DPH is committed to dismantling structural racism through application of the Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) standards as a Performance Management Quality Improvement (PMQI) tool to help achieve health and racial equity. This is to be achieved through reflective practices that encourage programs to look at data for inequities and help understand the root causes of the issues. The next step would be to review and update the policies to ensure that the organization has staff to represent the communities served, provide equitable language access for accessibility, and engage community authentically. Integrating CLAS framework meaningfully into your organization can dismantle structural racism and advance health equity.
The National CLAS standards incorporate several principles, including but not limited to
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Collecting and analyzing data to better understand structural root causes of racial inequities;
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Building community partnerships to engage those who are most impacted in planning, implementing and evaluating programs;
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Fostering cultural competence and cultural humility to ensure staff understand and reflect the community served; and
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Ensuring language access services to increase quality of services to all communities.
When we look at CLAS, we don’t just look at the population for whom English is not their first language but all population including people with disabilities, people who might be at risk of homelessness, people who self-identify as LGBTQIA+, or people living in rural areas.
CLAS related terms and procedures at MDPH
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CLAS language in RFR: CLAS implementation is a contractual expectation of all DPH-funded health providers.
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CLAS Internal Assessment: Each program/unit at DPH is expected to complete CLAS internal Assessment (IA) on an annual basis to identify areas related to CLAS for quality improvement. It can be workforce, data, language, community engagement or contract monitoring.
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CLAS Manual (Making CLAS happen: six areas of action): A guide to providing culturally and linguistically appropriate services in a variety of public health settings. This manual offers innovative and practical approaches for agencies to incorporate the federal CLAS principles and practices into all aspects of organizational activities to advance health and racial equity.
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CLAS Self-assessment for vendors: Once a vendor is awarded funding, DPH will set up contracts that include an expectation to complete the CLAS self-assessment for vendors annually. The CLAS self-assessment for vendors is a requirement for each individual program within an organization that receives funding from DPH. Contracted vendors complete the self-assessment to identify areas of CLAS that need improvement to close inequities gaps.
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Ongoing CLAS technical assistance: Technical assistance (TA) is available to DPH internal staff and DPH contracted vendors.