Tools and Resources

Find assessments and guidelines developed for substance use and mental health organizations to evaluate their own cultural competence. Research your own community demographics by county or zip code. Find referrals for substance use services by zip code or treatment need.

The CA-CLAS project is committed to providing tools and resources to alcohol and other drug (AOD) organizations to strengthen their capacity to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate services thereby improving the overall quality and effectiveness of services.

15 Enhanced CLAS Standards

The Office of Minority Health (OMH), under the auspices of the Department of Health and Human Services, released standards for culturally competent healthcare in 2001. In 2011, the Community Alliance for CLAS convened an advisory board to help draft CLAS standards specifically for use in the California AOD field.  These standards and associated checklists were approved by the California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs (ADP, now DHCS) in early 2012, and updated by the Office of Minority Health (OMH) in 2013. The new, enhanced standards are intended for use in the treatment provision for substance abuse prevention, treatment, and recovery organizations. The CA-CLAS contract is dedicated to increasing the capacity of these organizations to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate services.
15 Enhanced CA CLAS Standards and Recommendations

*NEW* CA-CLAS Focus Group Report (click to view)

“The CA-CLAS focus groups were convened to better understand how well populations that have been historically underserved by AOD services are now being served. The goal of the focus groups is to help AOD providers establish services that respond to the particular ways in which AOD consumers understand, experience, and interpret their needs for substance use prevention, treatment, and recovery services. The intended outcome is the reduction of disparities between cultural groups in AOD service access and completion.”

Health Care Reform Bulletin: Expanding Access to Mental Health Services through the Affordable Care Act

California Pan-Ethnic Health Network released a briefing on the ways in which the ACA expands mental health coverage, supports coordination of care, and ensures mental health parity.
Health Care Reform Bulletin: Expanding Access to Mental Health Services through the Affordable Care Act

Regional Training Resources

The CA-CLAS project sponsers a regional training series to bring CLAS trainings to AOD providers across the state. Please see the calendar for regional training topics and dates. You can download the 2012 CLAS Regional Training entitled Meeting the Challenge:Incorporating Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) Standards into Our Continuum of Care below.
Cultural Competence Power Point Meeting the Challenge

Tools to Assess the Cultural Competence of Clinicians

Quick Discrimination Index

The Quick Discrimination Index is a tool to assess a clinician’s attitude towards diversity along 3 matrices: attitudes towards racial diversity and multiculturalism; attitudes towards more personal contact with racial diversity; and attitudes towards women’s equity.
Discrimination Index

Multicultural Awareness Index

The Multicultural Awareness Index is a tool to assess clinician’s awareness, knowledge, and skills.  Each arena is scored separately. Multicultural Awareness Assessment

Cultural and Linguistic Competency Assessment Tools

The first step in building cultural and linguistic competency capacity is an organization’s willingness to engage in honest self-assessment. Establishing a baseline measure of current practices and capacities for cultural and linguistic competence enables organizations to set competence goals, develop competence strategies and track progress towards competence outcomes. Click the links below for assessment tools, checklists, and guidelines.
Organizational Cultural and Linguistic Competency Assessment Tool.

Developed by the Community Alliance for CLAS partners, 2011.

Indicators of Cultural Competence in Health Care Delivery Organizations: An Organizational Cultural Competence Assessment Profile.

Prepared for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration. Assessment profile developed as a set of indicators to be used as a tool for examining, demonstrating, and documenting cultural competence in organizations involved in the direct delivery of health care and services.

Guidelines for Providers of Psychological Services to Ethnic, Linguistic, and Culturally Diverse Populations.

Published by the American Psychological Association. Provides 9 guidelines for mental health professionals to evaluate and improve their cultural competence.

Toolkit for Modifying Evidence-Based Practices to Increase Cultural Competence (click to view)

Samuels, J., Schudrich, W., & Altschul, D. (2009). Orangeburg, NY: Research Foundation for Mental Health.

LGBTQ Cultural Competence Assessment.

Published by the National Center for Cultural Competence at Georgetown University, this tool helps providers who work with LGBTQ youth and their families assess the degree to which they are providing culturally competent services.

 Linguistic Competency Resources

CLAS Partner NICOS Chinese Health Coalition has prepared a report on the needs of California’s LEP populuation, as a well as series of reccomendations.  That report, along with accompanying tools to help providers identify the languages spoken in their service communities, are available here:

Find Your Community Demographics

Cultural and linguistic competency is furthered when organizations know the racial, ethnic, linguistic, economic, and family characteristics of their service community. The resources listed below allow service providers to investigate the characteristics of their community by city, county, or zip code, and may allow them to identify populations who are underserved.

Community Profiles

This tool allows providers to investigate the extent of substance abuse in their service community, the types of substances used, and substance use related crime, morbidity and mortality. County profiles provide detailed information on substance abuse by race and ethnicity, the extent of youth substance abuse, and detailed information about substance abuse treatment patterns.
Community Indicators of Alcohol & Drug Abuse Risk: County Reports 2010

Learn More About Health and Service Disparities

National Healthcare Disparities Report, 2011

Referrals

Find referrals for appropriate alcohol and drug treatment services
211.org (search for services by zip code, narrow search by need)

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