HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/27/2016 08 Cultural Competency TrainingITEM TITLE:
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BUSINESS OF THE CITY COUNCIL
YAKIMA, WASHINGTON
AGENDASTATEMENT
Item No. 8.
For Meeting of: September 27, 2016
2:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Cultural Competency Training
Connie Mendoza, Human Resources Director
a. Cultural Competency Training proposal
b. Council discussion and direction to staff
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APPROVED FOR
SUBMITTAL: `^City Manager
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Description Upload Date Type
D Cultural Competency Training Proposal 9/1212016 Comer Memo
In an effort to move the City forward and to assist the executive
leadership address the changing needs of the community we
serve I have researched options to provide cultural competency
training to our staff.
I met with Laura Armstrong, Executive Director of La Casa Hogar in Yakima, to
discuss the training her team could provide. La Casa has over 21 years of
experience working with Latina /o families in the Yakima Valley, offering them basic
services and the education they need to pursue better lives for themselves and
their families in our valley.
La Casa Hogar utilizes their team of trainers and staff, all from Latin America, to
create a training that is focused around the Latina /o (primarily Mexican) culture as
it exists in the Yakima /USA context. In my conversation with Laura, she indicated
her team would research the barriers that could exist with regards to these
community members and their beliefs about government entities in general and
some of the specific services we, as the City, offer. This research would provide
the foundation for a 4 hour training that would be developed specifically for the
City of Yakima. Their training utilizes real life experiences from the families they
have served, first hand testimonies and role playing with their staff, in an effort to
work through some of the challenging situations that could arise.
Anindita Mitra spoke at the AWC Conference in June of this year and Randy
Beehler provided her contact information to me. Ms. Mitra is trained and practiced
as an architect and is passionate about pursuing urban design and city planning.
During her architectural training she was exposed to a variety of communities in
India from villages and small towns to immigrant communities in metropolitan
areas. This experience exposed her to the different communication and cultural
norms that governed these communities. Also widely travelled, culture remains at
the crux of her work that has taken her to diverse communities in Oakland, Hilo,
Syracuse and Topeka among others. An immigrant herself, over the years she has
developed tools that help her establish trusting relations with each of her client
communities that vary greatly in their age, ethnicity, education, language and
other factors.
Ms. Mitra will develop a presentation that will introduce social development terms
for use in effective local governance and share insights from modern day
sociological studies to illustrate the benefits of culturally intelligent governance and
administration. Through several exercises participants will become aware of their
cultural reference points and leave with tools to counter their personal blind spots
for improved communications and management across cultures.
Nora Liu spoke at the AWC Conference in June of this year and Randy Beehler provided her
contact information to me. GARE is a joint project comprised of the Center for Social
Inclusion and the Haas Institute for a Fair and inclusive Society at UC Berkeley. Their work is
built on the knowledge that we will not be able to advance racial equity without the
transformation of government into an effective and inclusive democracy. GARE offers a
variety of training and organizational development sessions, either in introductory workshops,
specific topics or via an extended learning curriculum. Their training team focuses on the
application of learning in the work place and utilizes strategies that are most effective for
leveraging change. GARE's research team will work with City leadership to understand the
context and background that we have in the Valley to ensure their content is relevant and
focused.
The WSU Extension offers a 3 day course entitled Navigating the Difference which
is geared toward professionals who interact with the public they serve. Over the 3
days they cover 5 competencies - Cultural Awareness, Cultural Understanding,
Cultural Knowledge, Cultural Interaction, & Cultural Sensitivity.
The first two modules of the curriculum focus on cultural awareness and
understanding and emphasizes the wide variety of diversity dimensions each
person brings into the workplace and how those identities affect interactions with
others. The remaining three modules focus on methods of gaining cultural
knowledge, communicating across cultural difference, and the concepts of privilege
and power. Individuals must be aware of the barriers to intercultural
communications, as well as the range of communication styles and the functions of
nonverbal communications, to truly cultivate the skills necessary to live in a global
world.
1/2 day training session
La Casa Hogar
20 Participants
$2,000
Either at their location or the
City's Training Facility
2.5 hour training session
Anindita Mitra
50 Participants
$5,000
City's Training Facility
1/2 or Full day training
Nora Liu
sessions
$5,000-
50 Participants
10,000
City's Training Facility
*WSU Extension
*WSU Extension did indicate they would be
3 day Training
$250 -375 per
willing to organize a training in Yakima for 30
Unlimited
person
participants or less. If we are interested in that
Seattle
option, I can get a cost estimate for that.
In the event that it is the intent of the City's leadership to incorporate this type of
training throughout our employee population, I also researched training avenues
that we could utilize to train some of our trainers.
I mentioned this to Laura at La Casa Hogar and she seem to think it would be
something they could help us with. They do not have an official "training" but
Laura was open to working with the City in an effort to promote this awareness
throughout our organization.
The WSU Extension has a Train the Trainer program —a participant must have
completed the 3 day "Navigating the Differences" training and then attend an
additional 3 days of training. The total cost would be $900 - $1,425 and there is a
requirement to co -train with an experienced Navigating the Difference trainer prior
to offering the training at our organization.
I would recommend we partner with La Casa Hogar —I believe that by working with
a team who has knowledge of the community we serve, we will receive a training
that is specific to our area. The trainers at La Casa will also work with us to
identify specific areas of focus and tailor the training to meet those needs. La
Casa has 6 trainers but they also have the ability to incorporate students they
have helped in the past to ensure the training is relevant.
The other options we have available are more geared to a global understanding of
cultural differences and while that training may be necessary, it would seem more
appropriate and cost effective to start with a local nonprofit who has a firm
understanding the of community members we serve.
If it is the intent to weave this awareness training throughout all of our courses
offered through CYU, I would recommend that I also attend the training that is
offered. As we work to build a cohesive workforce, and deliver a consistent
message time and time again, it would be invaluable for me to receive this
message first hand. This is an important topic to have and I could deliver this
message through a variety of ways to our staff members.