Open recommendations
We have made these recommendations, but have not yet assessed their status.
Countywide Equity Audit: Multnomah County shows commitment to equity; more accountability is crucial for ensuring meaningful progress
| Recommendation | When we will assess it |
|---|
| Embed equity practices in all decision-making processes. | Spring 2026 |
Preschool for All: The program is largely achieving its equity goals, but needs to address risks to expansion
| Recommendation | When we will assess it |
|---|
| Develop and implement a process to verify the accuracy of families’ application answers used for priority weighting. At a minimum, the process should verify income with documentation, since income is the highest weighted and is straightforward to document. | Spring 2026 |
| Adjust budgets and the forecast to better reflect actual spending. | Spring 2026 |
| Ensure communications to providers, the Board of County Commissioners, and the public reflect current practices and note in a timely manner when changes from the plan and county code have occurred. | Spring 2026 |
| Make priority group language consistent across all communications, including contracts, applications, program instructions, and communications to the public. | Spring 2026 |
| Provide information about the availability of seats at each preschool on the website, to provide more information for families that are applying. | Spring 2026 |
| Create focused outreach strategies for each of the priority groups in the Preschool for All Plan. | Spring 2026 |
| Add more trainings on culturally responsive and accessible preschool. | Spring 2026 |
| Provide instructions to family navigator organizations encouraging them to visit and get to know at least some preschools. | Spring 2026 |
| Add the provider program guide to the website. | Spring 2026 |
| Create a system to improve data tracking of all preschools that have applied, the outcome, and the reason for the outcome. | Spring 2026 |
| Create and implement a process for engaging with preschools that have applied but did not participate. | Spring 2026 |
| Create and implement a formalized mechanism for preschools of various sizes (both participating and not participating) to provide input on the Preschool for All program. | Spring 2026 |
| Work with central purchasing and the county attorney to review contract requirements for opportunities to reduce burdens on preschools, while still protecting the county. Consult with the county equity contracting group as a resource. | Spring 2026 |
| Publicly report annually on the progress of the facilities fund. Include updated analysis on the estimated number and capacity of existing private and public preschools, as available data allows. | Spring 2026 |
| Specify and communicate facility fund guidelines to include requirements for creating Preschool for All seats specifically. | Spring 2026 |
| Adjust reporting requirements for academic navigators to better monitor if the investments are building new teacher capacity. | Spring 2026 |
