The Office of Ethics and Compliance (OEC) believes that ethics and equity, diversity, and inclusion are two sides of the same coin.  An ethical culture acknowledges, appreciates, and advances a diverse and inclusive culture and ensures that equity is embedded throughout. It is subtle, but a good, effective ethics and compliance program can do more than just reduce an organization’s compliance risk, it can build people up.  It can create a space for greater diversity and inclusion beyond the known topics of sexual harassment prevention and non-discrimination training. Although receiving and reviewing complaints alleging unlawful discrimination, fraud, waste and abuse, or other allegations of improper County government activity remain a core responsibility of OEC, OEC continues to promote ethics and compliance in new and inclusive ways, as described below:

New ethics and compliance training and awareness programs

Know the Code compliance risk awareness training – Know the Code trainings are a monthly micro-learning to raise awareness on identified compliance risk areas. This multi-pronged communication approach layers the messaging through written articles, posters and flyers, micro-learning videos, email, and other activities that create scalable on-the-spot training at the group, department, division, unit, and individual levels.  

• It is training scenarios that reflects the diversity of employees’ roles and responsibilities as well as demographic diversity and neurodiversity.
• It is training that respects employees’ time and priorities, that allows the training to be completed in under 10 minutes and immediately applied.
• It is training that is scalable and can be delivered via multiple communication channels and learning modalities.
• Since its inception in September 2021, there have been over 4,000 views of Know the Code trainings. 

Ethics & Compliance Ambassador (ECA) program – Departmental ethics and compliance liaisons, called Ethics & Compliance Ambassadors, are a proven best practice in the compliance arena. ECA programs broaden the reach of an ethics and compliance program by cascading key messages (including “Know the Code” trainings) to resonate with different audiences, thus building more effective relationships with the compliance team and enhancing compliance awareness at all levels. 

• After the ECA program was established, views of Know the Code trainings doubled.
• Importantly, E&C Ambassadors increase staff awareness of ethical expectations, especially at front line levels. ECAs come from all backgrounds and are representative of the diversity of the County of San Diego’s workforce.  The diversity of ECAs as ethics and compliance messengers, along with their operational experience and insight into the division/department, helps County of San Diego employees see themselves represented in the ethics and compliance training and the County’s core values.

Liaison for Committee for Persons with Disabilities information

OEC serves as the County liaison for the Board of Supervisors-appointed Committee for Persons with Disabilities. 

• OEC assisted in filling five of six vacant seats on the eleven-person committee, establishing priorities and focus areas, and executing an action plan for the committee to increase its familiarity with operations, and provide input on accessibility to key departments within the County of San Diego.  
• Six County of San Diego departments presented to and received input from the committee in fiscal year 21-22.  Each department that presented remarked that they found input from the committee to be valuable and actionable.  Additionally, the committee heard from the Live Well San Diego Youth Sector and the San Diego Committee for the Employment of People with Disabilities to help understand how they might support those initiatives.
• OEC hosted three virtual community engagement sessions and conducted a community survey to obtain input on accessibility awareness.  The information collected will serve as a foundation to make recommendations for County departments to make data-driven decisions on how to best increase awareness of accessibility to services, programs, and activities for people with disabilities.