A CLAS Act: What We Can Do as Behavioral Health Practitioners to Build Health Equity 

Training Description:

This training will provide an overview of the concepts and principles of cultural competence and the Enhanced National Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) Standards, and enable participants to meaningfully incorporate these critical components into their work.  Lessons will help participants address some of the common misperceptions about culture and take a close look at how personal and organizational culture can drive our interactions and our outcomes. They will engage in an understanding of the Enhanced National CLAS Standards and learn the research-based approaches to building personal and organizational cultural competence into their daily practice, enabling them to effectively contribute to local and national health equity initiatives.

Learning Objectives:  At the conclusion of the training you will be able to:

• Establish a working definition of culture, its role and purpose
• Assess salient cultural impacts in your work
• Recognize appropriate and inappropriate responses to common scenarios facing those in the field of behavioral health
• Identify five essential elements of cultural competence
• Identify seven indicators of cultural competence in behavioral health delivery organizations
• Use the Enhanced National CLAS Standards to assess current practices and plan for the future