Annual Hearing on the Status of the D.C. Language Access Act
On Wednesday, September 24, 2008, D.C. Councilmember Carol Schwartz presided over the annual hearing regarding the status of language access in the District and to note progress made in improving implementation of the Language Access Act within city government agencies since last year. The hearing was held at the D.C. Council, and several provided oral testimony, including representatives from the Mayor’s Office, representatives from Coalition members, and District residents.
The hearing itself exemplified clearly to all present there that the city needs to make more of a concerted effort to provide language access services (i.e. interpretation and translation) to District residents who require them in order to attain essential city services and to go about the business of their daily lives. Public testimonies were presented by several witnesses representing members of the Coalition as well as concerned District residents. Also, two District residents, who were not able to attend the hearing, submitted written testimonies to add to the hearing record. (The names of the witnesses are listed below and by clicking on their names highlighted in bold face type; the page will upload a copy of their written testimony.)
• Nadia Firozvi is an attorney with the Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center (APALRC), and her testimony highlighted the current work the APALRC is engaged in working with the legal aspects of language access. She described two instances where language access was critical in being able to communicate and work with clients under their auspices.
• Enrique Torrico is the Director of the Family Institute at Centronía. His testimony highlighted his experiences working with clients who have limited or no knowledge of the English language (LEP/NEP) in the area of financial literacy and tax assistance. He explained that language access is critical in helping his clients to understand the vast amounts of information related to tax codes and filing taxes.
• Jennifer Deng-Pickett is the Director of the D.C. Language Access Coalition. Her testimony focused on activities that the Coalition has been working on during the past year, including working on a collaborative outreach education project with the D.C. Office on Human Rights (OHR) to help educate and inform frontline staff of community based organizations and interested District residents about the Language Access Act. She mentioned that the Coalition is growing and becoming more active in advocating for language rights in the District. Also, she provided a list of recommendations for the Council to consider in order to effectively implement the Language Access Act.
• Jennifer Hatton is an attorney with the Legal Aid Society. Her testimony highlighted experiences working with her clients and the problems they face due to lack of language access services. She recognized that the District is recognizing the negative impacts associated with lack of language access, however, she stated that more needs to be done in terms of motivating city agencies to comply and take language access rights more seriously.
• Isabel Van Isschot is the Director of Interpretation Services at La Clínica del Pueblo. Her testimony expressed her utter disappointment with the District and its lack of interest in issues surrounding language access. As she stated during the hearing, “I wish I didn’t have to say this, but I’m tired of testifying about this same issue for the third consecutive year. It takes time and energy that should be rather spent in community services.”
• Bethlehem Muleta is a Bilingual Health Access Staff at Mary’s Center. Her testimony focused on her experiences working with LEP/NEP clients and the run-around and red tape associated with the rules governing provision of language access services to the uninsured and to those on Medicaid.
• Tereguebode Goungou is the new Immigrant Education Consultant to the D.C. Language Access Coalition. Her testimony reflected on her personal experience as a new immigrant to the US and as a new resident to the District.
• Michael Mora Sanchez is a District resident who submitted written testimony to add to the hearing record, however, he was not present at the hearing. His statement focused on the need to provide additional funding to the interpretation program at La Clinica del Pueblo so that it can continue to operate and compensate its interpreters. His testimony also urges the Council to do more to offer interpretation and translation services at hospitals and clinics within the District.
• Jin Xuan Zhou is a District resident who submitted written testimony to add to the hearing record, however, she was not present at the hearing. Her statement focused on the need to offer more ESL learning programs, especially ones that are sensitive to the needs of the Chinese population in the District and for the elderly. She expressed the need to recruit and train more bilingual home health assistants that would be able to communicate and provide better care for elderly Chinese residents, including those living at the homes on 401 K Street and at the Wah Luck House.
Following the public testimonies, the executive witnesses were called to testify. The executive witnesses who testified were the Director and Co-Directors of the D.C. Office on Human Rights (OHR). Mr. Gustavo Velasquez, Director of OHR, presented a copy of the office’s annual report to the hearing. The report was intended to provide details and statistical data describing the state of language access compliance within the District government, and he provided the hearing with some of its highlights. However, as testimony from OHR continued, it became evident that the report, despite being an effort to illustrate some of the progress achieved within the past year was clearly lacking, especially in data analysis, which was incomplete at best due to the fact that data was not collected from all applicable agencies specified under the Language Access Act.
