Office on Latino Affairs: Advocacy and Language Access Program (ALAP)

Since OLA serves as the Mayor’s liaison on issues concerning the Latino community, the purpose of the Language Access and Advocacy Program (LAAP) is to provide technical assistance, expertise, and guidance to the agencies named under the Language Access Act, so that the estimated 47,775 Hispanic/Latino individuals living in the city are better informed, represented, and served. There are two programmatic components to LAAP:

1) Language Access

The Language Access component provides technical assistance and linguistic support to those DC government agencies named under the Language Access Act of 2004 (LAA) to ensure that their programs and services are delivered in a culturally and linguistically appropriate manner to Latinos living in the city. It also serves, in collaboration with the newly created Office on African Affairs (OAA), and the Office on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs (OAPIA), as a consultative and collaborative body to the Office on Human Rights to develop, update, and monitor the execution of each District departments’ respective Biennial Language Access Plan (BLAP).

2) Advocacy [Intergovernmental/Private Sector Relations]

OLA recognizes that greater participation in local government programs and services has the potential of markedly improving the quality of life of non- and Limited English proficient populations, particularly those of Latino families, seniors, persons with disabilities, and children. As a result, the LAAP advocates on their behalf in and outside DC government, so that DC Latino residents may be better represented, informed, and able to access a full range of health, education, housing, economic development, and employment services. In addition, the LAAP serves as a linking mechanism that provides collaborative services to/between Latino community groups, the Mayor, DC government agencies, and private sector institutions.

OLA’s LAAP is constantly working to address current pressing issues for District Latinos through its active participation in decision-making groups such as the Department of Employment Services (DOES) Language Access Task Force, the DC Workforce Investment Council (DCWIC), the Language Access Ad Hoc Committee, and the DC Language Access Coalition meetings. OLA, in conjunction with the Office on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs (OAPIA), helped the DC Housing Authority (DCHA) remove some of the barriers to housing choice faced by LEP populations. The effective collaboration that exists among the Office on Asian Pacific Islander Affairs (OAPIA), the Office on African Affairs (OAA), and the DC Office of Human Rights (OHR) allows us to address issues from a multi-agency perspective to better serve our diverse mix of linguistic and ethnic communities in the District. This collaboration can be seen in the planning and coordination of annual job fairs to increase diversity in DC government, the ongoing Language Access “I Speak Card” campaign, and presentations at different informational and awareness workshops within DC government agencies and non-profit community organizations.