Addressing Disparities through Organizational Cultural and Linguistic Competence

Community Services: Training Project Kariñu

On January 26-28, Tawara Goode, M.A., Assistant Professor, Associate Director, University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Center for Child and Human Development, Georgetown University Medical Center, Department of Pediatrics, and Director, National Center for Cultural Competence and Vivian Jackson, MSW, from the National Center for Cultural Competence and Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development, conducted three presentations on “Addressing Disparities through Organizational Cultural and Linguistic Competence.” Day 1 of the three-day activity included a presentation on “A Cultural Competence Framework for Developing A CLC Vision and Action Plan” with 65 participants from public and private organizations in attendance. The second day consisted of two sessions held at the University of Guam campus. The morning session, covered the topic “Linguistic Competence Beyond Language Access: Addressing Health Literacy, Literacy, & Communication with Individuals who have disabilities; and Developing Language Access Plans according to Title VI Guidance and CLAS Standards.” Students from Guam Community College’s American Sign Language II class were part of the 56 participants in attendance for this presentation.

The afternoon session covered the topic, “CLC: Essential Knowledge & Skills within the University Environment training.” Students from UOG’s Social Work program, faculty from UOG’s Nursing Department, and Department of Education staff attended this presentation.

Tawara and Vivian concluded their visit with a final presentation on January 28 at the GSAT Conference Room at House 19, Dean’s Circle. This training, titled “Framework to Address Disparities in Children’s Behavioral Health” included participants from Guam CEDDERS, Project Kariñu, icareguam, and I Famagu’on-ta.

Collaborators and sponsors of these activities included: National Center for Cultural Competence and Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development; Guam CEDDERS; Department of Public Health & Social Services, Project Kariñu, Guam Office of Minority Health, Live Healthy Guam; Guam Behavioral Health and Wellness Center, I Famagu’on-ta, icareguam.