Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging

Our Equity Statement

I Belong. Eradicate systemic, racial, and oppressive barriers so everyone succeeds.

Our Vision

An equitable world where people of all abilities, identities, and backgrounds belong and thrive.

I belong. Eradicate systemic racial and oppressive barriers so everyone succeeds.

Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppression

Kindering was founded on equity of ability and neurodivergence. Racism and other forms of systemic oppression (including ageism, classism, heterosexism, transphobia, religious persecution, xenophobia) compound inequities, especially for children with disabilities and/or neurodivergence and their families, driving social determinants of health for all children. Because of this, we sharpen our focus on combatting racism and other forms of oppression. Kindering is working toward a Race Equity Culture that is “focused on proactive counteraction of race inequities” in accordance with Equity in the Center’s Awake to Woke to Work framework.

CARE Designated Site

Kindering received CARE designation in 2020 from Snohomish County. Here’s what this means for our families:

CARE designated organizations have participated in bolstering internal training expertise (often called train-the-trainer) and have Trauma-Informed Leadership Teams. Kindering’s leadership team is committed to training the entire organization on Trauma Informed Care, Adverse Childhood Experiences, Self-Care, Secondary Traumatic Stress, Resiliency, and Trauma 101 with a framework that embeds Restorative Practices and Equity.

2028 Strategic Goals

As part of our 2028 Strategic Plan (outlined in detail here), Kindering is working to ensure that diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging is integrated throughout our priorities and actions. Some examples include:

  • Embodying healing-centeredness, diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.
  • Building nimble leadership and systems that implement effective change.
  • Mobilizing advocates to improve policies, secure resources, and elevate people with evident and non-evident disabilities.
  • Improving systems of care for children of diverse abilities.
  • Delivering quality, culturally responsive programs.
  • Meeting the emerging needs of children, families, and our community.
  • Fostering acceptance and celebrating developmental inchstones.

Equity in Action

Avery’s Story:

3-year-old Avery enrolled in Kindering’s feeding and occupational therapy services when he was a teeny tiny 3-month-old baby. His mom Amber says, “If I could talk to new parents who are hesitant about going to Kindering, I would say don’t hesitate. And I’m sure money might be stopping some people, but Kindering never had talked about money being an issue. There was always a way for us to get the services we needed!”

Heera’s Story:

Heera, a 5-year-old who was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder when she was 4, enrolled in Kindering’s KidsClinic. Heera’s family moved to the U.S. from India just months before Heera was born. As the family navigates Heera’s autism journey, they are also navigating the challenges of a new home country, linguistic barriers, and more. For Heera, who is used to hearing Hindi at home, having a therapist fluent in both Hindi and English is key. Thankfully, Heera’s bilingual therapist empowers Heera to use the language of her choice and can support her parents directly!

Kindering at the Capitol:

This year, Kindering led a legislative request to improve state funding for services for infants and toddlers with disabilities. At our Day on the Hill, we brought together parents and self-advocates to champion equitable, statewide systems change. In this grassroots effort, we were able to get over 620 individuals to officially register in favor of our original bill with the State Legislature. Although we still have a ways to go, we were successful in securing $2.4 million in a one-time rate increase for early support providers across Washington! Kindering plans to continue this critical systems change work to promote equitable access to services for children with disabilities across the state.

In his op-ed in The Seattle Times, Rome Johnson writes, “At 3 years old, Caliyah Joy has had more than 23 surgeries. She breathes through a tracheostomy tube, had to wear a halo device as a brace for facial reconstructive surgery for two months, and continues to experience medical complications and developmental delays associated with her rare genetic condition, Pfeiffer syndrome.

But Caliyah Joy, my daughter, is thriving. That’s largely due to the early special education services she received — services the state continually fails to fully fund.” Read more here.

Highlights of Our DEI&B Work

2022- 2023: Development of a Strategic Framework for 2023-2028 to articulate and activate Kindering’s priorities and center equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging.

2022 -2023: Developing and articulating a vision statement for the agency – An equitable world where people of all abilities, identities, and backgrounds belong and thrive.

2021 – 2022: Reflective Intergroup Dialogue facilitated by Dr. Ratnesh Nagda with 40+ managers on how white dominant culture shows up within our organization.

2021: Launch of Healing-Centered Equity trainings.

2021: In recognition of the importance of social-emotional safety for children and caregivers, Kindering becomes certified as a Trauma-Informed CARE Organization through the Snohomish County Children’s Wellness Coalition.

2020 to present: Performing a Race Equity Culture Assessment along with using other strategies to learn more about people’s experiences at Kindering based on their identities to help inform our equity work.

2020 to present: Begin using tools to help identify systemic, racial, and oppressive barriers at the agency such as Awake to Woke to Work designed to help move organizations through the race equity cycle of awareness to holding itself accountable to addressing systemic racism and root causes of internal and external inequities.

2020: Developing and articulating a statement of equity for the agency – I Belong.  Eradicate systemic, racial and oppressive barriers so that everyone succeeds.

2020: Re-establish an Accessibility, Equity, & Inclusion (AEI) Team.

2019: Financial investment in hiring an Equity and Inclusion Officer.