The purpose of this regulation is to provide guidance and direction on the establishment and administration of Special Emphasis Programs throughout the Department of Agriculture. Special Emphasis Programs address the unique concerns of women, minorities and persons with disabilities in achieving equal opportunity in all employment and program delivery activities.

The measure of an effective Special Emphasis Program is the results achieved toward civil rights program objectives.

Examples of key indicators include:

a Progress towards achieving a diverse work force at all grade levels and in all occupations:

b A decrease in employment/ program complaints and findings of discrimination:

c An increase in early complaint resolution rates: and

d Outreach efforts to under-utilized and under-served communities;

In order to carry out Special Emphasis Program objectives. a wide range of civil rights laws, rules, executive orders and regulations are utilized (refer to Appendix A).

SEP - Special Emphasis Program(s)

ED - Equal Employment Opportunity

OCRE - Office of Civil Rights Enforcement

a Civil Rights. Encompasses all aspects of equal opportunity and nondiscrimination in Department programs and employment including but not limited to affirmative employment programs. enforcement. and nondiscrimination in federally assisted and federally conducted programs.

b Collateral-duty SEP Manager Assignment. An assignment that provides management and support of an SEP with the following characteristics: a collateral duty assignment is not the primary purpose for establishing or continuing the employee's official position-of-record; the SEP does not constitute a grade controlling duty or responsibility; and a collateral duty assignment may be terminated at management's discretion without following adverse action procedures.

To maximize the SEP Manager's effectiveness the duration of a collateral duty assignment should be a minimum of two years.

c Customer. Any individual, organization, or entity working for, serviced by, or doing business with the Department of Agriculture, e.g. employees or applicants for employment, program recipients, beneficiaries or applicants for program services, benefits or financial assistance, other Federal agencies,State and local governments, the general public, or any individual or entity affected by Department of Agriculture programs or services.

d Employment activities. Recruitment hiring, promotions, separations, awards, training, or any other employment action which impacts on the inclusion of and equal opportunity for women, minorities, and people with disabilities.

e Full-time SEP Manager Position. A position which includes, as its primary responsibility, management of an SEP (or SEPs) as a regular and grade-controlling work assignment and for which the management of the SEP is a critical performance element.

f Program delivery activities. These activities include outreach, training, public notification, program accessibility or any system, practice or procedure or other activity which increases the knowledge of and participation by women, minorities, and people with disabilities.

g Special emphasis Programs (SEPs). SEPs are an integral part of the overall civil rights, human resource and program delivery functions. The purpose of SEPs is to provide oversight, guidance, direction, enforcement and assistance to enhance opportunities for women, minorities, and people with disabilities in all employment and program delivery activities. Refer to paragraph 8 for a list of SEPs currently authorized within the Department of Agriculture.

h Under-utilization. The absence of minorities, women or people with disabilities from an organization's work force or program, or representation of a particular group which does not reflect the availability of that group in the applicable population, e.g., labor market, applicant pool, small and minority group contractors, program population served.

The Department of Agriculture policy is to:

a Provide equal opportunity in all employment and program delivery activities:

b Prohibit discrimination based on race, color, age, religion, sex, national origin, disability, familial status, marital status, or sexual orientation: and

c Hold managers and supervisors accountable for results-oriented civil rights activities.

The following objectives apply to all SEPs relative to human resource management and program delivery;

a To identify and assist in removing discriminatory practices and procedures and other barriers to equal opportunity in all employment and program delivery activities;

b To initiate and conduct programs and other activities to increase the representation of women. minorities and persons with disabilities where these groups are under-utilized. Examples of programs and other activities include but are not limited to outreach activities, a comprehensive public notification system, effective monitoring and evaluation systems, special observance activities, and other educational and awareness activities.

c To continually improve hiring, training, retention and promotion opportunities for all qualified individuals to ensure a diverse work force.

d To improve the program composition or work force profile to reflect the population served;

e To utilize the knowledge and skills of all qualified individuals to include participation on boards, committees and task groups, upward mobility programs, special projects, details, temporary promotions, and other career enhancing opportunities;

f To provide an effective channel of communication to management regarding, women, minorities and people with disabilities to express particular concerns and issues of the group; and

g To focus on customer-service and expand the customer base to include all qualified individuals and entities.

a Establishment of SEP Manager positions may be based on a number of factors including any or all of the following:

b The following SEPs are authorized within the Department and have been established at the Departmental level:

c In addition to the above programs, the Small or Limited Resource Farmer/Rancher Program has been established at the Department level to monitor agency actions, enforce program requirements, provide coordination and, in general, to provide overall leadership and direction. USDA agencies responsible for providing benefits or assistance to farmers and ranchers should provide adequate resources to carry out the requirements of this program.

d Agencies may also establish Disability Employment and Disabled Veterans Affirmative Action Programs. These programs focus on employment activities to include recruiting, hiring, placement, advancement and training. Disability Compliance/Special Emphasis Programs are broader in scope to include oversight of iii civil rights activities related to customers with disabilities to include human resource issues.

e Agency headquarters levels and subordinate organizations (e.g., regions, areas) with 3,000 or more full-time equivalent employees are encouraged to establish SEPs. The decision to establish SEP Manager positions (full-time or collateral duty) is a management decision (refer to paragraph 8 a above).

f Agency heads shall provide the names of all newly appointed headquarters level SEP Managers to the Director, OCRE.

g OPM qualification requirements are to be applied when filling SEP Manager positions. When and where appropriate and critical to successful performance, it is recommended that applicants for SEP Manager positions possess bilingual and/or bicultural ability.

h Refer to Appendix B for a list of typical SEP Manager duties.

i Agencies should allocate sufficient resources to achieve effective and results-oriented SEPs.

a Collateral-duty assignments are to be documented in an addendum to the employee's official position description and include:

b SEP responsibilities will also be addressed in performance standards as a non-critical element but do not replace the EEO requirements of the employee's official position of record.

It is recommended that a Memorandum of Understanding be prepared for all collateral duty SEP Managers to include the items listed in 9 above. A sample "Memorandum of Understanding" is at Appendix C.

The establishment of SEP Councils at the Departmental, agency and lower levels is encouraged, where necessary, to address the concerns of women, minorities and persons with disabilities. SEP councils serve as a valuable consultative and resource body and assist in the implementation and delivery of SEP activities.

SEP Managers (full-time and collateral duty) should be provided comprehensive civil rights training as soon as possible after appointment.

SEP Managers are encouraged to prepare an annual SEP work plan to include objectives, action items, expected results, completion, dates and evaluation mechanism to ascertain effectiveness. These plans should be incorporated, as appropriate, into the agency's Affirmative Employment Program Plan for minorities and women.

The Department of Agriculture strongly supports the conduct of and participation in programs, special events, observances and other activities that support the goals and objectives of the Department's SEPs.

SEP observances throughout the Department are to be limited to one day during the applicable SEP observance month. The OCRE will assure that USDA Department-wide activities are appropriately coordinated within the Washington, D.C. headquarters complex. Field offices co-located or in close proximity to each other will coordinate their SEP observances, where practical, sharing celebrations on the same day as headquarters.

In sponsoring SEP observances, ceremonies and activities are to be conducted in the most cost-efficient manner possible. Agencies are to avoid separate and costly observance programs. By combining efforts and resources wherever possible, SEP observances greatly enhance the Department's efforts to promote cooperation across agency lines.

In support of SEP objectives, the Department recognizes observances listed in Appendix D.