SUBJECT: POLICY ON CULTURAL COMPETENCE  

Purpose:  The purpose of this policy is to formally designate cultural competence as an essential characteristic and defining quality that must be embedded in all aspects of the DMHAS healthcare service system. The single overarching goal of the DMHAS, a healthcare service agency, is promoting and achieving a value-driven, recovery oriented system of care. The fullest attainment of that goal is simply not possible if the service design, delivery and evaluation are not culturally competent. 

Definition: 
Cultural competence is a set of congruent practice skills, attitudes, policies and structures which come together in a system, agency or among professionals and enable that system or those professionals to work effectively in cross cultural situations.

Cultural competency is the acceptance and respect for difference, continuing self assessment regarding one’s own or another culture, attention to the dynamics of difference, ongoing development of cultural knowledge and resources and flexibility within service models to work towards better meeting the needs of diverse populations (Cross, Brazron, Dennis, & Isaacs. 1998)

Policy Statement: The DMHAS healthcare service system shall function with cultural competency that responds effectively to the needs and differences of all individuals, based on their race, gender, age, physical or mental status, sexual orientation, and ethnic or cultural heritage. Both the population of Connecticut and the demographic profile of persons served by DMHAS operated or funded agencies reflect significant changes toward greater diversity. Further, findings in the professional literature point to patterns indicating disparities in access and other indices of the quality of healthcare for some racial, cultural and low-income groups in systems of care such as DMHAS. Consequently, there must be a special focus on identifying persons or groups who, while in need of the behavioral healthcare services, are either not well or unserved by the DMHAS system. Once identified, informed and strong steps must then be taken to assure provision of effective quality and parity of healthcare to these persons/groups. Such populations, as must be the case for all persons involved with any aspect of the DMHAS public/private system, must be equitably served and have full access to a culturally competent DMHAS healthcare system.  An established system-wide environment of support and education related to cultural competence must exist in order to assist the public/private workforce to be culturally competent.

DMHAS Tools For Implementing the Policy: 

A.      Behavioral Health Initiatives

To promote effective implementation of this policy as part of the overarching goal and Strategic Action Plan of DMHAS, the agency’s policies shall require all services to be culturally appropriate, and to be supported by the provision of multicultural professional training for all planned services so as to achieve the desired quality outcomes for any of DMHAS’ behavioral health initiatives. The latter may include: 

1.  Quality Care, described as the commitment to a statewide culturally appropriate, quality care management system, designed to achieve defined service outcomes and the continued improvement of the integrated DMHAS healthcare system.

2.  Recovery, identified as the process in which an individual of any cultural/ethnic/racial heritage served by the DMHAS healthcare system is supported in their effort to restore or develop a positive and meaningful sense of identity apart from one’s condition and then rebuilding one’s life despite, or within the limitations imposed by that condition.