Q&A
Q&A: Bobby Watts Racial Equity in Nashville’s Homelessness Response BY JUDITH TACKET T In January 2021, President Joe Biden signed an executive order on advancing racial equity and support for underserved communities through the federal government. A month later, the Biden-Harris Administration announced the COVID-19 Health Equity Task and appointed two Nashvillians to serve on it — Dr. James Hildreth, CEO of Meharry Medical College and Bobby Watts, CEO of the National Health Care for the Homeless Council. Watts, a national leader on health equity for underserved communities especially for people experiencing homelessness, spoke to us about the racial equity and diversity efforts. What can you tell us about the COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force and is it still meeting? Its main charge was to make recommendations to the administration about what the administration could do to make the nation’s response to COVID-19 more equitable. It also was charged with making recommendations for future pandemics to ensure that our response is an equitable one. It convened last February 2021, delivered its report to the administration in November, and then it disbanded in December. There were over 300 recommendations of which 55 were prioritized, and the great thing is that as we were making interim recommendations on a given topic each month, they were going directly to the White House to the administration. Several of them were being put into place even while the Task Force was still meeting. When talking about equity, what terms do you prefer and how would you define them? In general, racial equity means people have a fair opportunity for success. So, for health equity it is that people have a fair opportunity to maximize their health. When we think about other terms of equity, education opportunities, it would be, “People have a fair opportunity to maximize their education.” So that’s how I look at equity. And what that means is that some people who have some disadvantages starting out, in order to have a fair opportunity to level the playing field, so to speak, they may need some extra help to reach their full potential and to have that reasonably fair opportunity. You have worked closely with Jeff Olivet on racial equity issues, prior to his appointment as the executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH). In your view, will his leadership change how advocates approach equity when addressing homelessness? Oh yes! I really do. I’m a big believer that leadership makes a big difference, and we’ve seen that – positive and negative. This administration’s whole approach to equity has been pretty clear. and it’s been very refreshing, not perfect, but refreshing, a change. Jeff has been one of the thought leaders on equity
in our homelessness response system. The fact that they appointed Jeff to this position made it clear that they’re also serious about promoting equity in our homeless response system. I think that is critical because you cannot look at homelessness as it exists in the United States today without seeing that racism has played a part in who is experiencing homelessness and who is not. We are not going to solve the problem without addressing racism in our society and also in our homeless response system. You are the chair of the CoC diversity and equity committee. In your opinion, does Nashville have a community agenda when it comes to racial equity and homelessness? As a relative newcomer, I don’t feel I have the full picture yet. But from hearing what other people say, I think there is more interest than there has ever been. And part of that is the national conversation that [was] fanned into flame by the murder of George Floyd. Many people take notice and say we really have to do something. Though there was work done in Nashville before, it’s growing. I think the work of the Continuum of Care’s Data Committee with their workforce survey was an important step. I was also thrilled when the Diversity and Equity Committee was formed as a result of the strategic planning process. And [last year] Nashville was one of eight Continuums of Care that were part of a pilot program with the Department of Housing and Urban development (HUD) to look at how we can address equity in our area. I think we have a long way to go. The Diversity and Equity Committee formed about two years ago. We’ve put together some resources to make those available to the Nashville community around racism, specifically as it relates to homelessness. Our committee also adapted an anti-racism pledge from the Data Committee, which now is recited at the general Continuum of Care membership meetings, and several committees have also adopted it. And though this is symbolic, it also is a statement of value, which also helps to ground our conversation in values. It reinforces where we want to be. We also held an equity training, which was well received, around the basics about how racism shapes homeless services. We talked nationally and there was also a component about Nashville. And we hope to follow up with more trainings with that. Are the right leaders at the table or are there other recommendations that you would have for Nashville as a next step? I’m really encouraged that Nashville pays more than lip service to the idea of ensuring that people with the lived expertise of homelessness are at the table. Where I think we need to improve is to make sure that is also true in our organizations that are delivering homeless services in Nashville. I think that is an area of great need and potential for improvement.
During the interview, Bobby Watts referenced several times the Nashville-Davidson County Continuum of Care (CoC) Homeless Workforce Survey that was conducted by the CoC Data Committee and published in February 2020. The survey asked respondents for demographic information, including race, gender, ability, and lived experience. It also asked about perceptions of how well those working in homeless services reflect the people they serve, perceptions of equity across hiring and advancements, and barriers to participating in professional development opportunities.
Findings showed that: • The majority of respondents were white (75 of frontline staff; 82% of senior management); • 13% reported having lived experience with homelessness; • The general perception is that frontline staff reflected the race, ethnicity, and lived experience of people they served to a higher degree than staff in supervisory or management roles; and • Staff of color reported less opportunity to move up or be promoted in their agency.
(Source: Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency, at www.nashville-mdha.org)
Where would you like the work in Nashville to go? I think there needs to be more work at looking at diversity and having a more diverse senior management in the homelessness response agencies and also at the board level. For one, we need a new survey. The last survey showed a paucity of agencies that had a significant senior leadership that were people of color, which is the majority of those being served in Nashville. It was even worse at the board level. I
June 8 - 22, 2022 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 9
think that’s where I would like us to go to look at that data and then have concrete plans of how we would improve it. And I cannot emphasize enough the importance of those with the lived expertise. To be really inclusive, we really have to be listening and involving not just those who meet a certain demographic but people with lived expertise and show them that their experience is really valued and that they can bring it to the table and be considered an active part.
