All staff will follow public notification procedures to ensure that the public is aware of Extension's nondiscriminatory position.

Staff must:

• Display the nondiscriminatory poster And Justice for All.
• All stationary, newsletters, and news articles must contain the nondiscriminatory statement found on the Extension Marketing site.
• Promotional materials, photos, and other graphics will portray the diversity of Extension clientele.
• Extension cannot conduct programs with any organization or group that excludes any person because of race, color, ethnic origin, national origin, creed, religion, political belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, marital status, genetic information, age, veteran status, physical or mental disability or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity. 
• All Extension - sponsored groups must sign a statement of nondiscrimination on an annual basis.

The Cooperative Extension Service prohibits discrimination in its programs and employment on the basis of race, color, ethnic origin, national origin, creed, religion, political belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, marital status, genetic information, age, veteran status, or physical or mental disability.

Agents will make the public aware of the complaint procedure by placing the nondiscriminatory statement found on the Extension Marketing website in their newsletter at least once per year.

The nondiscriminatory notification statement should be used in written communication with guests invited to make presentations at Extension sponsored events or functions. One way to do this would be to incorporate the statement into a letter of confirmation as follows:

Looking forward to having you on our program to (present a workshop, participate in our seminar...etc.)

The programs sponsored by the Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service are planned for all people regardless of race, color, ethnic origin, national origin, creed, religion, political belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, marital status, genetic information, age, veteran status, or physical or mental disability. We anticipate that the audience for the program will represent the diversity of our community (state, area, and city) and we encourage all presenters to be sensitive to the words, phrases, stories, and jokes used to communicate their message in order not to devalue any individual or group. We appreciate your recognition and support of our efforts to be inclusive and to avoid reinforcing negative stereotypes.

In programming, it should be a part of our day-to-day planning and delivery. It is the actions we take to ensure our programs are "serving all Kentuckians." Affirmative actions or steps could include:

• Evaluation of past participation in Extension programs and development of goals for reaching a more diverse audience.
• Making sure advisory councils and planning committees are representative of the population of the county.
• Holding meetings at various times and locations.
• Utilizing assistance and advice of members of underrepresented groups.

Parity of participation is reached when the percent distribution of participation by race and gender is proportionate to, or within reasonable limits of, their respective percent distribution in the potential recipient audience/population. This percent is a guide for us to evaluate our success in reaching a diverse audience and should be considered as a minimum goal.

“All reasonable efforts” consist of a series of approaches that are required of Extension staff to solicit participation of the underrepresented group, the group that is not participating. These are used in addition to affirmative action procedures, and are required when programs do not meet balanced participation requirements. Some situations that call for "all reasonable efforts" include the following: (a) an Extension sponsored or assisted group that does not reflect the racial composition of the target community; (b) advisory or decision - making groups that do not reflect the composition of the potential audience; and/or (c) program participation in which certain groups are consistently underrepresented.

"All reasonable efforts" or extra efforts, must be made and documented until balanced participation is met and maintained.

Examples of “all reasonable efforts” may include:

• Use media outlets that target the underrepresented group to announce programs and events.
• Develop announcements, flyers, and posters to be placed in locations frequented by the underrepresented group.
• Write personal letters to and contact members of the underrepresented group to encourage their participation.
• Make personal contact with leaders from the underrepresented group to seek their assistance in reaching this audience.
• Seek assistance from other community groups to encourage participation.
• These extra efforts are documented by keeping notes in an “all reasonable efforts” file.
• The notes describing what has been done may be separate documents or they may be summarized on the “All Reasonable Efforts" Form.
• All reasonable efforts should also be reported in KERS under the Service Log Activities. For more information, click here.