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Organizational Cultural Competency: Shifting Programs for Latino Immigrants from a Client-Centered to a Community-Based Orientation

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American Journal of Community Psychology

Abstract

This paper discusses how the organizational cultural competency of social service agencies may be improved by shifting the philosophy of service delivery from a client-centered to a community-based orientation. This analysis is based on two years of fieldwork and interviews that were conducted as part of an action research project initially developed to increase the number of certified Spanish speaking Latino family childcare providers and knowledge about Latino immigrant families in the Midwest. In developing a culturally-specific certification program in Spanish, both the Latino participants and the bilingual program director challenged the agency to consider how the social context and social location of its participants required a more holistic community approach.

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Acknowledgements

Special thanks to Leticia Frausto, Lilliana Saldaña, Ane Marinez Lora, and Theresa Segura who participated in the data collection that supported this analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Human Development and Family Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1430 Linden Drive, #202, Madison, WI, 53706, USA

    Lynet Uttal

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  1. Lynet Uttal
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Correspondence to Lynet Uttal.

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Uttal, L. Organizational Cultural Competency: Shifting Programs for Latino Immigrants from a Client-Centered to a Community-Based Orientation. Am J Community Psychol 38, 251–262 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-006-9075-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-006-9075-y

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