Implementing CLAS: How states use assessments to stimulate engagement

The Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) Initiative is a collaborative of DPH programs and vendors. CLAS is one of the strategies DPH is utilizing to reduce racial, ethnic and linguistic health disparities.  The CLAS Initiative is lead by the Office of Health Equity and maintains fifty members representing four Bureaus.  The goal of the Initiative is to develop and implement state specific standards consistent with the national CLAS standards throughout DPH’s procurement and internal operations. There are nine committees that work to implement the Initiative: Procurement, Assessment, Coordination, Community Participation, Evaluation, Guidance Manual, Program Management Monitoring Guide, Training, and Communications.

One of the initial steps in the CLAS Initiative was to conduct a department wide needs assessment of the culturally and linguistically appropriate services delivered within the agency. The objective was to examine the internal capacity of DPH programs to collect and utilize data; provide direct and indirect services; and identify barriers to access to care among racial, ethnic, and language (REL) minority groups.  The assessment’s central focus was to understand the role of the DPH workforce (state employees and contractors) in this process, not primarily the work of our vendors and grantees. The findings of the assessment will be discussed during the presentation.

A complimentary piece to the DPH Internal Needs Assessment is the CLAS Vendor Self-Assessment (CVSA).  The CVSA was developed by the Procurement Committee of the CLAS Initiative.  The assessment form is completed by agencies during the Request for Responses (RFR) process, and data is analyzed and utilized by both the CLAS Initiative and the DPH staff who released the RFR.  The CVSA asked agencies to rank themselves on their ability to provide language access and culturally competent services.  The data gathered from the CVSA will assist DPH in creating guidance and technical assistance for vendors on CLAS implementation.   

The information presented is adaptable by other state and local health departments.  The DPH Internal CLAS survey was an adaptation of an Arizona Department of Public Health CLAS Survey.  The presentation will provide first hand knowledge into the process of survey tool adaptation.  The CVSA tools were developed by the Procurement Committee.  The presentation will provide first hand knowledge in developing a CLAS specific tool -  from conceptualization to implementation and analysis.    The tools discussed in the presentation will be distributed to the attendees.  MDPH personell will be avaialbe to discuss assessment implementation with participants including the Initiative Coordinator, Chair of the Procurement Committee/Deputy Director of the Purchase of Service Department, and Chair of the Assessment Committee/Data Anaylst of Diabetes Prevention and Control Unit.