Cultural Humility: Strengthening the Work Through Respect, Reflection and Connection

When we receive a referral for a new family, the referral source is often in a super-big hurry and eager to “fix what’s broken” for the family—with some seeing the family as what is broken (ouch!) The Engagement Phase of Wraparound invites us to slooooow down a tick to listen carefully, build trust intentionally and create space for families to share who they are, what matters to them and what they hope for. The quality and timing of our early interactions set the tone for the entire Wraparound process. 

One of the most powerful evidence-based approaches for supporting meaningful engagement between providers, families and communities is cultural humility. Cultural humility is more than a professional competency: It is an ongoing practice of self-reflection, openness and genuine curiosity about the experiences of others. Rather than asking us to master another person’s culture (remember when the Wraparound principle was called Culturally Competent?), Cultural Humility invites us to approach each other with respect, a willingness to learn and awareness of our own assumptions and biases. Being able to sit with another person—with yourself as a blank slate—is an opportunity to practice being other-oriented and ego-less, you are able to listen but not judge; hear and not correct; reflect and not interject personal values when they differ.

Recognized as a core component of trauma-informed care (Kibakaya & Oyeku, 2022), Cultural Humility has been shown across research settings such as health care (Vinson et al., 2019), social work (Gottlieb, 2020), and Wraparound practice (Palmer et al., 2011) to improve communication, promote trust and reduce power imbalances. These qualities are essential during the Engagement Phase, when families are deciding whether they feel safe, respected and willing to partner in the process.

The importance of cultural humility to positive outcomes for youth and families is reflected directly in our Wraparound principle: Culturally Respectful and Relevant. This principle reminds us that engagement is not only about gathering information, but also about honoring identity, culture and lived experience from the very beginning.

Why Cultural Humility Matters in Wraparound Engagement

Wraparound’s effectiveness is rooted in relationships; four of the 10 Wraparound principles demonstrate this: Natural Supports, Team-Based, Collaboration, and Community-Based. When teams embrace Cultural Humility, they create conditions where families feel understood, valued and supported. The practice of Cultural Humility strengthens partnership not only between Wraparound staff and families, but also across the family-serving systems of child welfare, probation, behavioral health, education and beyond. Practicing cultural humility behaviors reinforces the belief that every interaction is an opportunity to build connection, reduce harm and promote healing.

The Five Rs of Cultural Humility

A helpful framework for practicing Cultural Humility includes the Five Rs (Robinson et al., 2021). We emphasize practice because Cultural Humility requires action and intention, not just awareness:

• Reflection—Taking time to examine our own beliefs, biases, and reactions, and understanding how they shape our interactions with others, both professionally and personally
• Respect—Upholding that every person deserves dignity, honoring differences, and approaching others with kindness, care, and curiosity
• Regard—Holding others in high esteem, appreciating their uniqueness, and ensuring that implicit biases do not diminish the quality of our interactions
• Relevance—Recognizing what aspects of culture, identity, or lived experience matter in the moment and integrating that awareness into decision-making, strengths identification and building, and plan development
• Resiliency—Using a humility-based approach to foster empathy, compassion, and sustainability in this challenging work

Cultural Practices in Everyday Engagement

Cultural humility also encourages us to honor culture in both large and simple ways. During Engagement, uplifting and incorporating a family’s cultural practices into early conversations, the Plan of Care, and Safety or Crisis Planning may include attention to:

• Healing or medical traditions
• Artistic expression or storytelling
• Dietary practices and food-sharing customs
• Child care roles and family structures
• Governance, leadership and conflict-resolution styles
• Connection to land and natural resources
• Daily household routines, rituals or gender roles

By recognizing and integrating what is culturally meaningful for a youth or family, whether that is a grandparent’s role in caregiving, a preferred approach to healing, or a family tradition that brings comfort, teams strengthen engagement in ways that feel authentic and deeply respectful.

The behaviors that emulate cultural humility communicate warmth, not just in tone, but in practice. They help families feel safe sharing their stories and empower them as equal partners in the planning process. Together, these practices help create shared spaces where the voices of youth, caregivers, natural supports and professionals can be heard and valued. When Wraparound teams practice cultural humility, families experience a system that sees them not as cases to manage, but as partners to collaborate with.

By embodying all of the Wraparound principles, we keep the heart of Wraparound alive and ensure that youth and families experience care that is compassionate, equitable, and rooted in genuine human connection.

Resources 

Gottlieb, M. (2020). The Case for a Cultural Humility Framework in Social Work Practice, Journal of Ethnic & Cultural Diversity in Social Work, DOI: 10.1080/15313204.2020.1753615

Kibakaya, E. C., & Oyeku, S. O. (2022). Cultural humility: A critical step in achieving health equity. Pediatrics, 149(2), e2021052883. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2021-052883.

Palmer, S., Vang, T. J., Bess, G., Baize, H., Moore, K., De La Torre, A., Simpson, S., Holbrook, K., Wilson, D., & Gonzales, J. (2011). Implementing culture-based Wraparound. In The Resource Guide to Wraparound (Chapter 2.6). National Wraparound Initiative. https://nwi.pdx.edu/NWI-book/Chapters/Palmer-2.6-culture-based-wrap.pdf.

Robinson, D., Masters, C., Ansari, A. (2021). The 5 Rs of Cultural Humility: A Conceptual Model for Health Care Leaders. The American Journal of Medicine, Volume 134, Issue 2, 2021, Pages 161-163, ISSN 0002-9343, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjmed.2020.09.029.

Vinson, J., Majidi, A., George, M. (2019). Cultural Humility in Trauma-Informed Care. In: Gerber, M. (eds) Trauma-Informed Healthcare Approaches. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04342-1_3.