Description: Recently there has been an assault on the cultural and ethnic values of our county. For a nation that is built on the backs of diverse ethnic and cultural populations, we seem to be becoming less tolerant and accepting of the differences of others. Whether this is a result of the intense polarization over political ideologies, the proliferation of social media, the politicization of terms such as “woke”, “political correctness”, etc or a combination of these factors, parents must somehow struggle through these influences and provide foundational ideas so that their children can still make informed choices on how they wish to deal with others. This presentation will provide some basic tenets of cultural competency to help parents inform and empower their children as they work through many of the conflicting messages they will receive.

Presenter:

Deane Wiley, PhD

Dr. Wiley completed his PhD in Social Psychology at St. Louis University in 1996 with an emphasis in Psychology in the Law. He worked for four years as a research assistant professor for the Missouri Institute of Mental Health. While there, he worked on a number of projects including the evaluation of a non-violent offender boot camp and, the development of a cultural competency plan for the State of Missouri. In 2000, he was hired by the County of Santa Clara’s Department of Alcohol and Drug Services Data Analysis & Evaluation Unit working as a project development specialist. He was promoted to Director of the Unit in 2004, where he remained until late 2007 when he switched departments and was again promoted to Division Director of the Mental Health Departments Learning Partnership. He directed the activities of the Division comprised of three Units, Decision Support (the Department’s research and evaluation unit), Cultural Competency (ensures that cultural needs of the County’s ethnic and racial populations are met by the Department) and Continuous Learning (responsible for staff development and consumer workforce education and training). In May of 2013, he was promoted to Deputy Director of Mental Health Operations where he assisted in the planning, organization, and direction through subordinate managers, of the staff and functions of the Department of Mental Health within the Santa Clara Valley Health Hospital System. As part of the integration of the Mental Health Department and Substance Use Treatment Services (formerly the Department of Alcohol & Drug Services), he was promoted to Deputy Director of the newly formed Behavioral Health Services Department. He was responsible for administration and coordination of departmental service, administrative, and performance improvement functions, including budget, business systems, state audits and reviews, and administrative policies and procedures and acts for the Director in his/her absence until he retired in December of 2019.