National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services

Overview

The United States Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Minority Health developed a set of 15 standards known as the National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) in Health and Health Care (the “CLAS Standards”). First published in 2000, the CLAS Standards provide a framework to advance health equity, improve health care quality, and help reduce disparities with a whole-person approach that considers cultural background when attending to a person’s health care needs. Currently, there is no federal legislation or administrative regulation that requires nationwide implementation of the CLAS Standards. Therefore, implementation of the CLAS Standards varies by state. This Fact Sheet provides an overview of state-level CLAS legislation introduced or enacted since 2016.