Workforce Language Services

The health care industry has recognized that practitioners are not giving their patients the most culturally competent care they could.  Industry leaders have created a fellowship to strategize about structuring a model of culturally competent care:

In 2005, the Health Research & Educational Trust (HRET), the Institute for Diversity in Health Management, and the National Center for Healthcare Leadership launched the first-ever Cultural Competence Leadership Fellowship (CCLF), an innovative, yearlong program. Since then, 55 leaders have been armed with essential tools to better strategize cultural competence and activities to reduce disparities. Key elements in the fellowship include:

• an evaluation of the organization and community;
• frameworks for eliminating racial/ethnic disparities;
• experiential lessons in diversity practice and workforce development;
• essential tools to advance and sustain cultural competence; and
• transforming culture through effective communication and training.

In its first year, the fellowship focused on data collection and needs assessments, which were then translated into action plans for implementation. 

To read further about this fellowship, please click here.

Filtration Group, a Santa Rosa company, treated its non-English speaking employees to a two-fold language learning program.  The classroom instruction not only focused on workplace English, but also on education literacy to help employees in guiding their children through their schooling.

The three-part program was coordinated by the Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce, Santa Rosa City Schools and the California Parenting Institute.

Instructor Marjam Karapetien teaches the course through Lewis Adult School and Community-Based English Tutoring, a state program that provides free or subsidized English programs to those who will assist schoolchildren.

Other companies have hosted literacy events and given away books, but Filtration Group was the first local company to put all three elements together.

“We thought, ‘Why don’t we pitch in and help the parents help their children graduate,” said Estela Prado, the company’s human resources administrator.

But the company had an eye for the business benefits too, she said.

The Santa Rosa, CA Press Democrat has the full article.

An article in QSR.com describes the growing number of Hispanic people working in the food service industry, issues that arise from language barriers, and tools to combat these barriers for increased safety and productivity.

While these workers exhibit a willingness to learn and improve on the job, there is one drawback: effective communication. A large number of Hispanic workers in restaurant kitchens are not fluent in English; likewise, many restaurant managers are not fluent in Spanish. As a result, time is wasted trying to convey instructions between staff members. The fallout is more than just inefficiency; it also poses a potential safety hazard.

The article also described the movement in quick serve restaurants toward increased cultural competency and resources for learning so that ambitious employees can get the language skills necessary to progress in a company.  There are various books and software-based language learning resources mentioned in the article.  But companies interested in investing in their non-English speaking staff may also consider worksite English classes for workers or worksite Spanish classes for management and other employees.

The Grand Island Independent profiled National Guardsman Adrian Velez, who serves as one of two Hispanic liasions in Nebraska.  Through community outreach, he attempts to diffuse some of the fear and suspicion many Latinos, legal and illegal, have of people in uniform, especially if that uniform is tied to law enforcement. 

“There is a misconception of the National Guard,” Velez said. “People see the uniform, and (as guardsmen) we’re misperceived as part of a legal system putting people in jeopardy. People also think we just do the war thing.”

He uses those moments to tell people about the Guard’s domestic missions, such as helping with disaster relief, he said.

Velez attends school-related events, swings into Hispanic community cultural centers and attends meetings. He talks to people about the Guard and answers questions wherever he can.

The article also speaks about Velez’s outgoing and kind personality, which definitely allows him to connect with people and show them the man behind the uniform.  Because of his personality, he’s found that he’s made inroads with the Latino community and has been able to help families make more informed decision about whether involvement in the National Guard is right for them.

In April, the Workforce Language Services blog posted an article about how language barriers at pharmacies can prove dangerous for non-English speakers in New York City.

CVS and Rite-Aid recently announced that they will provide translations into six major languages of prescription information.  The Newsday.com article mentions the probe that the Mayor’s office launched along with an advocacy organization:

 Cuomo’s office launched an undercover investigation after Make the Road by Walking New York, a Brooklyn-based nonprofit that advocates for low-income New Yorkers, complained that pharmacies “routinely fail to advise non-English-speaking customers in a language that allows them to understand the purpose, dosage and side effects of their medications,” according to the release.

State law requires pharmacists to “personally provide information about prescription drugs to all patients, orally and in writing,” the release said.

The article also mentions that “spoken translations” will also be provided in these six languages.  Unfortunately, there are no further details about exactly how these spoken translations will be disseminated.  Will they have recordings?  Increasing their bilingual pharmacy staff? 

The Poughkeepsie police force faces many of the same issues that other communities have as they try to reach out to Latinos.  Community policing is always a difficult task and very rarely done well, but this PD is taking steps to foster a better relationship with Latino residents.  This will help the police as Latinos feel more comfortable reporting crimes and in turn create safer neighborhoods.

Truly engaging in dialogue with police about neighborhood issues can sometimes be difficult as I have learned from a few years working with both police and at-risk youth.  But the Poughkeepsie police chief made the right decision when he put one of his officers in the Association for Hispanics to Obtain Resources and Assistance (with the cute acronym Ahora which means now in Spanish).

The Association for Hispanics to Obtain Resources and Assistance is an advocacy group for the local Hispanic community. Susan Balutis-Mallory, AHORA’s board president, said many local Hispanics who are struggling with a language barrier may feel comfortable going to another agency first to report a crime or ask for help. This hesitancy is compounded by the fact that some members of the local immigrant community come from countries where the police are feared and distrusted.

“I think it’s difficult for some members of the Hispanic community to come to the police when the person at the window doesn’t speak Spanish,” Mallory said.

To read the entire article, click here.

Another article in the same online paper describes the increasing presence of Latinos in the area and the positive impact they have had on the city:

North believes the Hispanic community is an integral part of larger redevelopment efforts in downtown Poughkeepsie and elsewhere.

“This is evolution, in my mind,” North said of changing business demographics. “It’s a renaissance. It’s rebirth.”

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.

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.

On Thursday, August 25th, 2008, the National Council of La Raza released a report on Latinos in the U.S. workforce and the effects of the economic downturn on job quality and safety. 

According to the report, there are more than 20 million Latino workers in the U.S., accounting for more than 14 percent of the labor force. But despite that strong participation, Latinos are concentrated in occupations that frequently fall short on critical indicators of job quality, including employer-based health and retirement plans.

You can read the announcement in Phoenix Business Journal and download the entire report at NCLR’s website.

According to state estimates, there are about 97 different languages spoken in North Carolina.  While the police have adapted to working with a large number of Spanish-speakers, they have yet to do the same with native speakers of various other languages. 

The Guilford County Sheriff’s Department has received funding to purchase hand-held translation devices to bridge the language barrier between officers and residents.  The unfortunately named Phraselator will be used in an attempt to better serve North Carolina residents who speak increasingly varied languages.

If an officer, for instance, ever wanted to ask a suspect if he or she needed to use the restroom in Cantonese, the officer has been unable to do so – but that will change soon.

In order to use the device, an officer needs to know the language the person speaks, so Barnes said the devices’ real usefulness will probably be when deputies are serving papers, conducting evictions or carrying out similar day-to-day activities.

Barnes has been making moves to address the county’s language issues for a while; for instance, his department pays a 5 percent salary premium to any officer fluent in Spanish, and it offers a free course to those who wish to learn Spanish.

To read the full article, click here.