Jesus Torres: Increasing language access helps in many ways

By Jesus Torres

A question I have been asked on multiple occasions is, why is increasing language access so important to you? The short answer is because it is the law and according to the government “a language access plan can help ensure that an organization provides high quality and appropriate language services. A language access plan can also help ensure that an organization’s staff members are aware of what to do when an individual with limited English proficiency needs assistance.”

The long answer is because it affected my life in a big way. I was born in Los Angeles and lived there for the first year of my life but because of circumstances beyond my control my family moved to Mexico and stayed there until I was 5 years old. Upon returning to the U.S., I was confronted with a society that was completely alien to me. Despite being an American citizen, I did not speak the language and did not understand the culture. It was in kindergarten that I first heard the term “English language learner.” Kids like me were put into a program of English language development, where we were taught English by an instructor in a classroom isolated from the rest of the students for about an hour a day. Living in a household where only Spanish was spoken and receiving limited instruction at school made the process of learning English longer and more difficult. By sixth grade I had made enough progress to no longer be considered Limited English Proficient. According to studies done by the Urban Institute, there are many children in the same situation:

• Linguistic isolation that many LEP children find in their schools is replicated in their homes. Six out of seven LEP students in elementary schools live in households where no one over age 14 is proficient in English.
• Three-quarters of LEP students in elementary school and over half of those in secondary school are U.S.-born and many have U.S.-born parents.

Like most cities, Spokane is growing and infrastructure and systems are having a hard time keeping up with the growth. Language access is an area where the system is not adapting quickly enough to adequately serve the population. The percentage of households that do not speak English at home is over 7%; while that number may seem small it represents more than 38,000 people. Crucial information provided by systems and organizations that is only available in English means that equitable services are not being provided to all members of the community.

Language access goes beyond pulling out your phone and using Google Translate or bringing in your coworker who took a year of (insert language) in college to interpret. Languages are complex and meaning is contextual, dependent on syntax, dialect and colloquialisms. Language also has many intangible cultural factors that impact understanding, meaning, and intention. The only way to truly communicate effectively with LEP individuals is to pay professionals for their services. By doing this, you acknowledge that translation is important work and try to ensure that your impact in communicating information is accurate. Providing readily available language interpretation makes your services accessible to people who are non-English proficient or LEP.

Without a comprehensive language access plan, government employees have to struggle to offer quick and effective services. A visit to a government services department that should be quick and efficient is often slow and time consuming because the employee and the person seeking services cannot communicate effectively. Helping LEP individuals can also often require several visits because nobody is available to interpret and the person is often asked to come back at another time bringing their own interpreter. Now that the flow of the American Rescue Plan Act and Inflation Reduction Act dollars is coming to an end local governments are struggling with funding, finding ways to make services more efficient and cost effective should be a priority.

Offering information in the many languages that are spoken in Spokane immediately and visibly creates a more welcoming environment and more efficient government services. If Spokane is to become a city where “we all belong” then language access has to be an important part of the equation.

Jesus Torres is the Community Organizer and Policy Advocate for Mujeres in Action. He works with local, county, and state government officials on policies that benefit the immigrant community that MiA serves.