HAUP calls for accelerated implementation of language access policies in NY

Last May, the NYC Council’s Committee on  Immigration invited HAUP to submit testimony regarding implementation of Executive Order, an order issued by Mayor Michael Bloomberg of the City of NY which directed City Agencies to develop and implement policies on language access to facilitate the “successful integration of immigrant New Yorkers into the civic, economic and cultural life of the City.” Below are excerpts from the statement submitted to the consideration of members of the Committee by HAUP.

The Haitian Presence in New York City

Haitians began to settle legally in large numbers in New York in the 1960s. They left behind a beloved homeland which was unfortunately ruled by one of the most terrible dictatorships in the western hemisphere. Thanks to the family reunification provisions of the 1965 Immigration Act, their relatives eventually joined them in their new homes in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. The Haitian émigrés were soon joined by asylum-seekers who came by the boatload and on tourist visas as the political and economic situation continued to worsen in Haiti through the 1970s and 1980s.

Haitians in the US have had a hard time fitting in because they have suffered from federal policies that targeted them as simply opportunistic job-seekers and refused to acknowledge the lack of democratic freedoms as the key cause of poverty in Haiti, and thus the reason for their emigration. Exclusionary immigration policies generally set the tone for State and municipal policy. Additionally, their unique history, language and character set them apart from other immigrant groups from Latin America and the Caribbean who spoke either Spanish or English and therefore could more easily move into the mainstream. In the early 1980s, Haitians were singled out as carriers of the HIV virus to the United States and were stigmatized.

Today the Department of City Planning estimates the foreign-born population of Haitian origin at about 100,000, of which 50% are not English-proficient. Other estimates of the community of Haitians are much higher. Regardless, the services available to facilitate the integration of Haitian immigrants in the life of New York City have not always been adequate. They got by with the assistance of self-help groups that helped them adapt to their new environment. A few of these groups, including HAUP, continue to provide dearly-needed services with limited resources. We are thankful for the support that we get from State and City Agencies, yet our limited resources hinder our ability to have more of an impact on the speed at which Haitian immigrants integrate and contribute to the civic and political life of this City.

Executive Order No. 120 is a Step Forward

About 9 months ago, on July 22, 2008 Mayor Michael Bloomberg issued an order directing City Agencies to develop and implement policies on language access to facilitate the “successful integration of immigrant New Yorkers into the civic, economic and cultural life of the City.”

Like many of our CBO colleagues and advocates, we hailed Executive Order No. 120 as a significant step forward. It obligated city agencies to develop plans to provide services in Haitian Creole, along with Spanish, Chinese, Russian, Korean, and Italian. These plans were to include:

1. Identification and translation of “essential public documents.”
2. Interpretation services.
3. Training of frontline workers and managers on language access policies and procedures.
4. Posting of signage in conspicuous locations about the availability of free interpretation services.
5. Establishment of an appropriate monitoring and measurement system.
6. Creation of appropriate awareness strategies for the agencies’ service populations.

City agencies were given 45 days from the effective date of the order to appoint a Language Access Coordinator and to develop plans by January 1, 2009. We are thankful to the City’s Office of Immigrant Affairs which published on its website all the plans developed so far and made it possible for us to assess and compare them to the needs we see in the Haitian community.

Our Concerns

Most of the plans put forward so far call for full implementation of the language access policy in two to three years. They all call for the development of agency-wide language banks (where and if none exists), the use of contractors to provide language services, staff training as appropriate, means to identify language needs and to evaluate how well they are complying with the Executive Order. It’s all well, except that:

1. Implementation should be speeded up. We are fully aware that adequate implementation of the language access policy takes time and effort, because staff has to be trained and adapt to policies that are only now catching with the reality that New York City today truly embodies the melting pot. Yet we believe that the timeline inevitably and needlessly leaves immigrants with language access needs behind, particularly at this critical juncture in the City’s life when economic growth has slowed down, unemployment is high and the need for skilled navigation of the services that the City offers to its residents greater than in boom times.
2. No one ethnic group can claim to be in the majority since the City has become so diversified. Although we subscribe to the notion that all New Yorkers, regardless of their background and ethnicity should be able to communicate in the English language, and share a common culture, we also believe that the embrace of multicultural diversity leads to more tolerance and understanding of “the other.” More importantly it leads to more effective delivery of services, and greater understanding between the provider and the recipient. This truth is not readily apparent to city agency workers who are burdened with keeping the city functional while earning relatively modest wages.
3. Translators or interpreters are not always available at city agencies. Our staff continues to escort clients to school, hospital and Medicaid appointments because usually agency-provided translators are unavailable as promised.
4. When translators/interpreters were present, the quality of their translation was poor. The assumption that an employee of Haitian origin is automatically fluent in both Haitian Creole and English is the wrong assumption. We have encountered employees whose English communications skills are poor and whose Haitian Creole skills were even more mediocre.
5. Translating documents and providing them to Haitian newcomers – as some schools have done in order to empower parents — is insufficient. We usually find ourselves being called upon to explain to the parents the content of the documents and to mediate with school officials. Lost in translation is the understanding that Haitian parents may have no more than a primary school education under their belt, that the words used in the Creole translation – which are unfortunately mostly literal translations – may not convey the message accurately, and that the translated content as a whole is beyond the grasp of the Haitian parent.
6. We note that the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene plans on translating “essential documents” only in Chinese and Spanish, because they account for 96% of the demand on the Department’s services. We disagree with such an approach which assumes that demand for other language services will remain proportionately flat.

Recommendations

We truly believe that if implemented as intended Executive Order No. 120 will trigger greater demand on the services provided by city agencies. New York City’s immigrants and new Americans will also get involved to a greater degree in municipal affairs. And as a result, the City will be really representative of its constituents.

We recommend that the pace at which plans for implementing the language access executive order be faster rather than slower. We appreciate the fact that turning the ship of state around, in other words retrofitting it to respond to a constituency that has grown more diverse, is not a simple matter. We know that it takes time and resources, which is why we believe that more resources should be made available to implement the order. The returns will substantially justify the costs.

We also recommend that there be closer consultation and cooperation with community-based organizations like HAUP which remains on the front line of efforts to ensure the smooth integration of new Americans of Haitian origin as well as those hailing from other nationalities. Our role as advocates and facilitators for the community members who seek our services makes us ideal partners with the city agencies that seek to develop winning strategies and plans. We know intimately the issues that they face. We can walk them through the system when the system itself remains unresponsive. If we are unable to do so, our failure is simply due to the lack of resources on hand. Consequently our final recommendation is that of a stronger partnership with HAUP and other agencies like it, a partnership that should result in a greater capacity to deliver meaningful services to our constituents and empower them to take a more active part in the City’s well-being.