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Board committee endorses 2011–12 Language Access compliance reports after department briefs and community testimony
Summary
The committee endorsed the city’s 2011 and 2012 Language Access Ordinance compliance reports after presentations from the Office of Civic Engagement and Immigrant Affairs and multiple departments; OCEIA recommended clearer timelines, centralized guidance and more community partnerships to close gaps in data, emergency protocols and quality control.
The Government Audit & Oversight Committee on Thursday endorsed the 2011 and 2012 Language Access Ordinance (LAO) compliance reports after a series of department presentations and extensive public testimony about gaps in translation and interpretation services across San Francisco.
President David Chiu opened the item by framing language access as a civil‑rights issue supported by Lau v. Nichols and federal civil‑rights law. Adrian Pahn of the Office of Civic Engagement and Immigrant Affairs said San Francisco faces vast language diversity—"over 112 different languages are spoken in the San Francisco Bay Area"—and that roughly 43 percent of city residents speak a language other than English at home, with 13 percent of households linguistically isolated.
OCEIA staff described their compliance work…
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