Chair Stevens Questions Language Access Compliance and Interpreter Banks
Chair Althea Stevens asks how MOIA is collaborating with council-funded interpreter banks and language service worker cooperatives to improve compliance.
I want to get into language access.
As you know, we have some of the strongest language access laws in the country.
Um, and what we're seeing uh, you know, obviously it requires agencies to appoint language access coordinators and to translate.
Um but in 2023 there was an evaluation by the city's language access uh like the secret shopper program, and it said that more than half of the centers evaluated were in violation of local law authority.
And you know, since then the council has been uh in fiscal 23 through 26.
The council began investing in the creation of the um language service worker cooperatives um as well as the community interpreter bank.
Uh so can you talk to me a little bit about how uh can Moya increase collaboration and coordination with the council funded initiatives, the bank and the language service worker cooperatives?
We've had um conversations with the council funded um uh both the community interpretive bank or organizations and uh the community language workers.
On the community interpreter bank specifically, Moya organized a virtual convening this February where the NYIC has shared information about the services that are being offered by the community interpretive bank.
Um, 33 different agencies were in fact present.
Um, and our engagement really doesn't end there.
Um, you know, Moya 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 uh language access partners.
And how do you measure uh compliance across city agencies when it comes to those uh kind of gaps that you see?