QUESTION
How does the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA) identify and assist older immigrant New Yorkers with legal issues, and how has this approach changed?
0:55:48
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5 min
The Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA) utilizes direct outreach and community engagement to identify and assist older immigrant New Yorkers with legal issues, adjusting strategies over recent years to improve accessibility and comprehensiveness.
- MOIA identifies needs through direct inquiries and community outreach, focusing on legal services, housing, public safety, and health care access.
- Changes include making informational materials more accessible to those with limited English proficiency, using images and supporting over 50 languages.
- The agency contracts with local community organizations for legal services, addressing concerns like fraud.
- MOIA tracks data to better understand the demographics and needs of the immigrant population, including elderly immigrants.
- Recent data shows nearly 10% of individuals screened for immigration relief are aged 65 and older.
Alexa Avilés
0:55:48
So in terms of, can you describe the ways in which Moya identifies and assists older immigrant New Yorkers on legal issues EU visa certifications, TV visa declarations, and applications for citizenship.
0:56:03
How has this work changed?
0:56:05
If at all over the past several years.
0:56:08
And please be as specific as possible.
Miguel Santana
0:56:13
Okay.
0:56:13
So, I mean, it's too full.
0:56:15
First and foremost is is based on the leads.
0:56:18
I mean, when they call, they reach out to us and they express this specific concern, that's how we're able to identify.
0:56:27
Whether it's issues related to legal services, whether it's housing related services, whether it's getting any type of guidance as it relates to the public safety concerns.
0:56:43
So that's one approach.
0:56:45
The other approach obviously is through our outreach, going out into the community, engaging with the community, and trying to get a sense of of what the community is experiencing.
0:56:57
Again, now moving forward and working more laboratively even with NYC Care, we'll be able to really tap into that older immigrant population because now there's an opportunity for them also get services through that that process.
0:57:13
And then, you know, moving forward, we we're looking forward to to to to support them as they call us in the hot nineties.
0:57:21
That's something that is constant on a daily basis, and we do track that information.
0:57:26
The challenge again, and I have to reiterate this, is that when we're trying to narrow it down, which is the the the crux of your your question, in terms of identifying older adults, it's very it's contingent upon them.
0:57:42
Willing to share the date of birth, and and that information is very limited.
0:57:47
But, you know, we'll do the best that we can to try to segment the data to narrow down not only by date of birth, not not not date of birth, but also the services that are being requested because that can help us assess if it's a screen inquiry, if it's a public safety inquiry, it helped us narrow down, okay, what's the population that's asking for this this information.
Miosotis Muñoz
0:58:12
And also if I may by my ad.
0:58:18
One of the changes that we are doing in terms of revamping is we recently changed our one pager just to make it simpler with pictures.
0:58:28
We understand that when we're providing the access to information.
0:58:34
One of the biggest challenges that we have and that we've experienced in the field is that older immigrants have a higher rate of limited English proficiency.
0:58:45
And because of that, we have to make even the material, and I and I can even share with you.
0:58:52
I brought some of our one page flyers that will If they can't speak the language, they can point to the picture.
0:59:00
And then we have those flyers in over 50 languages, including indigenous for those of lesser used languages.
0:59:13
So that's another key area that allows us to connect too hard to reach areas.
0:59:21
We also have the Action NYC, which is our legal services that we subcontract to local communities because we understand that people feel more comfortable going to or being able to walk to and or be closer to where it is that we can provide assistance with legal orientation and assessment because let's face it a lot of the times when you spoke out crimes is fraud.
0:59:55
Fraud is a major crime that affects the elder commune cheese.
1:00:03
So we wanna make sure that when we are delivering these services, we have to really keep in find the challenges that come with being of limited English proficiency.
1:00:17
And that's why our material is set up in a certain way, our outreach has been revamped, all to make sure that we can prioritize the needs of all New Yorkers, especially those in their golden years.
Miguel Santana
1:00:33
And I have one one data point for you.
1:00:36
Almost 10% of people's screen for eligibility for immigration and relief through Action NYC in calendar year 23, our age is sixty five and older.
1:00:46
That amounts to 1335 individuals out of 14,087.
Alexa Avilés
1:00:55
And and that's through your CBOs that are providing services.
Miguel Santana
1:00:58
Yeah.
1:00:58
Because we have 18 contracts.
1:01:00
Yeah.
Alexa Avilés
1:01:00
I mean, that was gonna be the the the next question.
1:01:04
So there's Moi is doing the individual outreach, right, in community services.
1:01:10
And I'd love to know how many people are actually calling into your hotline, like, what is that volume actually looking like and then, like, to understand a more nuanced picture of the breakdown of those calls.
1:01:23
But what I'm not hearing you also talk about and we're starting to allude to is what analysis and assessment you're doing from your providers to understand how to better how to better focus Right?
1:01:37
And Nuance the program.
1:01:38
So we're meeting the needs.
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How does the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA) assess its service efficacy and address diverse immigrant needs?
