HISTORY
Campaign 2
Update New York state legislation for language translation services and fund New York City immigrant community-based language services worker-owned cooperatives.
ADVOCATE
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CODIFY
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VOTE
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EXPAND
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While New York City took an important step toward expanding language access in 2017 with the passage of the Language Access Policy (Local Law 30), there are still significant barriers to language access for New York’s immigrant communities, particularly those who speak languages of limited diffusion (LLDs). LLDs include African languages, many Asian languages, and indigenous Latin American languages.
City-funded nonprofit immigration legal service providers and City agencies,
are overly dependent on telephonic interpretation services.
Telephonic interpretation services:
Less desirable than in-person interpretation, particularly for complex and sensitive cases
cannot meet the demand for LLDs, some interpreters are poorly trained or unprofessional, and services are expensive.
Clients complain that they are connected with interpreters who do not in fact speak their language.
Campaign Asks/Proposal
We propose that the City fund a community-based nonprofit organization to set up a Community Legal Interpreter Bank and recruit, train, and dispatch legal interpreters.
City-funded immigration legal service providers will then request interpreters from the CIB for legal services where they lack language capacity, and receive these services free of charge, up to a set number of hours, from the CIB.
We propose that the City fund immigrant community-based organizations to develop and launch three language services worker-owned cooperatives--one for African LLDs, one for Asian LLDs, and one for indigenous Latin American LLDs.
Wins
City Council allocated funds in FY23
2.2 Million - Develop NYC Interpreter Bank
2.8 Million - Development of and Incorporation of Interpreter Co-operatives
ACT successfully incorporated and launched a worker Co-op Afrilingual, LLC the first African language worker cooperative
982 interpretation and translation service requests were provided to a total of 16 city agencies and CBOs.
Languages represented:
AAF = Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Korean, and Urdu.
ACT = Arabic, French, Wolof, Fulani, Mandingo/Bambara/Dioula, Ewe/Mina, Moore.
Masa = Mixteco, Tlapaneco, Zapoteco, Nahuatl, Kichwa, Mam and Spanish.
#community members engaged in the project:
5,495 community members were engaged in FY 23
# Trainings/workshops:
106 trainings/workshops were held, with over 345 hours completed, focused in the areas of business development, legal, finance, marketing, co-op development training, bookkeeping, ITIN, tax, digital literacy, ESOL, interpretation, trauma-informed interpreting, and medical interpreting.
