Report Evaluates Federal Action on Civil Rights Enforcement
(Washington, DC) The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights announced today the release of its report, Ten-Year Check-Up: Have Federal Agencies Responded to Civil Rights Recommendations? Published in two volumes, the report examines government implementation of recommendations made by the Commission from the 1990s to the present.
The Commission's report documents the extent to which agencies have acted on civil rights recommendations. It is through fact-finding and monitoring that the government assures it is fulfilling its responsibility of equality for all, according to Commission Chairperson Mary Frances Berry.
Volume I: A Blueprint for Civil Rights Enforcement documents recommendations the Commission made to federal agencies on a wide range of issues including nondiscrimination and equality of opportunity in employment, education, housing, health care and transportation in federally assisted programs. It also offers strategies and elements the Commission believes are vital for effective civil rights enforcement.
Volume II: An Evaluation of the Departments of Justice, Labor, and Transportation focuses on those departments and examines whether civil rights enforcement has improved or changed as a result of findings and recommendations previously documented by the Commission.
We are pleased that these departments have made substantial progress in implementing
many of the Commission's recommendations, Dr. Berry said. However, they still
lack the resources to fulfill the promise of civil rights legislation.
The report reveals that inadequate funding, insufficient staff, and increased
workloads are endemic across federal civil rights offices. As a result, the
Commission urges the executive and legislative branches of government to redouble
their efforts to provide each with the necessary resources to comply with civil
rights mandates.
Ten-Year Check-Up can be ordered by contacting the Commission's publications office at (202) 376-8128 or publications@usccr.gov. It also can be viewed at www.usccr.gov.
10/02/02