Recommendations
Looking Forward
Increase City department language assistance capacity Bilingual Staffing Hiring and retaining bilingual staff should be a priority in Departments ’ language access strategies . Departments should maintain a roster of qualified staff members who can conduct interpretation and / or translations successfully in the primary languages of San Francisco ’ s Limited English Proficient ( LEP ) communities .
Language Services Budgets Departments can also strengthen their language assistance capacity through their annual expenditures . Meeting the language access needs of LEP residents in San Francisco requires ongoing investment . Departments should increase their individual budget expenditures for interpretation and translation services . This will help to promote the ongoing accessibility and quality of their programs , services and information .
Improve accessibility through continued digital and telephonic language services adaptation
Telephonic Support
Coordinating telephonic language services should also remain a core feature of Departments ’ language access strategies . Digital accessibility is a barrier to services for many San Francisco residents ; LEP respondents to the Language Access Community Survey reported that technology was their second most prevalent barrier to accessing services . Some respondents also named literacy as an obstacle . In light of these challenges and the ongoing need to provide some services remotely , Departments should increase telephonic in-language support and interpretation in the coming year .
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