Supervisors hear annual report on San Francisco Language Access Ordinance; community groups press for more outreach

San Francisco supervisors on the Government Audit and Oversight Committee heard an annual update on the city—9s Language Access Ordinance on a hearing called by Supervisor Marr, who said language access should be treated as a civil right and urged stronger citywide implementation.

The Office of Civic Engagement and Immigrant Affairs (OSEA) director Adrienne Pan told the committee the office focuses on outreach and direct services for immigrants, limited-English-proficient (LEP) residents and vulnerable populations. "We ensure access, equality, inclusion and meaningful participation and voice in all city programs and services," Pan said, describing community ambassadors, training and a grants program that OSEA says builds local capacity.

Isis Fernandez Sykes, OSEA—9s LAO compliance officer, summarized key findings: departments named as Tier 1 in the ordinance (26 departments) generally report compliance and participate in mandatory training, but gaps remain in complaint procedures and data collection. "Fifty-four percent of Tier 1 reporting departments do not post a public complaint process," she said, and OSEA reviewers still lack consistent demographic and district-level measures to assess need across neighborhoods.

OSEA reported Tier 1 departments proposed a combined language-services budget of more than $8.3 million for the coming fiscal year, a 32 percent increase from the prior year and roughly a 40 percent rise over two years. Fernandez Sykes said about 57 percent of that total is accounted for by the Department of Public Health and that 71 percent of projected spending is for bilingual pay differentials and on-site interpreters. OSEA also noted uncertainty about whether reported budgeted amounts equal actual spending and recommended clearer tracking against expenditures.

Nancy Alfaro, director of the city—9s 3-1-1 customer service center, said 3-1-1 answered roughly 1.5 million calls last year; about 16,754 calls (1.1 percent) required assistance in a language other than English. Alfaro said the city pays roughly $78,000 to LanguageLine for telephonic interpretation and that average connect time is about 30 seconds, with internal escalation if callers wait more than three minutes.

Community advocates from the Language Access Network and groups serving African, Mayan and Latino residents told supervisors that distrust of government, low public awareness of available services and limited marketing keep many residents from using city lines or filing complaints. Michelle Young of Chinese for Affirmative Action and other network members urged more multilingual outreach, a streamlined and transparent complaint process and better tracking of minority-language needs such as Tigrinya, Amharic and Mayan languages.

Supervisor David Campos and others pressed whether some frontline departments currently classified as Tier 2 should be elevated to Tier 1 reporting, citing the large share of immigrant-run small businesses and front-line contact points such as 3-1-1 and animal care. President David Chu said the ordinance was drafted in part to support budget oversight and called for renewed attention during the coming budget cycle.

OSEA highlighted community investments including a Language Access Community Grants program (about $470,000 awarded last year) and plans to pilot certification and training for community interpreters. The office said it intends to pursue ordinance amendments and improved measurement tools to capture district-level need and more consistent departmental reporting.

The committee did not take regulatory action at the hearing. Supervisor Marr moved to file the item to the call of the chair; the motion was adopted without objection. The Board president and supervisors signaled they will revisit Tier designations and budget oversight during future budget deliberations.

The committee also heard shorter departmental reports from City Hall building management on a wayfinding monitor installation, the Department of Children, Youth and Families on translated materials and reporting from community-based partners on outreach practices. The hearing closed with supervisors and advocates agreeing to continue work on improving complaint procedures, outreach and the possibility of extending Tier 1 reporting to additional frontline departments.