Our Services

• Contract Management and Financial Services
• Service Quality and System Development - Adult
• Service Quality and System Development - Child/Family
• Evaluation and Services Research
• Cultural and Linguistic Competence
• Program and Project Management

Cultural and Linguistic Competence

Providing Innovative Solutions in Human Services Delivery

Leaders in the behavioral health care and human services arena are working to develop strategies to increase their ability to effectively engage and serve individuals in need of services. Increasingly, organizational cultural and linguistic competence is being recognized as a key element in any effective strategy. What exactly is cultural competence? Terry Cross, a recognized expert in the field has defined cultural competence as “a set of congruent behaviors, attitudes, and policies that come together in a system, agency, or among professionals that enable them to work effectively in cross-cultural situations.” It includes the acceptance of and respect for differences, a commitment to continuous self-assessment regarding culture, attention to the dynamics of difference, the ongoing development of cultural knowledge, and ensuring that resources and flexibility exist within service models to meet the needs of diverse populations.

Incorporating the principles and concepts of cultural and linguistic competence is an essential component of the services CCSI provides to our customers – whether in program design and implementation or in evaluating program outcomes. Over the last several years, CCSI has partnered with both national and local experts to develop an approach to supporting the development of organizational cultural competence. The approach has led to the evolution of tools, strategies, a training curriculum and other resources that can be effectively adapted to meet the unique needs of organizations that wish to embark upon this journey.

Our Staff

As part of CCSI’s work on behalf of the Monroe County Office of Mental Health, Lenora Reid-Rose and her team are responsible for monitoring and fostering the integration of cultural competence concepts and principles in more than 40 behavioral health care service providers in Monroe County. With more than two decades of experience in the behavioral health field, Lenora has served as a consultant and educator at the state, regional and national levels. She has extensive expertise in developing and implementing cultural competence assessments, training initiatives, and programs – helping agencies understand where they are on the continuum of cultural competence and then identifying critical changes in policy, practice, education and training needed to support continued progress. In addition to her assessment and monitoring work within Monroe and other counties, Lenora oversees a youth empowerment program for at-risk teenagers living in New York State. Lenora also serves as co-director of the Nathan Kline Center of Excellence, which is focused on establishing evidence-based practices for Latino, African-American and Asian-American populations. Lenora serves on a number of committees at the State and national level, including her current work as a member of the New York State Office of Mental Health Multicultural Advisory Committee. She is the immediate past Co-Chair of the Board of Directors of the New York State Association for Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services (NYAPRS) and continues to serve on various NYAPRS committees. Lenora also serves on the Diversity Committee and Membership Committee of the American Association of Mental Health Administrators. She received her Master's in Business Administration at Rochester Institute of Technology, and her Business Administration degree and Teaching Certification from the University of the West Indies, Jamaica.

Lenora Reid-Rose, MBA Director

Examples of Our Work

• The Monroe County Office of Mental Health

  The Monroe County Office of Mental Health

  Since the mid-1990s, CCSI has supported the Monroe County Office of Mental Health as it has made advances toward achieving its goal of improving the level of cultural and linguistic competence within the behavioral health care system and in ensuring that it is an integral component of ongoing performance management efforts. This work has resulted in the development of an assessment process that has been used within provider agencies to develop a picture of where agencies are on the cultural competence continuum – and where there are opportunities for continued work. Results from this assessment have been used to drive change within provider agencies and to tailor technical assistance efforts.

• Prevention, Access, Self-Empowerment and Support (P.A.S.S.)

  Prevention, Access, Self-Empowerment and Support (P.A.S.S.)

  Prevention, Access, Self-Empowerment and Support (P.A.S.S.) is an innovative statewide prevention program designed to work with New York teens who experience challenges in their daily lives, or whose parents are diagnosed as seriously and persistently mentally ill. The program, which CCSI manages on behalf of the Monroe County Office of Mental Health, is based on prevention theory. A major focus of the development of a cultural competent, inclusive system of care is the need for self-help, empowerment, advocacy, support, and education. When we empower adolescents to make more informed choices, their chances of accomplishing their goals are greatly improved and the impact of the challenges they face can be diminished. Choices guided by one’s thoughts, core beliefs and values work in harmony with each other as one moves towards a primary goal.

• Nathan Kline Center of Excellence

  Nathan Kline Center of Excellence

  Since 1997, CCSI has collaborated with the Nathan S. Kline Institute of Psychiatric Research Statistics and Services Research Division, in its research and development efforts regarding cultural competency and disparity reduction. NKI now houses one of the two New York State Office of Mental Health's Centers of Excellence in Culturally Competent Mental Health. CCSI staff plays an integral role in the planning and conduct of the Center's activities which include developing tools to adapt evidence-based practices to different cultures and evaluating innovative, "grass roots" programs for persons from multicultural groups. In addition CCSI staff have contributed to the selection and benchmarking of performance measures of cultural competency which led to the development of an organizational level instrument of cultural competency. CCSI coordinated the field work of a research study conducted in Monroe County in which the reliability and validity of the scale were tested.

• Erie County Office of Mental Health

  Erie County Office of Mental Health

  CCSI has a long-standing relationship with Erie County in support of the County’s effort to infuse cultural competence into service delivery within the Family Voices Network, their SAMHSA-funded System of Care initiative for children and families. Work thus far has focused on: implementing recommendations from a cultural and linguistic competence (CLC) assessment; developing a “Train-the Trainer” model for parents to provide CLC training using their experiences as the contextual framework; and using data and a continuous quality improvement (CQI) process to drive and support changes so families experience positive outcomes.

Related Reports and Publications

• The PASS Program...A Means to Success