Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration

CMHS Consumer Affairs E-News
June 7, 2007, Vol. 07-91

SAMHSA-Supported Toolkit in Development for Assessing Cultural Competence in Peer-Run Mental Health Organizations

Working collaboratively with the NAMI Support Technical Assistance and Resource (STAR) Center, the UIC Center is developing a cultural competency assessment to be used by mental health peer programs nationwide. The project also will identify peer programs with exemplary approaches to serving and supporting people from diverse cultures. This will involve the following project components.

1. A comprehensive review of existing tools for assessing cultural competence in human services organizations.

2. A web-based survey of peer-run programs to determine their current needs and practices in delivering culturally competent services and supports.

3. Focus groups and interviews with individuals from diverse backgrounds who attend or staff peer-run organizations.

4. Creation of an organizational assessment and accompanying guide for administering the assessment.

5. Formation of a multi-stakeholder, external expert review team to provide feedback on the assessment and administration guide.

6. Pilot testing the assessment at peer-run organizations to determine the usability of the cultural competency assessment.

For more information, please see: http://www.cmhsrp.uic.edu/nrtc/starcenter.asp.

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The Center for Mental Health Services is a component of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, United States Department of Health and Human Services.