Cultural Proficiency
Does your youth-serving agency actively promote cultural proficiency?
Assess your organization's cultural proficiency, and brainstorm ways to enhance it by answering the following questions.
- Agency's overall goals
Assess: What wording in your mission statement addresses the goal of embracing clients from different cultural backgrounds?
Enhance: How could your organization further address the goals of diversity and inclusion? - Staff, board members, and volunteers
Assess: How is your personnel diverse in race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, religion/ spirituality, gender, native language, sexuality, and age?
Enhance: In what ways could your staff, board, and volunteers be more reflective of the clients you serve? - Policies
Assess: What actions are your staff expected to take if clients or others involved with your agency behave in culturally inappropriate ways (e.g., making racist comments)?
Enhance: How could this policy best be communicated so that clients know exactly what happens if culturally inappropriate behavior occurs? - Training
Assess: What cultural proficiency training (one-time and ongoing) do you provide for your staff?
Enhance: What cultural proficiency training could you add in the next year? - Environment
Assess: What about your facility (the decorations, artwork, space distribution) makes it appear safe and inviting to your clients?
Enhance: What can you do to further ensure that your facility's atmosphere reflects the cultural backgrounds of your clients? - Outreach
Assess: How does your agency conduct outreach to youth of different cultural backgrounds?
Enhance: How could you conduct outreach to include a group that is underserved in your community? - Activities for clients
Assess: What culturally relevant activities have you provided for your clients recently?
Enhance: What culturally relevant activities can your agency plan for clients in the next year?