Multicultural Development in Human Services Agencies: Challenges and Solutions‪.‬

In recent years it has become increasingly evident that human services agencies must become more multicultural to appropriately serve diverse and disenfranchised people. This need is apparent given the increases in populations of color, people who are elderly, and people with disabilities; the widening income gap; and the dismantling of the public welfare sector (Bocage, Homonoff, & Riley, 1995; Ferguson, 1996; Gutierrez & Nagda, 1996; Hasenfeld, 1996). Human services managers also must contend with greater gender, race, and age diversity in the service workforce (Asamoah, 1995; Brody, 1993; Iglehart, 2000; Shin & McClomb, 1998). Under the auspices of multicultural development, activities have been undertaken in response to these trends--awareness training, hiring and retention plans, and improved outreach and service delivery systems (Ferguson; Fong & Gibbs, 1995; Hyde, 1998; Iglehart; Iglehart & Becerra, 1995). Yet, comprehensive multicultural development often remains elusive. The purpose of this study was to examine multicultural organizational development in human services agencies to understand some of the barriers to successful change. Through interviews with practitioners and consultants, and against the backdrop of the daily realities of agency life, challenges to multicultural development are identified and solutions are proposed.