Chair Encarnación questions language access compliance across city agencies

I want to get into language access.

As you know, we have some of the strongest language access laws in the country.

What we're seeing, you know, obviously it requires agencies to appoint language access coordinators and to translate.

But in 2023, there was an evaluation by the city's language access, like the secret shopper program.

And it said that more than half of the centers evaluated were in violation of local law 30.

And, you know, since then, the council has been in fiscal 23 through 26.

The council began investing in the creation of the language service worker cooperatives, as well as the community interpreter bank.

So can you talk to me a little bit about how can MOIA increase collaboration and coordination with the council-funded initiatives, the bank and the language service worker cooperatives?

We've had conversations with the council-funded, both the community interpreter bank organizations and the community language workers.

On the community interpreter bank specifically, MOIA organized a virtual convening this February where the NYIC has shared information about the services that are being offered by the community interpreter bank.

33 different agencies were in fact present.

And our engagement really doesn't end there.

You know, MOIA has also included information about their third-party language resources, including information about the Language Justice Collaborative and other nonprofits in our monthly language access newsletter and agency language access partners.

And how do you measure compliance across city agencies when it comes to those kind of gaps that you see?

Yeah.

You know, MOIA is committed to advancing language justice really as a core principle of how we do our work.

Language access is essential to ensuring that immigrant New Yorkers can fully participate in civic life and accessing critical services and engaging with agencies.

You know, the city's responsibility goes, as I said earlier, beyond compliance.

And this is really...

for us about building systems that are responsive and inclusive.

You know, MOIA coordinates across the city agencies through a combination of oversight and technical assistance that we offer, and specifically with other agencies.

You know, we monitor this technical assistance to all of the local law authority agencies and convene them on a regular basis.

As I mentioned in my testimony just this April, we did do our large convening of language access coordinators across agencies to not just underscore the importance of language access, but make sure that there's an opportunity for agencies to

share some of their best practices and talk a little bit about...

And that there's a law on it, right?

Correct.

Compliance is important, I think, in that sense, because the reasoning behind putting that law forward was that we need to start closing those gaps between those agencies.

So, you know, I...

Just pinpoint that because I think that it is, and you know this, and I think that that's where you're getting at with

making sure that there's a good relationship and collaboration there, but in terms of making sure that there's compliance, I wanna just, just to understand how

we measure that and we fill those gaps and hold them accountable to making sure that they are providing those services.

I think part of it is also like having an ongoing, you know, communication.

with these agencies.

You know, after that convening, DM Sue, Deputy Mayor Julie Sue and I actually issued a memo to all the local law authority agencies, just reiterating

not just compliance, I think that we need to have a larger conversation about how do we achieve language justice.

And so we talked in that, you know, memo about how we're embedding language access really as a core government function.

So to your point, it is absolutely the law, but we can go deeper than the spirit of the law if we really want to ensure equitable access for immigrant New Yorkers.

Agreed.