Community Accountability
How parents, the Chicago Park District and the wider community can hold Rainbow DJ Lab to its word.
Why this matters
A program for children has to earn trust in public, not just ask for it. This page explains who the Lab answers to and how you can check that we're doing what we say.
Who the Lab answers to
Families
You are the first check. You can watch class, ask questions, read every policy on this site, and tell us when something doesn't match what you see.
The Chicago Park District
The program needs the Park District's approval, a permit or agreement for space, and a written memorandum of understanding (MOU) before any class runs. None of these is in place yet. See MOU with the Park District and Park District permits.
The Ras Tafari Inc. board
The board is responsible for the organization. A board vote adopting the Lab's policies is a launch requirement and hasn't happened yet. See Board.
How you can check on us
- Open door. Parents and guardians are welcome to observe. See the Open door policy.
- The launch checklist. Every requirement and its status is posted on the Governance page. Nothing is marked done until it is.
- Coach screening dates. Each coach's Chicago Park District background-check clearance and training completion dates will be posted on Meet the coach.
- Conflicts of interest. Each year we publish a summary of disclosures and recusals under the conflict of interest policy.
- Feedback. Tell us what's working and what isn't. See the feedback loop and the progress check-in.
- Public reports. We plan to publish an annual safety review and a community accountability report, which share what happened in plain numbers without identifying any child.
- How we hold ourselves to our rules. See Enforcement and self-accountability.
If something is wrong
- For a safety concern about a child, you never need to go through us first. Call 911 in an emergency, or the Illinois DCFS Hotline at 1-800-25-ABUSE (1-800-252-2873).
- For a concern about any adult, contact the Chicago Park District: the Rainbow Beach Park office, (312) 745-1479, or any Park District staff member.
- For anything else, see Report a concern and the Grievance procedure. You can also contact Stephen Henry directly at 872-255-9333 or stephen@selassiefest.com.
- For concerns about leadership, see the Whistleblower policy.
Our promise
If we fall short of something on this site, we'll say so, tell affected families, and fix it. We'd rather be corrected early than trusted blindly.