EQUITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

EQUITY, DIVERSITY & INCLUSION

ADDRESSING GENDER IDENTITY BIAS IN OUR IT SYSTEMS

June is Pride Month, in which we celebrate and affirm the identities of LGBTQ+ in Washington and around the world. For the spring issue of HCS Highlights, we are examining how Home and Community Services is working with others in state government to address bias on the basis of gender identity. One of the primary goals of ALTSA’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion work is to address the challenges Washingtonians encounter in trying to access our services. Many of our clients and prospective clients face significant hurdles when it comes to receiving needed medical and social services due to their gender identity. Some may not seek out services because they are afraid they will be mistreated or even experience violence due to their gender identity. Others may worry they won’t receive the care they need because case managers will not understand their needs or situation. The Sex and Gender Identity (SGI) Workgroup was convened by the Health and Human Services Coalition which is a cross-agency governance structure with representation from DSHS, the Health Care Authority, the Washington Health Benefits Exchange, the Department of Health and the Department of Children, Youth and Families. Representatives from all five agencies sit on the SGI workgroup which is tasked with addressing some of these barriers. Cathy Kinnaman, deputy director of headquarters operations, represents ALTSA on the workgroup. The committee was created in response to concerns that applicants and current service recipients were facing unnecessary barriers that, in many cases, resulted in their exclusion from government services. The committee’s formation followed a complaint the Health Benefit Exchange received from a prospective applicant, who was unable to complete an application for insurance benefits because the individual could not select a gender option to match their identity.

“It’s about respect for our clients, they know who they are and how they want to be addressed,” Cathy said. “It basically re-traumatizes our clients over and over again when we can’t capture information that is important to them about who they are and how they identify themselves.”

Examining the state’s IT systems is one of the primary projects the SGI workgroup is undertaking. At ALTSA, that includes TCARE, CARE, TIVA, ACES and ProviderOne. These systems have different ways of receiving gender information – some only receive binary data (male/female), while others offer more inclusive options. Unfortunately, the inconsistency not only makes it difficult for systems to interface with one another, but it excludes people who cannot select an accurate option. The workgroup has two goals to address the challenges faced by our IT systems. The first is to develop training materials for staff on how they can accurately capture a client’s gender identity in the various systems, as well as how to respect and affirm a client’s gender identity during conversations. “For our staff, they want to be helpful, they want to be respectful, they want to serve our clients well,” Cathy said. “We haven’t really given them tools on how to have those conversations with folks in a respectful way.” As part of the training, many HCS staff have received or will receive desk aids with important reminders. A PowerPoint training developed by the workgroup will also be used to onboard new financial staff during Core Training and in coordination with the Economic Services Administration for field staff.

The second goal is to do an analysis of IT systems to better understand how changes to one system might affect other systems, both within and outside of Washington’s public agencies. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, for example, only accept binary inputs of male or female, making it a challenge for Washington’s more inclusive systems to communicate directly with federal systems. The workgroup will map out how these system interactions work to better understand how they impact the clients we serve, with the goal of using this information to improve the systems. “It’s going to take a long time but people are very passionate about this and very interested in moving this work forward,” Cathy said. “It’s something that’s very high on everybody’s priority list.”

Respecting an Individual’s Gender Identity

Whether you’re dealing with coworkers, clients or acquaintances, it is important to respect everyone’s gender identity. Your gender identity is your own internal sense of self as a man, woman, combination of both, neither, or another gender. This is not the same as sexual orientation, which is who you are attracted to. Here are some tips for respecting and affirming an individual’s gender identity:

• Common pronouns are they/their/theirs, she/ her/hers and he/him/his. There are not the only pronouns with which one might identify, however. • Do not assume another person’s pronouns based on their appearance. • In short or one-time interactions, you do not need to ask someone their pronouns. If you are unsure, you can use their name or another word (like “client”) to describe them. You can also use gender-neutral pronouns such as they/ them/theirs or provide your own pronouns so that others may feel comfortable sharing theirs. • A person’s chosen name may not match the name that is on their legal documents. Using someone’s chosen name when addressing them is about respect and dignity. • If you mess up someone’s pronouns, name or honorific, do not panic. We are human and we make mistakes. Instead, give a quick apology, correct yourself and move on. Practice using the person’s pronouns to avoid making the same mistake in the future.