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Cultural Competence in a Hotline

Cultural Competence in a Hotline. Presented at the Self Represented Litigants Conference, San Francisco 5/07 Claudia C.Johnson Bay Area Legal Aid, Legal Advice Line, Oakland. Characteristics. High volume On the phone communication No visual, body language, only voice queues

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Cultural Competence in a Hotline

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  1. Cultural Competence in a Hotline Presented at the Self Represented Litigants Conference, San Francisco 5/07 Claudia C.Johnson Bay Area Legal Aid, Legal Advice Line, Oakland Legal Advice Line, Bay Area Legal Aid, Self Help Rep Conference San Francisco 5/07

  2. Characteristics • High volume • On the phone communication • No visual, body language, only voice queues • Staff has strong" soft skills” and good listening skills • Forces advocate to not assume anything • High adherence to protocols/routines Legal Advice Line, Bay Area Legal Aid, Self Help Rep Conference San Francisco 5/07

  3. Local language statistics • Speak another language at home San Francisco: 46% Marin: 19% Napa: 25% San Mateo: 41% Alameda: 37% Santa Clara:45% Legal Advice Line, Bay Area Legal Aid, Self Help Rep Conference San Francisco 5/07

  4. Percentage of population <200% • Alameda 33% • Santa Clara 18% • San Mateo 16% • Napa 23% • San Francisco 26% • Contra Costa 19% • Marin 16% Legal Advice Line, Bay Area Legal Aid, Self Help Rep Conference San Francisco 5/07

  5. Cultural Competency tips/Hotlines • Need to have double or triple coverage for each language, one person is not enough • Need to monitor queues by language/skill • Need to review cases and guard against providing less services/lower quality due to language difficulties • LEP calls will take longer, that is ok • Need to have access to on demand interpretation services (Language Line) Legal Advice Line, Bay Area Legal Aid, Self Help Rep Conference San Francisco 5/07

  6. Tips • Manager needs to routinely discuss with staff difficult conversations • Try to identify groups that are not doing well with intake protocols, ask why? • Talk with staff about how different groups react to intake protocol to identify training needs • Program needs to collect language data, track it and use it in staffing/resource allocation decisions Legal Advice Line, Bay Area Legal Aid, Self Help Rep Conference San Francisco 5/07

  7. Institutionalizing Cultural Competency • Review data and Identify gaps • Seek help, seek training: • Community groups b) Other nonprofits working with same pop c) Staff from similar background d) Reading literature: medical/public health/interdisciplinary approach Include in Orientation of new staff and evaluation of all staff Legal Advice Line, Bay Area Legal Aid, Self Help Rep Conference San Francisco 5/07

  8. Be prepared to be open minded • When a conversation fails, or the interaction is non productive ask yourself why? • Be non-judgemental, don’t be too harsh on self or client • Identify next steps and what you can do differently the next time, • Listen to the speaker. Sometimes in the way they tell you the story you will see what their objectives are. • Don’t stereotype Legal Advice Line, Bay Area Legal Aid, Self Help Rep Conference San Francisco 5/07

  9. Must read • Bryant, Susan • “The Five Habits: Building Cross-Cultural Competence in Lawyers”, 8 Clinical L. Rev. 33, 2001 Legal Advice Line, Bay Area Legal Aid, Self Help Rep Conference San Francisco 5/07

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