CASA of San Luis Obispo (SLO CASA) is committed to improving the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) of all aspects of our organization in order to best serve the diverse community of foster children in San Luis Obispo county. We are committed to providing services that reflect best practices and are inclusive of language, gender and ethnicity of all community members. We are also committed to building an inclusive and equitable workplace that is welcoming to all.

Our primary DEI focus at this time is twofold: to better serve the Latinx community and to increase the number of male CASA volunteers to best serve boys in foster care who commonly lack positive male role models.

With the generous support of funders including the National CASA/GAL Association and the City of SLO, we are implementing the following DEI projects:

• Translation of materials including brochures and Banners to provide outreach and education in both English and Spanish.

• Four sessions of DEI training for our Board of Directors from a trained consultant during 2023, covering the following topics:

• • Foundations of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

  • Building Self-Awareness and Understanding Privilege

  • Creating an Inclusive and Anti-Racist Culture

  • Preventing Microaggressions

• Book Club and discussion group for CASA staff facilitated by a trained DEI consultant.

• Conducting focus groups with male and Latinx volunteers to identify barriers and incentives for increasing the number of CASA volunteers reflecting each of these demographics.

• Targeted recruitment events focused on increasing the numbers of male and Spanish-speaking CASA volunteers.

• Focused recruitment of bilingual/Latinx staff and board members.

• Diversifying social media presence to include posts in both English and Spanish.