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Home My WebLink About7C - Memo: Accessibility of City Services to Spanish-Speaking ResidentsMemo: Accessibili~y of City Services to Spanish-Speaking Residents Agenda Item VII - C , d , • ,~,~' ~~~j~ ~ ~ . ~. ~ .Tanuary 12, 2004 CITY OF BOULDER OFFICE OF TME CITY MANAGER To: Department Directors From • Frank W Bnmo, City Managei ~""~~ RE Accessibilrty of City Services to Spamsh-Speakmg Residents Spamsh-speakmg immigrants are a growmg segment of Boulder's population, currently compnsmg about half of our totai~Lahno population Recent immigrants are faced with a number of barriers limrtmg their full mtegrat~on mto the commumty Language barners top this list, but political, cultural and educational barriers exxst as well. In tl~e coming year, I want to ensure thal we aie doing all we can to assist residents tb en~qy City services, take advantage of programs availaUle to assist them, and help them to become full, contributmg members of our commamty To ihat end, I am askmg far your help m takmg three steps to ensure that Boulder is mclusive and welcoming of nll our residents. Step 1- Appropriate ZJse of the Term "Crtizen" In meehngs wrth the immigrant communrty, the Boulder Human Relations Commission was told that the use of the word "citizen" in Crty rnatenals was often seen as limitmg participatton of non-citizens, both by those who are legal residents as well as thos~ who are not Ther~ are occas~ons when the use o£ the term "citizen" is enhrely appropnate in CYty funchons and wntten matenals There are tnany trmes, however, when "crt~zen" is not used correctly As a symUol of mclusrveness, I am askmg that we examme our current use of the term and use alternatives when appropnate. ' Last May,'for example, City Council amended rts agenda format to replace "Cihzen Participation" wrth "Public Participatwn " This is not only more welcommg to our non-crtizen residents, Uut also more accurately reilects tl~e nature of this portion of CounctPs agenda, as those who present their opmions on public issues are not required to Ue cihzens ar even residents of tl~e city I am aslcang that Department Dzrectors wor'k wath thear Boards and Commissaons to follow Council's lead on thas tssue and likewise amend thetr agenda formats to replace "Ctttaen Particrp~taon °~~here it occurs wtth "Pubhe ParCaczpatton " Sinlilarly, beyond achial meeYmg agendas, we often use the word "citizen" when public mput ~s requested. We have "Crtizen Advisoiy Committees;" flie `Botilder Crtizen St~rvey," and pubhc PO Box 791 • Boulder, Colorado 80306-0791 •(303) 441-3090 • Fax (303) 441-4478 ~ www u boulder co us Pnnled on I OONo Po+t Consumer W~iste P.~pe~ ~~ ~iotrces that state that "citize~i mput is iequested" or "the everit is open to all crt~zens " In each of these cases, "crtizen" is not what we really mean Though our use of the term is certainly not meant to be l~mitmg, it can often have that effect I am askang all Department Dtrectors to worlc with their staff to ensure that we use the word "cittzen" only when rt:s really warranted I know thrs request is particularly difficult, as old l~abits die hard and often rt seems that social norms cl~ange very rapidly these days, l~ut I belieye at is worth the effort. Here are some real hfe examples of currant usage and how they may be improved to be rriore mclusive .i , ,,. ,~ ~ ~ , Cihzen mput is requested Commumty mput is zequested Or Public in ut is re uesfed. . This event is o en to all c~tizens This event is open to the ubhc. "The Boulder Criizen Survey" "The Survey of Boulder Residents" Citiz~n opmions regarding needed facilrties Pubic opmion regardmg needed facilrties and and rograrps figured prominentl ro rarr~s fi ured rommeritly. Citizens Commrttee on Commumty Community Development ~'ublic Advisory Develo ment Cammittee ' By involvmg all citizens at thzs stage, we can By uivolvmg all residents at Yhis stage, we can ensure that the lan is truly mciusive. ensure that the lan is trul inclasive. Of pourse, there are mstances when the word "crtizeu" is appropriate e g., "In November the citizens of Boutder approvad a 15% Open Space sales tax Ballot Imtiative " We rieed to remain mind`Eul of when the term is appropnate and when it is not Step 2- Publisl-ing City Documents in Spanish and Other Languages Accordmg to the 2000 U S. Census, over 2,100 of Boulder's foreign born residents do not speak English well: Over two-thirds of these residents speak Spanish. These residents rnay be missing iinportant information regardmg City serviees~or opportumties to have their voices heard on issues of concern to them. Several City offices have brochures or mformational matenaLs available m Spanish (e.g , Mumcipal Court, Office of Human Rights), but many niay not Tt is simply not econornically feasible in many cases. Similarly, our City website gontauts reams of valuable mformation about City prdgrams and services, liut at present inost of it is available only m English. City meehngs' are of course noticed in~the Daily Camera, but these can remain unknown to our residents who don't speak English. In order to malce anfonnatzon about City programs ancl serviees more avaalable to all our residents, I am aslnng Chras Pucezo and the IT clepardnent to take what steps are necessary to ensure that the Czty's onlane ¢nforrnataorz rs avazZable rn several languages other than h`izglash We are lookmg at an outside vendor that could accomphsh Uus The Department of Housmg and Human Services has offered to pay ihe first year vendot costs for this effort As a goal, I would ]ike to see this accomplished by the end of 2004 Pubhshmg on the weU is not the sole answer to fiilly mforn~mg non-Enghsh speaking residents of City programs and services, but it is a posrtive achon we can take dunng 2004. There may be mnovative ways lo involve communlty groups in informmg non-Enghsh speakers ofiprograms, seivices or issues of special mterest as they arise, once the City onlme mformahon is available in several languages To help explore other methods of ensurang alll3oulder residents remaan tnformeci, I am asking the Human Relntzons Commassaon to work with the various non-Englash- speakang communttres and clevise several opttons for the Czty Step 3- Assessing City Cap~bility to Deliver Services in Sp~nish In addrtion to prov~dmg wntten ~nformation about services, if ~s ~mportaut that the City be able communicate directly with its residents. Currently, we do not know the extent of~our capabihty of prov~dmg services m Spamsh. To obtatn baselane infonnntton on our abihty to dekver services to and cb~nmunicate wath our Spanash-spea)c~ng residents, I am announcing that an 2004 my office wTll survey all Cery departnaents to determtne botlz the number of Spanash speaking staff and the need for btltngual staff an posataons Chat tnt~ract watla the publac As part of this effort, we will also be surve}nng each Department to determme what mformahon is currently avatlable m Spams$ and other languages, and what outreach or other services may be particuTarly targeted to our non-Enghsh speakmg residents ~ To conduct this survey, we will identify an mtern who will mterview each workgroup leader wrthm the C~ty to obtam a un~form set of data from each of the Departments. I need the assistance of all Directors to ensure that the mtern has access to each of your workgoup leaders aud that each leader sees this as a priority to provide full and accurate information Each nrteiview session will consist of only about 10 questions, so it shuuldn't be require too much hme from your workgroup leaders Once mforniation is obtained from all workgroups, the m'tern will produce a summary report foi my review These are three ways we can improve access to Crty services far all our residents. In each of these efforts, success will only be accomplished through a team effort I mvite other ideas for contmuous improvement. Tlilnk you for your assistance. cc• City Council , Human Relahons Commission ~' !''i City Assessment of Capacity to Serve Spanish Speaking Residents ' STAFFING 1. Plelse complete the following quest~ons regarding Vour workeroup'onlV: Total numbex of staff Total number of staff who speak both Enghsh and Spamsh Number of staff who have contact with tha public Number of staff who speak both English and Spamsh and who have contact with the public • 2. Is Spani'sh speaking capability ~"desired qualification" ~n the position descriptioas for those staff inembers in ~our workgroup who have contact with the public? Yes Spanish speaking eapability is a"desired qualificahon" for all positions that have contact with the public _ No Spamsh speakmg capabihty is not a desired qualification for any positions that have contact wrth the pubhc Soxraa Some positions have Spamsh as a desired qualification. (If you checked "Some," how many posrtions m yqur workgroup~ If you checked "Yes" or "Same", is the salazy amount you would offer a successful bihngual apphcai~t for these positions higher, the same, or lower than what you would affer a successful apphcant who speaks English only (all oth~r tlungs bemg equal)~ higher the same lawer 3. Do you think there is a need for additionnl Spanish speaking staff in your warkgroup? Yes If you marked "Yes", how many~ No 4. Have members of your worlcgroup received ~ny Spanish langnage training/ecudation within the past two years? Yes No Do you see a need for additional language trainmg for your workgroup~ Yes No PROGRAMS ~ , ~ 5. Please list all programs conducted by yonr workgroup th~t ~re exclusivelv for people who speak Sp~nisl~ (inclnding ontre~cl~ programs) Use additional sheets if necessary Proaram Name Cost to Citv # Served 6. Do you see 1 need for additional progr~ms in yonr workgroup that are esdusivelV for Sp~nish spe~king residents (including outreach programs? Yes No If you answered "Yes," please hst Y PRINT~D I1~I'ORMATION 7. What printed infarm~tion does your workgroup provide in Spanish ?(This could mclude such items as Web sites, Urocl~uies, meetmg agendas, client mtake forms, contracts, flyers, ' etc ) Please hst mdrv~dually and use addrt~onal sl~eetS ~f necessary, Name of document Format(s) available (WeU pa~flyer etc 1 If you see a need far addihonal pnnted mformahon availaUle m Spamsh, please ltst below Completed by: Workgroup: