HMA Spotlight
Increasing the Cultural and Linguistic Accessibility of Services
National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) in Health and Healthcare frame how to improve healthcare quality and reduce disparities through a whole-person approach. Implementation of the CLAS standards demonstrates respect for individuals and responsiveness to their health needs, cultural beliefs and practices, preferred languages, and other communication needs. These standards guide the provision of high-quality care to people from all cultures and backgrounds, as well as persons with disabilities and rural populations. The 15 CLAS standards focus on governance, leadership, workforce, communication, language access, engagement, continuous improvement and accountability.
Quality
Provide services that are responsive to diverse backgrounds across the US
Equity
Reduce persistent health disparities experienced by racial, ethnic, linguistic, sexual, and gender minorities; persons with disabilities; and rural populations
Experiences of Care
Respect the whole individual and respond to the individual’s health needs and preferences
Cost
Reduce total cost of care by addressing health disparities
WHY CARE ABOUT CLAS?
In 2022, Forbes reported that health inequities cost the US health system $320 billion now and could reach $1 trillion by 2040
Health Inequities Could Cost The U.S. Health System $1 Trillion By 2040, New Report Says
What We Do
Our experts work with states, Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHC), behavioral health organizations, health systems and providers, health plans, and public health organizations to develop CLAS programs, assess gaps in the cultural and linguistic accessibility of services across a system, and provide tailored technical assistance and trainings. Adherence to CLAS standards is required by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) for initiatives like the CCBHC model due to its positive impact on programming, outcomes, and disparity reduction.
Our CLAS Work
Indiana Statewide Evaluation of Community Mental Health Center (CMHC) CLAS Compliance
HMA completed a comprehensive assessment of Indiana’s 24 CMHCs to evaluate the strengths and needs regarding CLAS standards. We provided coaching, technical assistance, and webinars to support the CMHCs to set goals, build action plans, operationalize CLAS standards, and align CCBHC demonstration preparation and CLAS efforts.
Delaware Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health (DSAMH) CLAS Training & Mini-Grants
HMA collaborated with DSAMH to develop a strategy to increase cultural responsiveness of substance use disorder (SUD) services. This included implementing a CLAS mini-grant program to provide technical assistance and training for SUD services. We developed and delivered a CLAS “train-the trainer” curriculum for staff, focusing on culturally and linguistically responsive opioid use disorder (OUD) services for African American and Latine communities. We also created a CLAS standards assessment to frame community-based organization and provider improvement strategies.
CCBHC Transformation Projects Across the Country
Disparity reduction is key to the CCBHC model. Nationally, the HMA CLAS team offers technical assistance to states on how to embed CLAS standards into planning grant and demonstration grant applications. For states that have been awarded CCBHC funding, we can provide training on how to incorporate CLAS standards and disparity reduction strategies into various aspects of their operations. These include community needs assessments, advisory boards, policies and procedures, staff training, program operations, state administrative codes, quality improvement and assurance initiatives, as well as data collection and analysis processes.
Our CLAS Approach
HMA’s team tailors its support based on each client’s needs. HMA takes the following general approach to assess and implement CLAS standards:
Assess CLAS standard gaps at organization, system or state level focused on the three CLAS domains: Governance, Leadership and Workforce; Communication and Language Assistance; and Engagement, Continuous Improvement and Accountability
Provide tailored technical assistance and coaching to close gaps drawing on our team’s cultural and linguistic diversity and lived experiences with services that are inaccessible to persons with disabilities, as well as persons from racial, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, sexual, and gender minority groups
Design and facilitate training and webinars to address wide scale gaps. Webinar topics may include – using Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) processes to reduce disparities; increasing language access through translation and interpretation best practices; how to use community needs assessments to identify disparities; and structuring advisory boards for maximum impact
Assist programs and states in developing a CQI strategy to monitor and adjust initiatives to ensure CLAS and disparity reduction initiatives are making demonstrable change
Contact Our Experts:
Nora Carreras
Associate Principal
Rachel Johnson-Yates
Associate Principal
Leticia Reyes-Nash
Office Managing Principal
Reem Sharaf
Senior Consultant
Madeleine (Maddy) Shea
Principal
