Track 2-2c
Clinical

Standards and Performance Measures for Cultural and Linguistic Competence in Mental Health

The increasing demographic diversity of American society places heavy demands on the delivery of culturally sensitive mental health services. Consumers, family members and service providers of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds argue that mental health services must be responsive to the special needs and help seeking of multicultural populations. It is important, therefore, to develop a set of performance standards and measures that can be used to assess how well mental health service systems address the needs of multicultural groups. This presentation reviews two recent efforts made by the New York State Office of Mental Health, first, the development of the NYS Cultural and Linguistic Competency Standards and second, the Cultural Competent Performance Measures for Managed Behavioral Healthcare Programs, a Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) funded project. Specifically, the guiding principals and the conceptual framework of cultural and linguistic competency are highlighted and the implications for implementation will be discussed.

Julian Chow, PhD
Assistant Professor
School of Social Welfare
State University of New York-Albany
135 Western Avenue, Richardson Hall 277
Albany, NY 12222
Phone: (518) 442-5327
Fax: (518) 442-5380
jchow@cnsvax.albany.edu

Julian Chow, PhD is Assistant Professor at the State University of New York at Albany, School of Social Welfare. Julian Chow’s research interests include the study of social and mental health services delivery in ethnic neighborhoods. Most recently, he is a recipient of the National Association of State Mental Health Program Director’s (NASMHPD) Research Fellowship Award, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). In that capacity, he is focusing his research on developing culturally competent mental health services delivery and practices. He has been active in the Asian American communities and has served on many national, state, and local organizations, addressing issues such as welfare reform, poverty, immigration, alcoholism and substance abuse, health, and mental health. He is a Center Faculty at the Center for the Study of Issues in Public Mental Health. He is also a member of the New York State Cultural Competence Strategic Framework Task Group, and the Advisory Committee of the Cultural Competent Performance Measures for Managed Behavioral Healthcare Programs at the New York State Office of Mental Health.  NEXT >

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