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.

1. 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?


2. 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?


3. 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?


4. 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?


5. 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?


6. 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?


7. 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?