Should You OPEN Your Institution’s Doors to OCR: New Civil Rights Office Raises Questions

Originally posted on our Title IX Insights Blog

The U.S. Department of Education has created a “new, proactive” civil rights compliance center within its Office for Civil Rights. The Department describes the Outreach, Prevention, Education and Non-discrimination, or OPEN, Center as an effort to “support[ ] school districts, colleges, and those closest to students” by providing educational institutions “technical assistance to help them come into compliance with federal civil rights laws prior to the filing of a complaint.” Yet OCR retains the right to open “directed investigations” and “compliance reviews” against educational entities without a complaint; is there a risk that opening your doors to the OPEN Center could put you at risk of further OCR enforcement.

Read more on our Title IX Insights Blog.