Cultural and Linguistic Competence
DBHDS defines culture in the broad sense, as there are other things in addition to race, language, and ethnicity that contribute to a person’s sense of self. These may be more specific or more general subgroups based on attributes (such as gender or sexual orientation), or shared life experiences (such as survival of violence and/or trauma, education, or homelessness). Multiple memberships in subgroups contribute to an individual’s personal identity and sense of “culture”. Understanding how these factors affect a person is important to providing culturally competent care.
The Office of Cultural & Linguistic Competence, established in August 2008, leads efforts to provide improved services to multicultural consumers and works toward eliminating the disparities within the state’s mental health, intellectual disability and substance-use disorder system. During the initial development of the office, the office will focus on several key areas:
- Expanding the number of culturally and linguistically competent service providers, stakeholders, and staff within the public and private sector.
- Identifying issues and providing technical support for addressing language access needs.
- Developing a state plan to incorporate cultural competence as a critical component in key management activities including planning, quality management, contracts and staff training.
- Providing legislative and policy expertise to enhance accessibility and capacity for successful recovery, self-determination, and empowerment of diverse populations.
- Identifying relevant data elements needed to report program and service outcomes measures and identify progress.
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- DBHDS Cultural and Linguistic Competence Survey 2009
- Position Statement on Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services
- Join the free CLC Information and Resources Group
- 2009 Conference: Using CLAS to develop your organization’s plan for cultural & linguistic competence
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- 2008 Cultural & Linguistic Competency Conference Presentations
- About Us
- CLC Vision and Objectives
- CLC Definitions
- CLC Implementation and Planning Guides
- CLC Steering Committee
- Cultural Adaptations to Evidence-Based Practices
- Culturally & Linguistically Appropriate Services Standards (CLAS)
- Demographics and Facts on Cultural Competence and Diversity
- DSM-IV Outline for Cultural Formulation
- Ideas into Action Newsletters
- Information about Working With Different Communities
- Language Resources
- Mental Health Equity
- Organizational and Self-Assessments
- Policies, Regulations and Standards that Frame CLC at DBHDS
- Presentations
- Quizzes and Tests to Explore Cultural Competence and Hidden Biases
- Survey, DBHDS Cultural and Linguistic Competence Survey 2009
- Technical Assistance National Organizations
- Training Page
- Training Tools Online - (Free Nursing Credits and CMEs)
- Ways to Create a Culturally and Linguistically Competent Workforce
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Join the free CLC Information and Resources Group to share information about culture and language. The group is hosted on the Yahoo! Groups Web site. To subscribe, enter your e-mail address in the box below and click on the purple Join Now! button. Once you have subscribed, click on the purple Log In button (left) to enter the CLC group site.
For more information or to be added to an email list - contact Cecily Rodriguez, Director (804) 786-5872.
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***Please Note: The department name has changed to the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services on July 1, 2009 (from the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services). The department’s new Web site address is www.dbhds.virginia.gov. The previous Web site address will continue to work for up to a year after July 1, 2009.***
