Cultural Factors and Identity: Strengths and Needs in the CANS

​If you’ve come to live online CANS certification training, you might remember that a foundational characteristic of the CANS is that culture should be considered throughout every domain and item. There are, however, specific items related to culture and these items are found both in strengths and needs domains.

In the strengths domain, we have the cultural identity and spiritual/religious items to rate. These items can capture the powerful positive impact that belonging to a specific cultural group or having a specific religious identity/spiritual belief or community can have on a child, youth, or family. The cultural identity strengths item is inclusive of factors such as race, religion, ethnicity, geography, and sexual orientation or gender identity and expression. It is imperative that we understand how clients and their families self-identify, and if their identity creates a sense of inclusion and/or pride for them that might indicate a centerpiece strength or if we have something to build on.
 
On the needs side, our Alameda County CANS has the Cultural Factors needs domain with four items to capture any needs related to language, traditions and rituals, cultural stress, and cultural differences within the family. This domain highlights our county’s acknowledgement of the very real negative impacts systemic racism and oppression can have on our children, youth and families. The more we understand our clients and their lived experiences, the more we can support them to build resilience and connect to resources to strengthen their cultural identities and connections and reduce culturally-related needs.

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