National Center for Cultural Competence

Cultural and Linguistic Competence Policy Assessment (CLCPA)

The CLCPA Instrument

The CLCPA is designed to examine cultural and linguistic competence in four dimensions: values, policy, structure, and practice. Within these four dimensions, the CLCPA assesses Knowledge of Diverse Communities, Organizational Philosophy, Personal Involvement in Diverse Communities, Resources and Linkages, Human Resources, Clinical Practice, and Engagement of Diverse Communities.

The CLCPA is designed as a self-assessment instrument and requires approximately 30 minutes to complete. Most items use a four-point Likert scale (e.g., from Never to Often). The instrument can be administered to all agency personnel.

The CLCPA has a demographic form that elicits information such as job title, educational level, previous training in cultural and linguistic competence, and racial and ethnic affiliation. The form can be modified to include information pertinent to an individual health center.

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A Guide for Using the CLCPA Instrument

This 43 page guide provides practical, step-by-step instructions on how to conduct an organizational self-assessment process using the CLCPA. It includes a description of the instrument, a 4-phase checklist for conducting cultural and linguistic competence organizational self-assessment, definitions and a resource list, a sample consent form for focus groups, and a sample focus group protocol.

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Online Resources

Resources include demographic data, plan development, human resources, clinical practice, budget allocation, the role of the planning process, creating an internal management structure for the process, identifying fiscal and personnel resources, identifying collaborating partners and engaging community members in the process, planning and conducting consumer focus groups, developing guidelines for data analysis and report development, and developing suggested best practices for disseminating the results of the self-assessment.

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Copyright Information

The materials and content contained on the National Center for Cultural Competence’s Web site are copyrighted and are protected by Georgetown University's copyright policies.

Permission is granted to use the material for non-commercial purposes if:

the material is not to be altered and
proper credit is given to the authors and to the National Center for Cultural Competence.

Permission is required if the material is to be:

modified in any way
used in broad distribution.

To request permission and for more information, contact cultural@georgetown.edu.

The Online CLCPA

If you would like to engage the services of the NCCC in using an online version of the CLCPA with members of your agency or organization, please contact us.

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