Cultural & Linguistic Competency Policy

PURPOSE: The San Francisco Department of Public Health is committed to developing and maintaining health services that are culturally competent, consumer-guided and community-based. Cultural competence is an essential requirement for health care providers to provide effective services to our diverse populations.

On January 8, 2002 the San Francisco Health Commission unanimously passed a resolution adopting the Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) standards as general guidelines to provide a uniform framework for developing and monitoring culturally and linguistically appropriate services.

In adopting the CLAS Standards, the Commission acknowledges that the CLAS standards as implemented by the Department of Public Health are intended to be broadly inclusive of diverse racial, ethnic, sexual and other cultural and linguistic groups. The CLAS standards as utilized by the Department of Public Health are intended to serve as general guidelines and not as mandatory requirements.

The Commission also approved the formation of a Cultural Competency Task Force to address issues surrounding Cultural Competency and implementation of the policy.

A Policy and Procedure document has been developed in response to the Health Commission resolution.

For more information about the policy and the implementation process, click on one of the buttons above.

Full Report Template (Adobe Acrobat file, 8 pgs.), for those who did not submit last year, to be used in completing the annual report required to be submitted to the Department of Public Health Office of EEO And Cultural Competency.

2008 - 09 Annual Report Requirements due on September 30, 2009, (Adobe Acrobat file, 3 pgs.), to be submitted to the Department of Public Health Office of EEO And Cultural Competency.

Any questions about the policy or its implementation should be addressed to Jason Hashimoto at 415-554-2595.