Office of Civil Rights - Mission Statement

The OCR serves all employees of the department by ensuring effective processes for the filing, investigation and resolution of complaints, developing policy, providing technical assistance and providing training to all CDC staff in complying with State and federal statute and regulations, as well as departmental policy related to Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO).

The mission is accomplished by:

• Clearly stating and disseminating the Department's policy which prohibits any type of discriminatory behavior or unprofessional conduct by employees;
• Creating and maintaining EEO training materials and oversight of training;
• Using training and other prevention strategies to educate all employees on the impact of discrimination upon individual lives, and to ensure all employees know their rights and responsibilities as a CDC employee;
• Empowering and training supervisors and managers to handle those discrimination issues that can be handled locally and establishing clear guidelines for when a formal investigation may be necessary;
• Establishing clear EEO accountability standards within policies for all staff and ensuring they are enforced appropriately;
• Developing departmental policy, procedures, reports to the SPB and statistical data to ensure compliance with state and federal law;
• Establishing and maintaining an effective complaint processes for employees to report discrimination and to obtain information;
• Ensuring the highest quality and most timely investigations and decisions in all formal discrimination cases;
• Serving as liaison with the Department of Fair Employment and Housing and the Equal Employment opportunity Commission; and
• Serving as an advisor to the Director on policy and procedure directly related to the accomplishment of the OCR mission, and in accordance with State law.