National Standards on Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) in Health Care are Published

The Office of Minority Health announces the publication of the final national standards on CLAS in health care, printed in the December 22, 2000 Federal Register. The publication follows a 120-day comment period on draft standards in 2000 and revisions to the standards. The CLAS standards were developed as a result of more providers and policymakers becoming interested in culturally and linguistically competent health care services. These standards will set forth what should be done by service providers and how it should be done, and provide a basis for evaluation, comparison, and quality assurance by policymakers, consumers, and researchers. They will also provide guidelines for accreditation and credentialing agencies, advocates, educators, and the health care community in general.

For complete information on development of the standards and an easy-to-navigate version of the final text, click here."