The Organizational Multicultural Competence Assessment (OMCA): A tool to assess an organization's multicultural competence and adherence to the National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services in Health and Healthcare (the National CLAS Standards).

Behavioral health organizations must respond to the needs of increasing numbers of multicultural populations, as the world population continues to diversify. The goal of this research was to develop a measure to assess the multicultural competence of a behavioral health agency using a quick and efficient but comprehensive strategy that utilizes input from multiple staff members. The Organizational Multicultural Competence Assessment (OMCA) was developed through a review of existing cultural competence assessment measures and item generation from researchers and policy makers. 469 staff from all departments of a U.S. state-operated and funded behavioral health facilities were asked by the CEO of their agency to complete the 45-item survey. Principal components analysis revealed seven factors that accounted for 64% of the variance in item responses: Governance, Policies, and Procedures; Staff Training and Service Delivery; Addressing Stigma and Discrimination; Accessibility of Services; Community Relationships; Quality, Monitoring, and Evaluation; and Human Resource Development. Items within factors showed high internal reliability. This measure may be used on an ongoing basis as a quality improvement tool to assess an agency or system's multicultural competence and adherence to the CLAS standards. Future research can investigate the relationship between scores on this measure and organization-level recovery oriented, client health, and person-centered outcomes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).