4.12 Christine Haley

Ensuring Language Access & Culturally Competent Services to Vulnerable Populations
National Alliance to End Homelessness Conference 2011www.csh.org

Christine Haley
christine.haley@csh.org
312.332.6690 x13
Corporation for Supportive Housing
MA Department of Public Health
Heartland Human Care Services

Today’s Presentation
Systems Level Approach – Culturally & Linguistically Appropriate Services Standards
Example: Heartland Human Care Services, HPRP Program, Chicago

CLAS Standards
Developed by HHS Office of Minority Health
Contribute to the elimination of racial and ethnic health disparities
Make services more responsive to the individual needs of clients
Inclusive of all cultures, but designed to address the needs of racial, ethnic, and linguistic minority population groups

Massachusetts Department of Public Health CLAS Initiative
Led by the Office of Health Equity
Administration’s priority to eliminate health disparities
Integration of CLAS standards into DPH service delivery systems
Included in direct service contracts
www.mass.gov/dph/healthequity
Georgia Simpson May – Director, Office of Health Equity

Making CLAS Happen

Heartland Human Care Services HPRP Program
Three sites across City of Chicago
Case Management: Outreach & Senior Case Managers
Housing Location: Lead Housing Locators & Housing Locators
Maura McCauley – Senior Director, Housing

CLAS Standards

Common Terms
REL: Racially, Ethnically, and Linguistically (REL) diverse minority population
LEP: Limited English Proficient
Translation: written
Interpreter/Interpretation: spoken

14 Standards
Standards 1-3: Culturally Competent Care
Standards 4-7: Language Access
Standards 8-14: Organizational Supports for Cultural Competence

Six Areas for Action

Build Community Partnerships
Standards 12 & 14

Agencies maintain community partnerships (12)
Participatory
Collaborative
Formal & informal partnerships
Community involved in design & implementation of CLAS related activities

Agencies make public their progress (14)
Public information on progress
Successful innovations
Public notice in the community about available information

How it works: Partnerships
Partnership with Heartland Human Care Services and Voluntary Agencies (VolAgs)
.25FTE coordinated relationships administratively; 1.0FTE Senior Case Manager
HHCS processed application; Agencies provided culturally competent case management services

Reflect & Respect Diversity
Standards 2 & 13

Agencies implement workforce diversity strategies (2)
Staff and leadership representative of service area
At all levels of the organization
Strategies to
Recruit;
Retain;
Promote staff and leadership.

Agencies have client conflict and grievance resolution processes (13)
Process is:
Culturally and linguistically sensitive
Process can:
Identify;
Prevent;
Resolve client cross-cultural conflicts or complaints.

How it works: Workforce
Staff reflective of community being served
Recruitment from Refugee Employment Program
Bi-lingual/Bi-cultural – Spanish, Arabic

Foster Cultural Competence
Standards 1 & 3

Agencies ensure that client’s receive from all staff members (1)
Care that is:
Effective
Understandable
Respectful
Care that is compatible with:
Cultural health beliefs;
Cultural health practices;
And in preferred language.

Agencies ensure that staff receive CLAS training (3)
When?
On-going training
Who receives training?
At all levels
Across all disciplines
What?
Education & training
Culturally & linguistically appropriate service delivery

How it works: Training
Current immigrant and refugee population in Chicago
Overview of immigration process
Asking the right questions

Collect Diversity Data
Standards 10, 11 & 14

Agencies ensure that client REL data is collected (10)
REL – race, ethnicity, spoken and written language
In health/client records
Integrated into management information systems
Periodically updated

Agencies maintain community profiles & needs assessment (11)
Profile
Demographic
Cultural
Epidemiological
Needs Assessment
Plan accurately
Implement responsive services

How it works: Community Profiles
Assigned to assess neighborhoods
Identify community assets
Include demographic profile – languages spoken, racial and ethnic populations
Ensure staffing patterns reflect assessments

Benchmark: Plan and Evaluate
Standards 8 & 9

Agencies have written plans on CLAS provision (8)
Agency can
Develop
Implement
Promote plan
Plan includes:
Goals
Policies
Operational plans
Management accountability
Oversight mechanisms

Agency should conduct CLAS related self-assessments (9)
Initial
On-going
Integrate cultural & linguistic measures into:
Internal audits
Performance improvement programs
Patient satisfaction assessments
Outcomes-based evaluations

How it works: Assessment
Completed CLAS Assessment
Team responsible for identifying an areas of improvement

Ensure Language Access
Standards 4,5,6 & 7

Organizations must offer and provide language assistance services (4)
Provided by bi-lingual staff or
Interpreter services
At no cost to the patient/client
At all points of contact
In a timely manner
During all hours of operation

Inform clients of their right to language assistance services (5)
Clients informed both verbally and in writing
Notice should be in client’s preferred language

Agencies assure the competence of language services (6)
Quality of language services provided by interpreters or bi-lingual staff
Family and friends should not be interpreters unless requested by client

Agencies provide language appropriate patient-related materials and post signage (7)
Available to commonly encountered groups and/or groups in the service area
Easily-understood patient-related materials
Signage posted

How it works: Language Access
Bi-lingual Staff: English, Spanish, Arabic
Staff trained in face-to-face and telephonic interpreter services
Service agreement set up with Heartland Alliance’s Cross Cultural Interpreter Services

Where to start…
Assessment
Recognize what you are doing well
Prioritize needs
Create line item in budget for CLAS related costs

Thank You
Christine Haley,
Associate Director, CSH IL Program
christine.haley@csh.org
312.332.6690 x13

4.12 Christine Haley

by National Alliance to End Homelessness on Aug 01, 2011

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