminate against any qualified applicant on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin or sex.

Estimated Number of new staff to be hired during the next year: tba

Approved, again, by the Agency Board of Directors.