City Of Pittsburgh Says Department Of Public Safety Will Be Trained In 'Cultural Competency', Asks For Curriculum Proposals

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The City of Pittsburgh is asking for curriculum proposals that would train Public Safety officials in cultural competency.

City officials say this training would be under the purview of the Multicultural Liaison Unit (MLU) and Mayor William Peduto's Welcoming Pittsburgh initiative.

"The curriculum will be taught by public safety personnel and incorporated into regular and new recruit trainings for each of the bureaus so that first responders are appropriately equipped to address and support the public safety needs of Pittsburgh residents with various cultural backgrounds and English language proficiency," city officials said in a release. "The goal is for all officials in Police, Fire and EMS to have the skillset and resources required to appropriately understand, respect, interact, protect and respond to our immigrant and refugee communities."

In the official request, the budget for this curriculum training is not to exceed $50,000 and the City is asking for any vendors to submit a proposal.

Officials are requesting that the curriculum be specific to the Pittsburgh region and that it allows for community input from immigrant and refugee populations in the city. The full proposal requests can be viewed here.

The deadline for the proposals is 3:00 p.m. on July 28. Officials are asking that vendors send the proposals to the City of Pittsburgh's Beacon procurement platform.