Alpha Management policies reflect that we are committed to providing quality services to individuals with identified disabilities. We choose to see the whole person, as opposed to defining a person by their challenges or identified disabilities. We’re committed to furthering the cultural competency of our staff and expanding our understanding of individuals with disabilities who may have difficulty accessing services. As defined in our policies, cultural competency refers to the capacity of professionals to understand how their own experiences, identities, values, and beliefs are different from others and could potentially impact the desired therapeutic outcome of the consumers. Specifically, individuals may have different views or values based on their own experiences with culture, race, ethnicity, age, religion, sexual orientation, disability, and socio-economic status. In addition to understanding the stigma of receiving mental health services with certain populations, employees are challenged to understand how their own experiences, history, and identities may impact the desired therapeutic outcomes of the consumers. Inherent in development of cultural competency are the awareness and appreciation of differences, as well as an understanding of how discrimination and injustice still exists in our community.