Each year, the TASH Conference brings together our constituents to share resources and success stories, learn about field-driven best practices, and network within a community engaged in shared values. The Conference is attended by passionate leaders, experts, and advocates from every corner of the disability community. Conference attendees are influential in their fields and communities, and play an important role in the provision of services and supports for the millions of individuals and organizations around the world; and include professors and researchers from leading institutions; those involved in local, state, and federal governments and public policy; special and general educators, and school administrators; self-advocates, adult service providers; students, family members, and many others. This year’s conference theme, Building Diverse and Inclusive Communities, reminds us that equity, opportunity, and inclusion relies on the input of broad perspectives and experiences.
The lack of culturally and linguistically appropriate services (CLAS), or limited services that are respectful of and responsive to the cultural and linguistic needs of diverse individuals results in huge disparities in health, education, and employment among diverse communities. The presentation is a conversation about lesson learnt on CLAS implementation at the Department of Public Health in Massachusetts and how CLAS has been used as a Program Management Quality Improvement (PMQI) Tool in order to ensure programs and services designed and delivered are responsive to the diverse needs of individuals from diverse communities.