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The National Center for Child Traumatic Stress views enhancing cultural competence as essential to furthering our mission of increasing access and improving the standard of care for traumatized children and families across the nation. Our perspective is that cultural awareness, sensitivity, and understanding need to be infused throughout the operations of every level of an organization to be most effective. We concur with the messages of the Supplement to the Surgeon General's Report that, "culture counts," and the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health which recognizes that achieving the goal of eliminating disparities in mental health services requires improving access to quality care that is culturally competent. As highlighted in these reports, the vision for the future requires involvement and action across service sectors, communities, organizations, neighborhoods, families, and individuals in order to effect change in a number of ways:
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Improve access to quality care in geographically remote areas
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Ensure language access
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Examine the costs and benefits of culturally appropriate services
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Reduce barriers in managed care
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Overcome shame, stigma and discrimination in seeking mental health services
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Develop and evaluate culturally responsive services
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Engage consumers, families and communities in developing services
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Address social adversities (e.g., poverty, community violence, racism, discrimination)
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Build on natural supports (e.g., spirituality, positive ethnic identity)
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Strengthen families
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Definitions
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References
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Resources
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