<div dir="ltr"><span id="RDS_GLOBAL"><span id="RDS_article"><h1 id="articleTitle" class="">Policy Seeks to Penetrate Language Policy in Long Beach<br></h1><div id="articleByline" class=""><a class="" href="mailto:eric.bradley@presstelegram.com?subject=Press-Telegram:">By Eric Bradley, Staff Writer</a></div>
<div id="articleDate" class="">Posted:
07/30/2013 08:29:32 PM PDT</div><div id="articleDate" class="">Updated:
07/31/2013 08:10:15 AM PDT</div><br><span></span><div class=""><div class="" style="width:500px"><span class=""><a href="http://www.presstelegram.com/portlet/article/html/imageDisplay.jsp?contentItemRelationshipId=5303343" target="_new"><img src="http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site204/2013/0730/20130730_093449_0731_NWS_LPT-L-LANGUAGE%20%28640x437%29_500.jpg" title="" alt="" border="0" height="341" width="500"></a></span><div class="" style="width:100%">
Long
Beach has taken almost two years to update its language access policy.
The effort was supposed to take 120 days. Advocates find the policy to
be lacking and fixated on costs. Neighborhood Resources Center does
publish their information in threee languages, English, Spanish and
Khmer. (Brittany Murray / Staff Photographer)</div></div></div><span></span><div id="articleBody" class=""><div class="" id="articleViewerGroup" style="border:0px none"><span class=""></span><span></span><span></span></div>
<span></span><p class="">LONG BEACH - Esther del Valle wants to be a part of the civic process in Long Beach.</p>
<p class="">But the 50-year-old del Valle, who was born in Mexico
and has lived here for 14 years, only has a basic understanding of
English. If she wants to voice her opinion at a government meeting, she
must rely on an interpreter who often cannot be provided on short
notice.</p>
<p class="">And then there are the difficulties presented by the conflicting nuances of English and Spanish.</p>
<p class="">"A lot of times I find myself in the situation where I
say something in English or what I say in Spanish is misinterpreted,"
del Valle said.</p>
<p class="">Spurred by community advocates and stories like those
shared by del Valle, Long Beach has been working for almost two years on
a citywide plan to better serve its non-English language residents. </p>
<p class="">The City Council will consider approving the policy on
Aug. 13, but community groups are asking that council members revise
the new umbrella rules because they say the plan does not make
meaningful changes for residents who are limited English proficient, or
LEP.</p>
<p class="">Susanne Browne of the Legal Aid Foundation of Los
Angeles said the state standards used to formulate the policy set an
"unreasonably" high threshold for inclusion of 5 percent, or 21,480
residents, who are limited-English proficient.</p>
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<p>Only Spanish LEP speakers qualify, with 62,814 in Long Beach,
according to U.S. Census data. There are 8,607 Khmer speakers, 5,181
Tagalog speakers and thousands of Thai, Vietnamese, Urdu and Gujarati
speakers with limited-English proficiency living in the city.
</p><p class="">Additionally, the rules make the city manager responsible for determining what vital documents are translated.</p>
<p class="">"That doesn't set any clear standards even for access
for Spanish speakers," Browne said. "I don't even think for Spanish
speakers this could be considered a victory."</p>
<p class="">Long Beach already offers a wide range of services for
its non-English language residents, spending about $900,000 annually on
translation and interpretation.</p>
<p class="">Many city forms and services are available in multiple
languages, and neighborhood resource centers have staff and equipment
that help with on-site translation.</p>
<p class="">For elections, the City Clerk's Office provides voting information in English, Spanish, Khmer, Tagalog, Vietnamese and Korean.</p>
<p class="">The city also maintains a database of about 3,000 employees with linguistic skills, out of a total of about 6,000.</p>
<p class="">Deputy Director of Development Services Angela Reynolds said the new policy augments what it is now in place.</p>
<p class="">The proposed plan allocates an additional $257,225 to
language access to provide more translated written materials, funding
for meeting interpretation upon request, recorded telephonic messages
and compliance monitoring.</p>
<p class="">Also included is $549,956 in "best efforts"
recommendations that council could choose from that would hire bilingual
employees in point-of-contact positions, train staff translators and
educate the public on the city's language access policy, among other
items.</p>
<p class="">"I think we have a great start here." Reynolds said. "We wrote the policy to give council a starting point."</p>
<p class="">USA Today named Long Beach the most diverse in a study
of the 65 largest U.S. cities, a distinction often promoted by city
officials.</p>
<p class="">More than 45 percent of those living in Long Beach speak a language other than English at home, according to U.S. census data.</p>
<p class="">If officials are going to celebrate the city's
culture, Browne said, they should approve a policy that is more
inclusive and not "hyper-focused" on cost.</p>
<p class="">"What we should be looking at is the cost to the
health and safety of the residents of this city if we don't have a
proper language access policy," said Browne.</p>
<p class="">While Reynolds acknowledged cost is a concern -- Long
Beach has battled multimillion dollar deficits for years -- she
disagreed that the plan is driven by expense.</p>
<p class="">"Council will see the reality of what we currently do," said Reynolds. "As you add languages, the costs go up exponentially."</p>
<p class="">Browne and a coalition including the Long Beach
Immigrant Rights Coalition, Housing Long Beach, Centro CHA and United
Cambodian Community are recommending a 5,000-resident threshold for the
language policy and want to see a plan returned for consideration in
60-90 days.</p>
<p class="">Setting a timeframe is important, advocates said,
because the initial effort was supposed to take 120 days. According to
officials, honing the policy and meeting with stakeholders lengthened
the process.</p>
<p class="">Though Browne said litigation is not their intent, the
groups are concerned that the regulations as written don't comply with
federal and state law prohibiting agencies from discriminating on the
basis of race, color, national origin or ethnic group identification.</p>
<p class="">"Our goal is to work with the city to come up with a
collaborative policy that meets the needs of the residents of Long
Beach," Browne said.</p>
<p class="">"When we see a policy that is so insufficient, we feel
it's important to point out that it doesn't meet the basic requirements
of the law."</p>
<p class="">Reynolds said the rules were written in cooperation
with the City Attorney's Office and all departments that receive federal
funds comply with the law.</p>
<p class="">As city officials and advocates disagree on the best way forward, residents like del Valle are left in between.</p>
<p class="">"Although they may not always be the best," del Valle
said. "I will keep using the resources available to me because it's
important for me to voice my concerns about the city I live in even
though sometimes I don't feel like my voice is always heard."</p>
<p class="">Eric Bradley can be reached at 562-499-1254</p>
<p class="">Staff Writer Beatriz Valenzuela contributed to this report.</p>
<p>
</p><p><a href="mailto:eric.bradley@presstelegram.com">eric.bradley@presstelegram.com</a></p></div></span></span><a href="http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_23763427/policy-seeks-penetrate-language-barrier-long-beach">http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_23763427/policy-seeks-penetrate-language-barrier-long-beach</a><br>
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