Cultural Competency

		Email Follow these Steps to email a friend or colleague a link to this information. Cultural Competency Year Published: 2009 http://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/acloserlook/culturalcompetency/ While today's child welfare administrators address the challenges of improving child safety, well-being, and permanency, they also must meet the needs of an increasingly culturally and ethnically diverse child welfare population. The disproportionate numbers of children of color who are part of the child welfare population represent only the tip of the iceberg in dealing with cultural issues. Children of color are overrepresented in almost every part of the child welfare system. However, child welfare systems are not alone in facing culturally significant issues such as disproportionality. This issue of A Closer Look defines cultural competency, reviews its history in public child welfare, and highlights strategies to operationalize cultural competency in a systems of care framework for change. The report draws on current research in the field as well as the knowledge and experiences of nine grant communities currently in the fifth year of a 5-year demonstration grant. (Author abstract) Step 1: Recipient email address(es) (First one is Required) To Email Address 1: To Email Address 2: To Email Address 3: To Email Address 4: To Email Address 5:   Step 2: From Email Address (Required) From Email Address:   Step 3: Verify You are Human (Required) Are you Human? True False   Step 3: Send the link Print (PDF 1360KB)  Share
Author(s)	National Technical Assistance and Evaluation Center for Systems of Care
Year Published	2009

History of Cultural Competency in Public Child Welfare

Federal legislation governing the consideration of race and ethnicity in placement and adoption decisions, services provided to tribal children and families, and timelines to effect a permanency plan for children in care guides the child welfare system's effort to address disparities. The 1978 Indian Child Welfare Act, the Multi-Ethnic Placement Act of 1994, and the 1996 Inter-Ethnic Placement Provisions, which amended the Multi-Ethnic Placement Act, prohibit the use of race as the sole or primary factor in making permanency decisions, while recognizing the importance of culture and race/ethnicity in promoting the overall well-being of children in care. While the data on the impact of transracial placements are ambiguous, this legislation has not eliminated racial/ethnic disparities in the length of time in out-of-home placement nor the time between termination of parental rights and adoption (Vidal de Haymes & Siman, 2003). Complicating the issue further, tribal child welfare systems and the State and local child welfare agencies that work with tribes face multiple layers of jurisdictional and bureaucratic challenges.

Cultural and linguistic competence requires a thoughtful multi-level, multi-systems response that integrates policy and practice improvements and makes use of organizational assessments of cultural and linguistic competence, training, and quality assurance reviews, such as Child and Family Services Reviews, to promote shared accountability.

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