Issues stemming from race and other cultural matters are broad and varied. Individuals and organizations will find that they are quite knowledgeable and proficient in some aspects of cultural competence, and yet, may neglect asking crucial questions in another area. For instance, we may be acutely aware of making focus group (or other) accommodations for the hearing impaired community, but may not have a cache of options to make public health programs accessible to non-native English speakers. When you begin to consider your approach to engagement with diverse communities, you can gauge how and why mainstream strategies have a lower effectiveness and work from a more culturally responsive foundation. Ultimately, the more your work stems from relevant aspects of racial and cultural identity, the greater your chances for effective outcomes and increased, sustainable engagement from a broader, more diverse community.

In assessing your agency/organization's capacity for cultural responsiveness, it is useful to have a tool that is focused on core ways to interpret the wide range of behaviors and attitudes that are expressed in the policies and practices of an organization. Our Process of Gaining Cultural Competence represents a continuum into which we can place behaviors, attitudes, policies, and practices. This is intended to be a dynamic tool, since there is always room for growth and development in individuals, organizations, and institutionalized policies and practices.