| In Many Different
Languages, Help Is There
Angela Pearson Hill
The Oakland, CA, Police Department has translated materials on hand. |
Weed and Seed sites are providing
foreign-born populations in their communities with meaningful
access to services and benefits.
Last November, CCDO asked select Weed and Seed sites about
their Limited English Proficiency (LEP) policies and practices.
Throughout the country, 173 sites were identified as having
a foreign-born population of 5 percent or more, and about 45
percent of those sites completed assessments.
The majority of the sites that participated in the assessment
have aggressively reached out to the LEP community. For example,
at the Newburgh Weed and Seed site in New York, 36 percent
of the site's 28 employees are bilingual and are able to assist
Spanish-speaking residents competently.
Two other sites have focused their outreach through local
police departments. Employees of the West Oakland (CA) Police
Department are tested to see whether they can provide translation
services to the LEP community. In fact, employees receive additional
pay for bilingual services, according to Annie Sloan, the West
Oakland site coordinator. In Seattle, WA, law enforcement officers
assist the Weed and Seed Southwest site community, where an
astonishing 70 languages and dialects are spoken. The commander
of the police department's Communications Section coordinates
language-access activities, and the department provides interpreters
for its LEP population.
Top
10 Tips for Improving Access
1) Establish a formal process for tracking frequency
of contact with the community.
2) Identify the resources (e.g., translators,
bilingual employees, volunteer interpreters)
necessary to provide meaningful access.
3) Display signs or posters advertising language
services that are available free of charge.
4) Designate a staff member who will coordinate
language-access activities.
5) Use employees as interpreters.
6) Provide a formal LEP training program for
employees.
7) Identify which outside resources are needed
for interpreter services (e.g., telephone interpreter
lines, community volunteers, written language
services).
8) Provide translated written documents that
pertain to your program (e.g., brochures, pamphlets,
forms).
9) Identify any additional resources that may
be needed.
10) Include reasonable costs for language services
in your Weed and Seed grant proposal. |
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Although many sites have demonstrated successful outreach
efforts, CCDO has selected three sites as delivering premier
services: Brownsville Westside, TX; Northwest and Southeast
Trenton, NJ; and the Colfax Corridor site in Aurora, CO. Each
site offered a fascinating outreach approach.
Brownsville Westside has a 30-percent foreign-born population
that consists mainly of Spanish-speaking residents. This model
site is staunchly committed to its LEP community. According
to Elizabeth Limon-Garza, the site coordinator, staff members
are required to speak Spanish fluently. Instead of speaking
through an interpreter, staff members speak directly to the
residents about available Weed and Seed benefits and services,
and all of Brownsville Westside's vital documents are distributed
to the public in both English and Spanish. The site also conducts
community meetings about crime prevention in Spanish to maximize
resident participation.
The Trenton site maximizes the use of a multicultural staff
for its LEP community. Many of Trenton's Northwest and Southeast
residents speak Spanish. As such, they are part of a foreign-born
population of about 27 percent in the community. Regarding
the site's staffing policy, Nancy Diel, the site coordinator,
said that the receptionist and at least one senior staff member
must be bilingual, and each Safe Haven must have at least one
bilingual staff person. All of the sites' vital documents are
translated into Spanish, and all written materials for afterschool
programming are translated and posted on the Web site. The
site tracks its frequency of contact with the LEP community
by counting the Spanish-language versions of the registration
forms for afterschool programs and summer camps that have been
completed at the end of each month. Each year, staff members
also compare the services the site provides to Spanish-speaking
clients with U.S. Census tracking information.
The Colfax Corridor Weed and Seed site has outstanding LEP
policies and practices. The spring 2004 edition of In-Sites featured
an article on Aurora's education and training geared toward
LEP residents and their integration into Aurora's neighborhoods.
Almost 1 year later, Colfax Corridor still excels in reaching
out to its LEP community. Although the site is diverse, the
population is composed primarily of Spanish-speaking individuals
(54 percent ).
Site Coordinator Dawn Barrett said that Aurora's primary objective
is to “build unity in the community.” This multifaceted outreach
program includes regular visits to schools, homes, nonprofit
organizations, and businesses to share city information and
resources with Spanish-speaking residents. The program includes
the Lifelong Learning Project, which is designed to advance
the language and life skills of non-English speakers. The Community
College of Aurora's (CCA's) Language Center and its Workforce
Development Center offer English language classes, and Colfax
Corridor assists CCA in recruiting and enrolling individuals
into these classes.
Neighborhood Watch for Spanish Speakers, an outreach mechanism
coordinated by Colfax Corridor's bilingual Weed and Seed network,
engages Spanish-speaking residents in crime prevention and
public safety efforts. Another component of the site's outreach
efforts, the Information and Referral Program, identifies LEP
individuals who require or request language assistance and
refers them to available community resources. And these are
just a few of the innovative outreach tools that are part of
Colfax Corridor's strategy.
Improving access to services is an ongoing process. Weed and
Seed grant recipients are responsible for ensuring that program
goals and objectives include all of the people that sites serve
or encounter, including those with limited English proficiency.
CCDO is confident that all sites will continue to strive to
meet the needs of the LEP community.
For further information, contact:
Brownsville Westside Weed and Seed
Elizabeth Limon-Garza,
Coordinator
956-544-0868
Oakland Police Department
Annie Sloan, Coordinator
510-777-8719
Aurora's Colfax Corridor
Dawn Barrett, Coordinator
303-739-7926
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