Workforce Language Services

The YMCA is nothing short of a community institution in many cities and towns.  I’ve long been a member of an urban YMCA because of the wonderfully diverse and accepting environment.  While at my YMCA, visitors mostly hear Cape Verdean Creole, English, and Spanish, the Allston-Brighton YMCA in Boston has members from dozens of countries. 

A recent Boston.com article talks about cultural misunderstandings and celebration of diversity at this Y.  The article opens with an amusing incident in the steam room that resulted in cultural lessons and deepened understanding between members and staff:

Shortly after Jack Fucci became executive director of the Allston-Brighton Y, he found himself embroiled in a tempest in a steam room. 

In the tradition of their homeland, some Russian-born members were sweating it out in the nude. They would no more wear a bathing suit in the steam room than in the shower. Y rules, however, require a bathing suit, not for reasons of modesty - the sexes are separated - but of hygiene.

Fucci tried explaining that to the Russians. Using an Internet program to translate the policy into Russian, he posted it in the locker room. Within hours after the notice went up, the front desk was besieged by, well, steamed-up bathers. Something got lost in translation.

Fortunately, a Russian-speaking staff member saved the day, and Fucci can laugh about the mix-up today. It was just one of the challenges running a YMCA that really ought to be spelled with the letters U and N.

I only wish they had included more details about the translation gaffe.  And imagine that the ED learned his lesson and in the future will ask his multilingual staff to check any translations!

To read the entire article, click here.

As Pinella County schools see an increase in black students while the demographics of teachers remain the same (largely white, middle-class, and female), the School Department stresses the importance of cultural competence.

Harry Brown, deputy superintendent, is quoted saying:

Such efforts are crucial if the district wants to improve achievement for all students, “not just the ones who come in nice, neat packages,” said deputy superintendent Harry Brown.

“It has to go deeper than just flags, festivals and food,” he said.

This statement is absolutely key for anyone working towards creating a more culturally competent, inclusive institution or company.  A truly culturally competent organization is one made up of people who are willing to be self-reflective about their own thinking and open to examining their beliefs.  Consultants who provide cultural competency trainings will be able to guide employees into transforming their thoughts and behaviors into ones that foster an inclusive environment.

To read the entire article, click here.

This Citizen Times articles cites the typical problems that law enforcement and public safety agencies face when working with Latinos: language barriers and fear and distrust of the police.  But the Asheville PD is atempting to counteract the fear of police in a novel way by working with Latino youth and regularly attending community group meetings:

One of the ways Martinez said APD has tried to stem that attitude toward police is through a workshop created for Latino students. The purpose is to familiarize youngsters with law enforcement, show them what police do and build relationships with APD members.

“If you get the kids, you’re tapping into the next generation to spread the word that we’re here to help,” Martinez said. “If you get them younger, they’ll carry that message along with them.”

Regular attendance at Latino Steering Committee meetings is another way APD and other agencies foster relationships with the Hispanic community. The committee brings together representatives of agencies who serve immigrants from Spanish-speaking countries in an effort to pool their resources and be more effective.

Both the Sheriff’s Office, the Asheville PD, and Fire Department are making efforts to recruit Spanish-speaking Latinos.  What I like about their approach is that they’re not simply trying to recruit Latinos to fulfill a diversity quota, but because they’re finding that Spanish-speaking Latinos might truly be interested in a public safety career but haven’t thought about it until recruitment efforts come their way.

Of course, as with any article about the Hispanic community and efforts to serve them better, we find several comments about pandering to the “illegals.”  Many even go so far as to accuse Dan Padilla, who has been a firefighter for 24 years, of being an “illegal.” 

To read the entire article, click here.

In Maryland, foreign-trained nursing professionals are getting the help they need to overcome the language barrier and licensing difficulties that prohibit many immigrants from working in the profession that they studied in their home countries.  Like many other states, Maryland faces a shortage of nurses and by working with foreign-trained nurses.  This program, formerly named the Latino Health Initiative and now the Licensure of Foreign-Trained Nursing Professionals Program assists immigrant nurses to work in the career they previously had as well as address the shortage of nurses. 

The program also enables hospitals to capitalize on Maryland’s well-educated foreign-born population and address diversity issues:

In August, the Urban Institute released a study reporting that 40 percent of Maryland’s immigrants from Latin America and Africa with college degrees work in unskilled professions.

The study also said 43 percent of Maryland’s immigrant workforce has a four-year college degree, compared to 36 percent of native Marylanders…

…Hospitals lacking diverse staffs are likely to struggle with the cultural and linguistic barriers to providing quality health care. These barriers often lead to inefficient treatment, poor communication and patient dissatisfaction, said Carmela Coyle, president and CEO of the Maryland Hospital Association at a summit on Maryland health care disparities.

To read the article, which cites interviews with program participants, click here.

As workplaces become more linguistically diverse, this question often comes up.  Diversityinc.com’s answer highlights using respect and commensense when decided when and where workers should use their native language:

“When you’re having a personal conversation with a colleague in a hallway or over lunch or at their desk, and you’re speaking in Spanish–as long as you’re doing it in a tone and in a way that’s professional, I think that’s fine,” advises Mims. “[It will be less offensive] when it’s done in the right time, in the right place and in the right way.”

It just seems strange that monolingual English speakers always automatically assume that people speaking another language are talking about them.  In most instances, people just revert to the language that they feel most comfortable with and as long as it’s not disrupting business or alienating potential customers, what’s the harm?

The reality of today’s workplace is that there will be many people with different native languages, and being inclusive of people who speak another native language is an important part of moving toward a diverse, culturally competent workplace. 

Candie-Castleberry-Singleton, UPenn Medical Center’s chief diversity officer, uses a strategy of inclusion that penetrates the entire culture of an organization, which she believes results in more truly diverse and inclusive workplaces.  She contrasts this “built-in” strategy with what she calls “bolt-on” initiatives. 

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article:

[Bolt-on initiatives] involve attaching diversity recruiters and diversity trainers to companies and slashing those people and programs in tough economic times….

….At UPMC, where her challenge is to promote inclusion for 48,000 employees, Ms. Castleberry-Singleton is launching the Center for Inclusion in Health Care. The effort will focus on inclusion through four channels: the company, the culture, the customer and the community.

The plan for the company involves a strategy of talent acquisition and development that includes career and leadership training. “It becomes a thread of all your learning, not just a stand-alone program, not just filling in a box saying, ‘I’ve been to diversity training.’ “

Castleberry-Singleton’s approach is a refreshing change from diversity programs that merely fulfill legal requirements.

Click here to read more about her approach and how it’s being implemented with UPenn Medical Center’s 48,000 employees.

It late September, Workforce Language Services posted a link to a Diversity Spectrum article about the problems Somali immigrants were facing at a meatpacking plant that was raided months ago.  A more recent article from the NY Times posted on the East Africa forum details the mutual lack of cultural understanding that has arisen and the subsequent tension at the plant:

But the dispute peeled back a layer of civility in this southern Nebraska city of 47,000, revealing slow-burning racial and ethnic tensions that have been an unexpected aftermath of the enforcement raids at workplaces by federal immigration authorities.

Grand Island is among a half dozen or so cities where discord has arisen with the arrival of Somali workers, many of whom were recruited by employers from elsewhere in the United States after immigration raids sharply reduced their Latino work forces.

The Somalis are by and large in this country legally as political refugees and therefore are not singled out by immigration authorities.

In some of these places, including Grand Island, this newest wave of immigrant workers has had the effect of unifying the other ethnic populations against the Somalis and has also diverted some of the longstanding hostility toward Latino immigrants among some native-born residents.

“Every wave of immigrants has had to struggle to get assimilated,” said Margaret Hornady, the mayor of Grand Island and a longtime resident of Nebraska. “Right now, it’s so volatile.”

As newer populations move into cities and towns to fill positions that native residents don’t want to fill, it becomes even more critical to provide cultural competency to all stakeholders.  It’s especially troubling that Latinos, who have collectively faced so much intolerance are now perpetuating further intolerance against African Muslims. 

To read the entire article, click here.  And to read another Diversity Spectrum article that describes the increase in Muslim complaints of workplace bias, go here.

An article on msnbc.com highlights the unique contributions that children of new immigrants are making to the United States.  They cite familiar stats of the projected population in 2030 and 2050 from the U.S. Census Bureau and then move to some very interesting stats about the increased importance of education and voting for this particular demographic:

Among second-generation Hispanics, education is a priority, according to a nationwide study by the Public Policy Institute of California. Only 10 percent of second-generation adults have not graduated from high school, it found, compared with 38 percent of their first-generation parents. That is better than the population as whole, according to the U.S. Education Department, which said 14 percent of all American adults do not have high school diplomas.

While debates continue about to what degree immigrants assimilate and what it means for many to not speak English well, this particular article creates an exciting picture of what American is starting to look like because of the unique perspective of this population:

Research suggests that the children of immigrants face special challenges and opportunities that prepare them to succeed in American society. In the homes of immigrant parents, it is the children who cross cultural and linguistic barriers, breaking them down while absorbing the best of both worlds.

To read the entire article as well as links to further information, click here. 

While interagency cooperation and support is standard and even welcomed in law enforcement, what happens when a fed is called in to assist a state cop and then finds that a federal immigration law has been violated?  Well, the Border Patrol gets to arrest them, even if they were detained for a routine traffic stop in Washington!  Since there are currently no Spanish speaking cops in Jefferson County, the police department will call in federal immigration agents if they need assistance with Spanish translation.

 Hernandez said that after the deputy completed the traffic stop, the Border Patrol agent interviewed the driver, determined there was a federal immigration violation and detained the person.

Said Brasfield: “Sgt. [Andy] Pernsteiner made a routine traffic stop as noted in the incident. We do not have any trained law enforcement personnel that speak Spanish.

“Knowing that there was a multilingual Border Patrol officer on duty, they were contacted for assistance and provided translation services.”

While spokespeople from the police department are careful to say that they are not doing the job of federal immigration agents, I wonder why the Border Patrol agent found it necessary to continue the interview with the person after the traffic stop had been completed.

Furthermore, will the use of federal immigration agents for interpretation purposes make people not call the police to report crimes for fear that their immigration status will be questioned?

To read the full article with more details about how agencies are negotiating their relationships in Washington, click here.

The governor of the Peruvian province Callao announced that in 2010, all preschools in this district will be bilingual:

To carry out this project, the governor explained that 5,000 pre-school, elementary and high school teachers would be taught a second language.

Among the languages teachers can choose to learn are English, French, Portuguese, Italian and German.

Despite the variety of languages teachers can choose to learn, Governor Kouri affirmed 85 percent of them would want to command the English language.

It’s an exciting move that government has recognized the importance of targeting this age group which is most able to acquire a second language and not wait until the children are older.  My concern, however, about this move: will the teachers be able to learn the chosen second language to the degree that they will then be able to teach it? 

To read the complete article, click here.