Faculty Guidelines on Families and Youth and Cultural and Linguistic Competence

Being Family and Youth Friendly

• Acknowledge the expertise you have - and the expertise you do not have. For example, if you have not raised a child with a serious emotional disturbance, claim that as an area about which you have no first-hand knowledge. You will have greater credibility with family members if you honor the differences between your core knowledge, experience, and expertise and theirs.
• Acknowledge the level of family and youth involvement (being clear about your working definition of family and youth involvement because there are many) in the work you are presenting. If there has been little, offer suggestions for how families and youth might have been included, how that might have enhanced the work, and how barriers might be overcome.
• Use language that is respectful of families and youth. Avoid any language that could be misunderstood as blaming or degrading.
• Use people first language, e.g., "children with serious emotional disturbances" rather than "seriously emotionally disturbed children" or "SED children."
• Recognize that families and youth attending the Institutes have a variety of learning styles and educational levels. Avoid jargon, acronyms, and extremely academic language. Incorporate a variety of teaching/presentation methods.
• Incorporate the perspectives of families and youth into sessions.
• Recognize that families and youth attending the Institutes have various levels of experience participating in conferences. Be patient, be as helpful as possible, and be respectful. And, please recognize that the issues under discussion may be those to which you have dedicated your professional life, but they are issues intimate to 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.
• Recognize that different communities have different learning and communication styles that are inherent to their particular cultural group. Such factors as timing and tone of speech may influence the learning process.
• Use "people first language," e.g., "children with serious emotional disturbances" rather than “seriously emotionally disturbed children" or "SED children."
• Incorporate the perspectives of family members and youth of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds into sessions.
• Incorporate information and perspectives related to serving culturally and linguistically diverse populations and achieving cultural and linguistic competence into sessions.
• When utilizing examples, include examples representative of culturally and linguistically diverse populations by using case studies and/or vignettes.
• Utilize acceptable labels and/or titles to address culturally and linguistically diverse communities, e.g., "diverse communities or ethnically and racially diverse communities,” rather than "minority populations" or "populations of color." Be knowledgeable about the use of terms such as "Hispanic and/or Latino" to refer to Spanish speaking populations; the use of the terms "Native American and American Indian" interchangeably and the term "Alaskan Native;" the informed use of the terms "Asian Pacific Islander," or "Asian American," or "Pacific Islander;" the use of the terms "African American" instead of "Black populations" and "African populations" to refer to populations of African origin or descent; and the use of the terms "Caucasian" and "White."
• 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 should be inclusive of all diverse cultural and linguistic groups.

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