Prevention Activity 2A: CLAS Standards
The RCORP-Implementation initiative includes a grant requirement to address part of Core Prevention Activity #2:
Provide and assess the impact of culturally and linguistically appropriate education to improve family members’, caregivers’, and the public’s understanding of evidence-based treatments and prevention strategies for SUD/OUD
Utilizing a micro community of practice (workgroup), a subset of members from the master consortium worked to consider how CLAS related to prevention, treatment, and recovery for opioid use disorder in rural and Appalachian communities in Ohio.
Why: The National CLAS standards are intended to advance health equity, improve quality, and help eliminate health care disparities by establishing a blueprint for health and health care organizations to provide effective, equitable, understandable, and respectful quality care and services that are responsive to diverse cultural health beliefs and practices, preferred languages, health literacy, and other communication needs. (Principal standard of CLAS)
Who: Each local consortium determined the size and mix of representatives to participate in the CLAS workgroup micro learning community. Each consortium also utilized a locally driven community-based process to independently review the standards, including assessing current practices and prioritizing action plans to address CLAS. The flexibility to self-select participants resulted in a wide variety of people who engaged the process, including consortia members, direct service providers, and key stakeholders who influence OUD service delivery.
What: The workgroup met bi-weekly from March 2020 to June 2020 to identify opportunities for shared work and collaboration. Workgroup members discussed their processes, priorities for implementation, and initial changes they were making in their practices. In May 2020, the COP-RCORP Master Consortium adopted a position statement on culturally and linguistically appropriate services for all RCORP-related core activities. Each of the local consortia plans to incorporate the guiding principles into their community-based work.
Master Consortium Position Statement: Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS)
May 4, 2020
The COP-RCORP Master Consortium recognizes the importance of utilizing the CLAS Standards when implementing all RCORP OUD/SUD activities and strategic plans in five rural communities in Ohio. We strive to engage in a continuous, data-driven, and collaborative process to address health disparities and promote respectful, responsive, and accessible services. By strengthening our knowledge, skills, and awareness of culturally and linguistically appropriate services, we demonstrate our commitment to enhance health equity across the evolving continuum of care.
How: The accordion table below presents the key steps in the process undertaken by the workgroup members. These steps include reviewing the standards, deciding how to prioritize them locally, creating an action plan for addressing CLAS, and creating the mater-level guidance statement for COP-RCORP. The last tab includes key resources for understanding CLAS.
Presentation on CLAS Standards Workgroup
In July 2020, the CLAS Workgroup members made a presentation to the HRSA Government Project Officer and JBS International regarding the CLAS workgroup and results of the process. This video showcases the four communities and their experiences.
CLAS Training
COVID-19 Interrupted a lot of the CLAS Workgroup plans. However, members were still able to provide a state-wide, virtual CLAS training. The training flyer and presentation slides are linked below.
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Prioritization ProcessA strategic planning process often results in the development of many objectives and strategies. Unfortunately, all planning groups must contend with limited resources (time, money, and personnel). For this reason, not every objective, strategy, or project can be given the same level of resources. In fact, some ideas may have to be shifted into a “parking lot” to address at another time. The bottom line is that all groups have resource constraints and must prioritize strategies and objectives before moving forward. This is why priority setting is essential when developing a strategic plan. In fact, one of the toughest tasks in strategic planning is building concurrence within the consortium and among stakeholders for setting priorities. This template will walk your group through thinking about the prioritization process in a purposeful and intentional manner. Prioritization Process Template
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HRSA RCORP-Planning Strategic Planning Guidance and TemplateThis strategic planning guidance and template was created by JBS International for the HRSA RCORP-Planning Initiative. HRSA RCORP-P Strategic Planning Template – Created by JBS International
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OhioMHAS Strategic Planning TemplatesOver the past ten years and across many projects, OhioMHAS has supported the development of strategic planning templates. These templates were created by and for members of Ohio’s behavioral health system of care. The process began with Ohio’s Strategic Prevention – State Incentive Grant (SPF SIG) in 2009 and has continued across several initiatives such as Ohio’s Strategic Prevention Framework – Partnerships for Success (SPF-PFS) Initiative and Ohio’s Community Collective Impact Model for Change (CCIM4C) Initiative. For the HRSA RCORP-Planning Initiative, we have developed two templates to guide communities through a planning process that: (1) builds upon the strengths of the planning process developed in Ohio’s prevention system and (2) parallels the requirements set forth by HRSA. In the OhioMHAS-developed planning process, two documents comprise the strategic planning process: the strategic plan map and the strategy description form. These documents have been updated for the HRSA RCORP-Planning Initiative. Strategic Plan Map Modified for the RCORP-Planning Initiative Strategy Description Form Modified for RCORP-Planning Initiative
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Crosswalking the OhioMHAS Strategic Planning Templates and the HRSA RCORP-P Strategic Planning TemplateTo demonstrate how the HRSA RCORP-P Initiative planning template and the OhioMHAS Strategic Planning Templates dovetail (and are both excellent tools to support strategic planning!), we have provided a crosswalk of these tools. Crosswalk Attachments: Webinar Slides Crosswalking the Ohio Strategic Planning Map with the JBS Template (6-26-2019) Ohio Strategic Plan Map Crosswalk to HRSA RCORP-P Initiative (6-26-2019)
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Resources on Strategic PlanningThis webinar on existing resources for strategic planning was put together to walk anyone through the available resources specifically for strategic planning for the HRSA RCORP-Planning initiative. However, these resources may be helpful for anyone engaging in a strategic planning process. Webinar slides Strategic Planning Resources quick-guide
Research has shown that the words we use to describe substance use
disorders (SUD) have a significant impact on those struggling with
addiction and how they are treated. Addiction Policy Forum’s three
minute video explains why five commonly used addiction terms
need to be erased from your vocabulary, and offers suggestions for
what to say instead.
