Building an Organizational Response to Health Disparities: A Practical Guide to Implementing the National CLAS Standards

In 2013, the federal Office of Minority Health (OMH) issued the "enhanced" National CLAS Standards  (Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services) to guide health and health care organizations in their efforts to ensure health equity. This Toolkit, produced under OMH contract with the National Center for Quality Assurance (NCQA), provides examples of resources available to support organizations committed to the implementation of the CLAS standards. The toolkit is divided into four chapters that follow the organization of the National CLAS Standards:  Principal Standard; Governance, Leadership and Workforce; Communication and Language Assistance; Engagement, Continuous Improvement and Accountability.  Resources are categorized by the five groups that are likely to experience disparities in care:  people with disabilities, people with limited English proficiency, people with low health literacy, racial/ethnic minorities, sexual and gender minorities. The LEP section of the Toolkit provides descriptions and links to a variety of resources, including training materials and assessment tools. A panel of experts reviewed the content of the Toolkit to ensure the quality and relevance of all materials.

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