Brookline officials outline language-access push with translators, translated materials and trainings

Brookline’s Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Community Relations (ODEICR) detailed a multi-pronged effort to expand language access across town services, including distribution of pocket translation devices, translated materials in nine languages and training for staff and residents.

Caitlyn Starr, assistant director of ODEICR, told the host that the office investigates complaints involving age, race, religion and national origin, and works with residents and town departments to remediate issues. "We investigate them and we work with residents...and the organization, business or town department that the complaint was against in order to find a common ground or a way to remediate the issue," Starr said.

The office also fields access complaints—such as impassable sidewalks or businesses that are not accessible to people using mobility devices—and coordinates with the town’s ADA coordinator, Sarah Kaplan, on those matters. "We have our ADA coordinator Sarah Kaplan and she does all of those complaints, grievances or questions," Starr said.

Ahmed Hamza, ODEICR’s language access coordinator, said language access is an equity strategy to ensure residents with limited English proficiency can access public information about programs, meetings, clinics and projects. He described a needs assessment that preceded his hiring and said roughly "30% or so" of Brookline residents were foreign-born, with a significant portion reporting limited English proficiency, which motivated the town’s language-access policy.

To address barriers, Hamza said the town recently began issuing 'pocket talk' translator devices to departments. "It's a pocket translator... programmed to translate auditorially and in text between English and many, many, many other languages," he said. The office is also assembling online and printed multilingual resources for departments and the public.

Starr said the immigrant-advancement subcommittee produced a "know your rights" pamphlet that Hamza translated into nine languages; hard copies are available at the senior center, libraries, the health department, town hall and online. The office is partnering with the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA) to provide trainings, including "know your rights" and bystander trainings tailored for staff and volunteers who work with older adults and other residents.

One upcoming event is a bystander training for residents scheduled for April 23 at the Brookline Village Library, Starr said. The office’s near-term priority, Hamza added, is an awareness campaign so residents know they can request interpretation or translation and know how to reach the office. "I think the biggest challenge right now is going on a very intense awareness campaign to make sure that residents across town know that I'm here," he said.

Starr described three program priorities for the year: continuing immigrant legal clinics, broad rollout of language access procedures within town departments (including guidance on when to provide interpreters and how to use pocket translators), and early-stage initiatives to include older adults in health and sustainability planning.

Starr provided contact options for residents: the ODEICR email (odeicr@brooklinema.gov), a phone line spoken on the program as 617-730-2345, and an office at the town health building, 11 Pierce Street. For help with immigration resources, Starr pointed listeners to MIRA’s website (miracoalition.org) or to contact ODEICR.

The guests said the small, four-person office is focused on outreach and partnerships to make Brookline services inclusive and accessible for older adults and immigrant residents. The program will be rebroadcast and is available on the Brookline CAN website and social channels.