Social Services Information and Links

Cultural Competency

When an professional forms a working relationship with a client of a different ethnic or cultural (or religious, socio-economic, etc.) background, the onus is on the professional to develop culturally-sensitive practices. This involves not only working to understand some basic information about the client's culture, but how the professional's own culture and upbringing may affect his or her ability to work with particular clientele.

• Hogg Foundation for Mental Health: 
  Cultural Competency

• Clinical Legal Education Association:
  Five Habits for Cross-Cultural Lawyering

• U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services:
  What is Cultural Competency?

• The Provider's Guide to Quality & Culture:
  Understanding Minority, Immigrant, and Refugee Populations

• Center for Effective Collaboration and Practice:
  Cultural Competence

• National Center for Cultural Competence:
  NCCC homepage

• Child Welfare League of America:
  Adultism and Cultural Competence