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Responding to changing demographics, the public and private sectors are developing new ways of communicating with limited English-speaking individuals. In 2007, nearly one in five Americans lived in a household that spoke a language other than English at home, yet meeting the needs for language services and English as a Second Language (ESL) instruction remains a challenge. Language assistance programs can benefit immigrant families and the broader community by improving public safety, health, education, and other important government functions. A growing number of state and local agencies have adopted language access policies over the past decade, but many struggled to implement them. The Annie E. Casey Foundation established the Language Access Practitioners Network in 2006, connecting otherwise isolated government practitioners that work in child and family serving agencies, as well as staff from mayors’ and governors’ offices who oversee immigrant-serving programs. This report builds on participants’ conversations on how public agencies can communicate more effectively with limited English-speaking residents and lessons learned from language access programs across the country. The report concludes with a check list for developing effective language access practices and further resources.
This chapter from GCIR’s Investing in Our Communities: Strategies for Immigrant Integration explains the challenges of language access for immigrants and looks at the role that foundations can play.
With one out of five households in the United States speaking a language other than English at home, and more than 18.4 million foreign-born residents over the age of five speaking English less than very well, overcoming language barriers has become an increasingly vital element to emergency preparedness. Recent natural disasters-Hurricane Katrina, flooding in the Midwest, and the Southern California wildfires-illustrate the need for emergency response and public health systems to improve their outreach and services to immigrants, refugees, and other limited English proficient (LEP) residents who may be isolated, have little knowledge of emergency resources, and fear interacting with local public agencies. Published by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and GCIR, this report offers a framework for how local governments can incorporate LEP residents into the emergency planning process, increase their preparedness, and develop capacity in key public agencies to communicate with and serve these residents.
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