Page 30 - Pierce County Lawyer - July August 2024

TACOMAPROBONO COMMUNITY LAWYERS
LANGUAGE ACCESS PROJECT – SETTING THE FOUNDATION FOR LANGUAGE JUSTICE
Language Access/Language Justice – What’s the difference?
Language Access encompasses the laws and policies that guarantee people basic access to written, verbal, or visual materials or services in their preferred languages.
The concept of Language Justice goes beyond access to assert a fundamental human right, “to be able to communicate, understand, and be understood in the language in which they prefer and feel most articulate and powerful. From finding
an attorney, understanding options and remedies, filling out forms, and simply navigating the courthouse, inadequate communication in any aspect of accessing the justice system can have serious consequences. In a legal context, language justice
is a commitment to ensuring individuals marginalized based on their national origin, ethnic identification, and language are not denied equal access to services, remedies, and justice overall.
” (Payton C, Lee J, Noguez Mercado AP, Uliasz A. Language justice during COVID-19 [Weblog]. https://www.americanbar. org/groups/young_lawyers/projects/disaster-legal-services/ language-justice-during-covid-19/. Accessed March 29, 2022.)
As a legal aid organization, despite the challenges, we must either make a long-term commitment to facilitate Language Justice or perpetuate the marginalization of people who communicate in non-dominant languages. In certain contexts, ensuring meaningful access to services is a requirement
under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as well as other federal, state, and local statutes including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.
Our organization’s commitment to ensure equitable communication, requires developing a practical baseline for Language Access to help shape our strategy moving forward. We expect to continue to develop a strategic plan for supporting Language Access that outlines short- and long-term goals as we move toward Language Justice.
We began the journey into Language Access in April 2024. What initially seemed overwhelming, has actually progressed with great speed. The most important step was identifying Language Access as a top priority and assigning a project manager to develop the Language Access Plan. We immersed ourselves in the vast education available via webinars, websites and videos, primarily provided by civil legal aid groups and the Department of Justice. With that foundation, we outlined our approach and got started.
By Laurie Davenport
Here’s what we’ve accomplished so far:
` Surveyed our staff to identify needs and strengths and outlined our existing resources for translation and interpreters.
` Met with our
City of Tacoma Language Access Coordinator to learn about existing resources, programs, approaches to language access,
and receive an introduction to the Language Access Community in our
city.
` Identified Spanish and Russian as our top requested
languages and contracted the translation of our intake process via website and phone to accommodate both languages.
` Outlined our needs for training and contracted with a video production company to produce instructional videos for our clients as well as our staff.
` Assigned the responsibilities of a language access coordinator to a new member of our administration team who will start this summer.
Current and continued work:
` Uploading translated tools into our website and LegalServer software, as well as writing and producing our training videos.
` Developing our official Language Access policy, plan, and continued assessment tools.
` Building a budget for Language Access to ensure we grow our services.
` Engaging with the Language Access community to verify accurate translations, stay on top of efforts to improve access, and collaborate to improve justice for our clients.
We’ve only just begun our journey. But we’re encouraged by the progress we’ve made by just starting. Language Access is not a task to cross off our list, but a change in the way we approach justice for our clients.
30 PIERCE COUNTY LAWYER | July/August 2024