Cultural and Linguistic Competence Community of Practice
Cultural and linguistic competence is one of the core values of systems of care. Cultural Competence is defined as "the integration of knowledge, information, and data about individuals and groups of people into clinical standards, skills, service approaches and supports, policies, measures, and benchmarks that align with the individual's or group's culture and increases the quality, appropriateness, and acceptability of health care and outcomes” (Cross et al., 1989). Linguistic competence is "the capacity of an organization and its personnel to communicate effectively, and convey information in a manner that is easily understood by diverse audiences including persons of limited English proficiency, those who have low literacy skills or are not literate, and individuals with disabilities” (Goode & Jones, 2004).
The Cultural Competence Action Team (CCAT) supports system of care communities by helping to enhance their efforts to integrate and implement cultural and linguistic competence through its Cultural and Linguistic Competence Community of Practice (CLC-COP). Through the CLC-COP, the CCAT maintains a cohesive vision, facilitates communication and coordination among the learning communities, provides assistance and support to system of care communities, and offers tools and resources to help system of care communities implement and improve their cultural and linguistic competence.
Cultural Learning Communities
- African Heritage Learning Community
- Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Other Pacific Islander Learning Community
- Latino Learning Community
- Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, Intersex, or Two-Spirit Learning Community
A learning community is much like an affinity group, made up of individuals and groups that have a common interest in a particular subject and wish to network with others who share that interest. Networking through the learning communities facilitates peer mentoring, issue development, resource gathering, best practice sharing, strategy development, and a variety of other mutually beneficial activities that promote and improve the access, availability, and quality of mental health services as well as the outcomes for the populations served.
Featured Resources
Cultural and Linguistic Competence Implementation Guide
This guide provides community examples, best practices, and information on specific tools and resources that can assist system of care communities, partnering agencies, and organizations to build and promote CLC.
Tools and Resources for System of Care Communities
The following resources are available to help system of care communities implement and improve cultural and linguistic competence:
- Cultural and Linguistic Competence Checklist for Communities
- A Cultural Competency Toolkit: Ten Grant Sites Share Lessons Learned
- Sample Cultural and Linguistic Competence Budget
- Sample Cultural and Linguistic Competence Committee Description
- Sample Cultural and Linguistic Competence Plan
- Sample Job Description for Cultural and Linguistic Competence Coordinators