Technical Assistance and Support to NJCDD to Enhance Diversity, Equity, Cultural Competency and Linguistic Responsiveness
Project Description:
There is a clear and compelling need that was articulated by the New Jersey Council on Developmental Disabilities (NJCDD) in an RFP to increase its capacity for cultural competence, linguistic competence, diversity, and equity in all Council core functions and activities. The Georgetown University National Center for Cultural Competence (NCCC), whose faculty and staff are shared with the Georgetown UCEDD, is a subcontractor for the lead organization, SPAN Parent Advocacy Network Advocacy Network (SPAN). The NCCC will collaborate to conduct identified components of this statewide project to achieve the goal of: Increasing access to information and supports for persons with IDD and their families from racially, ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse groups including underserved and unserved communities, to ensure their full inclusion in work of the NJCDD. Specifically, the NCCC will:
(1) Collaborate with the Project Steering Committee to review information gathered and finalize definitions to guide the work (cultural competence, linguistic competence, diversity, and equity). The Steering Council will be composed of members and staff of the NJCDD, SPAN staff and volunteers with I/DD and/or parents of children, youth and adults with I/DD who are representative of NJ's most unserved and underserved communities;
(2) Conduct training for the Project Steering Committee and NJCDD members and staff on cultural competence, linguistic competence, diversity, and equity and the implications of these concepts and practices to the core functions and activities of DD Councils;
(3) Grant permission and provide technical expertise to SPAN to adapt the NCCC's tool Cultural and Linguistic Competence Assessment for Disability Organizations to enable the NJCDD to engage in a self-assessment process; and
(4) Provide consultation to the NJCDD to develop a plan of action to begin the process of formalizing culturally competent, linguistically competent, diversity, and equity policies and practices in Council core functions and activities.
The expected benefits of the project are: increased knowledge and capacity of NJCDD members and staff to foster cultural competence, linguistic competence, diversity, and equity in its five-year state plan; increases inclusion of underserved and unserved populations with I/DD in the state in Council core functions and activities; and disseminating lessons learned from the project with other Councils in the US and territories.
Keyword(s):
cultural competence, linguistic competence, diversity, equity
Unserved or Under-served Populations:
Racial or Ethnic Minorities, Disadvantaged Circumstances, Limited English, Geographic Areas, Urban
