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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/27/2016 08 Cultural Competency TrainingITEM TITLE: SUBMITTED BY: SUMMARY EXPLANATION: 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 ITEM BUDGETED: STRATEGIC PRIORITY: APPROVED FOR SUBMITTAL: `^City Manager STAFF RECOMMENDATION: BOARD /COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION: ATTACHMENTS: 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.