The Cultural Competency Concept:
- Refers to the ability of organizations and individuals to work effectively in cross-cultural or multicultural situations.
- It has an emphasis on the interaction and the communication with the community and among ethnic groups to assess their needs and create "with" rather than develop "for".
- It is an evolving process.
- It is about "quality of care".
Organizational Cultural Competency:
The existence of policies, procedures, practices, and organizational infrastructure, to support the delivery of culturally and linguistically sensitive and appropriate mental health services where “culture” is broadly defined.
Definition of Culture*:
The integrated pattern of human behavior that includes thought communication, actions, customs, beliefs, values and institutions of a racial, ethnic, religious or social group. Culture defines the preferred ways for meeting needs (Cross et al, 1989). A culture identity may involve: ethnicity, race, language, age, country of origin, acculturation, gender, socioeconomic class, disabilities, religious/spiritual beliefs and sexual orientation*.
*Source: California Department of Mental Health
"Culturally competent system of care acknowledges and incorporates – at all levels- the importance of culture, the assessment of cross-cultural relations, vigilance towards the dynamics that result from cultural differences, the expansion of cultural knowledge, and the adaptation of services to meet culturally-unique needs" Cross, T. Bazron, B., Dennis, K., and Isaacs, M., 1989. (p.11 & 13).
The Function of the Los Angeles County – Department of Mental Health, Cultural Competency Unit:
The Cultural Competency Unit is part of the Planning Division. The Unit views its role as an internal mechanism that is integral to the planning, assessment, and evaluation of mental health services that are culturally and linguistically responsive to the unique needs of the Los Angeles County diverse communities.
The Unit is committed to providing the technical assistance, the education, and the training necessary to integrate cultural competency in all the Department's operations.
The objective of the Unit is to increase service accessibility for the ethnically and linguistically diverse communities.
Cultural Competency and the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA):
The MHSA lists several guidelines that refer to the following areas:
- The focus on culturally and linguistically competent mental health services.
- The focus on reaching out and serving the underserved, the un-served, and the inappropriately served populations.
- The focus on reaching out for the underrepresented ethnic populations (UREP)
- The integration of consumers, family members, parents and caregivers in the Department's workforce.
- The adoption of "whatever it takes" attitude to provide hope to our consumers and their family members and to help our consumers recover
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