September 28, 2010

Consistent with the Mission Statement of Hiawatha Behavioral Health, our organization will ensure the following items occur for the population of persons served, employees, and volunteers:

• Recognize that cultural issues are not limited to ethnicity considerations, but may also include religious, disability, rural or other issues;
• Value differences including cultural differences and recognize similarities among consumers, employees, volunteers, customers and vendors;
• Support a work environment free of all forms of discrimination, including harassment - sexual, religious or cultural;
• Develop a diverse workforce which reflects the community;
• Conduct annual cultural diversity/competency training, including recovery, limited English proficiency, language line and use of the TDD/TTY teletypewriter line and;
• Encourage a climate of cooperation in the work environments that promotes a positive attitude toward the provision of services.

Hiawatha Behavioral Health values differences and recognizes similarities among consumers, employees, volunteers, customers and vendors. It is the responsibility of all HBH employees and volunteers to generate and maintain work environments in which consumers, employees, volunteers, customers and vendors are respected, valued and welcomed. HBH encourages recruitment of persons or family members served within our organization for employment, Board of Directors leadership, and service boards such as the Consumer Family Advocacy Panel (CFAP).

All HBH employees and volunteers will foster environments that value cultural diversity and support the elimination of discrimination in the workplace.

Discrimination is a violation of state/federal civil rights laws, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. HBH is committed to providing:

• A workplace free from discrimination based on an individual’s protected-class status of race, color, creed, religion, national origin, gender, age, disability, marital status, rural status, sexual orientation or public assistance status;
• A workplace free from harassment, including sexual, racial and cultural harassment;
• Affirmative action and equal employment opportunities in all phases of employment through recruitment, retention and advancement of culturally diverse and qualified people and utilization of job-related criteria in making employment decisions.

All HBH consumers, employees, volunteers, customers and vendors are expected to treat each other with dignity and respect. If anyone believes that he/she is a target of behavior that violates this plan or is witness to such conduct, he/she has the right to follow the complaint procedures as outlined in HBH Sexual Harassment policy.