JMATE 2007 Guidelines on Families and Youth and
Cultural and Linguistic Competence
Preamble
JMATE's mission is to convene many different constituencies to work together toward integrating substance abuse, mental health, and co-occurring systems of care for youth and their families. Improving these systems involves listening to the "family voice,” and respecting that voice. As professionals, we are asking family members and youth to talk to us, to tell us their frustrations with the system, and to discuss with us what is happening in their communities. We must give them a safe environment to do so, without allowing them to be misunderstood, attacked, or belittled.
Families deserve to have access to and obtain the treatment services they need to help not only their children, but their entire family. In order to make this a reality, we all must work together to improve the system. When comments are made by professionals such as "all parents who have addicted children are addicts themselves," or "why would we want parents involved in the treatment process?" we create barriers to helping teens and their parents. Families do not want to be labeled in a category or talked down to. The last thing parents need or want is to be ignored or disrespected. JMATE's commitment to joining with families, youth, and communities is an important beginning to giving parents a safe environment to share their concerns. In doing that, we will all benefit by their depth of knowledge and expertise.
As we respond to the goals of the Surgeon General's Report, the President's New Freedom Commission Final Report, and the Institute of Medicine Report, all of which support the goal of systems transformation, we are called to include family, consumer, and youth voice and representation in decision making, implementation, and evaluation of services and supports. These guidelines were developed and adapted from the work of many stakeholders who are paving the way for systems change. As we begin to respond to the call for action around these goals, we hope these guidelines will serve to assist you in framing your presentation to be inclusive and responsive to all stakeholders for improved outcomes. This year's JMATE conference is committed to creating a family- and youth-friendly environment in order to work together to improve substance abuse, mental health, and co-occurring systems.
Being Family- and Youth-Friendly
Addressing Issues of Cultural and Linguistic Competence
Being Family- and Youth-Friendly
- Acknowledge the value of persons with multiple source(s) of expertise. Professional expertise is enriched by the experience of those who have first-hand knowledge of the struggle with addiction as persons in recovery or parents raising children with substance abuse or mental health problems. Be sensitive to the difficulties and frustrations that families experience when trying to navigate the numerous child and adolescent-serving systems.
- Acknowledge the level of family and youth involvement in the work you are presenting. Be clear about your working definition of family and youth involvement because there are many. Offer suggestions to include and enhance family and youth involvement. Give guidance to avoid barriers that prevent positive outcomes.
- Use language that is respectful of families and youth. Avoid language that could be misunderstood, is degrading, places blame, or refers to the family as "the problem."
- Use “people first” language, e.g., children with substance abuse, mental health, or co-occurring issues rather than substance abusers, mentally ill children, or mentally ill drug addicts.
- Recognize that family and youth participants may come from various backgrounds and may be unfamiliar with professional jargon, acronyms, and extremely academic language. Incorporate a variety of teaching/presentation methods that are clear and easily understood.
- Incorporate the perspectives of families and youth into sessions by including them as presenters where possible. Recognize that families and youth attending the presentations have various levels of experience participating in conferences. Be respectful, supportive, patient, and listen. Recognize that while the issues under discussion may be those to which you have dedicated your professional life, they are issues that touch the daily lives of the families and youth attending the conference.
Addressing Issues of Cultural and Linguistic Competence
- Acknowledge your areas of expertise with specific populations, and identify to the audience your comfort level and knowledge base with culturally and linguistically diverse communities.
- Use language that is respectful of culturally and linguistically diverse communities (e.g. do not use jargon).
- Recognize that different communities have different learning and communication styles that are inherent to their particular cultural group. Factors such as timing and tone of speech may influence the learning process.
- Use “people first” language, e.g., children with substance abuse, co-occurring, or mental health issues rather than substance abusers or mentally ill children.
- Incorporate the perspectives of family members and youth of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds into sessions by including them as presenters where possible.
- Incorporate information and perspectives related to serving culturally and linguistically diverse populations and achieving cultural and linguistic competence into sessions.
- When providing examples, include those that are representative of culturally and linguistically diverse populations by using case studies and/or vignettes.
- Become knowledgeable of communities with diverse racial, ethnic, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds and be aware of how members of these communities describe themselves taking into account that self-identity descriptions are dynamic and may change over time.
- When providing demographic and statistical information, identify the presence or absence of culturally and linguistically diverse populations, and provide information about ethnically, racially, and linguistically diverse populations.
- The choice of graphic materials for PowerPoint presentations, overheads, handouts, and visual aides in presentations should reflect the population being discussed.
