Q&A
Structure and purpose of the Language Access Hub
1:42:49
·
3 min
Kenneth Lo explains the structure and purpose of the Language Access Hub, highlighting its role in expanding internal capacity for language access and services. The Hub aims to improve language services across city agencies and provide direct translation services.
- The Hub focuses on both language access and language services
- It has 13 language access specialists across 9 languages
- The Hub contributes to developing tools like common glossaries, terminology, and style guides
Alexa Avilés
1:42:49
Can you can you explain for the record what what is the language access hub?
Kenneth Lo
1:42:58
Sure.
1:42:58
It's a the language access hub is an effort from our our commissioner and our team to expand the internal capacity to work on both language access side and language services side.
1:43:17
As mentioned previously, we had a very small internal staff on on working on this front.
1:43:23
But language access is one of the pillars for Commissioner Castro.
1:43:31
So on the language access side, we have more capacity to work with local law 30.
1:43:40
May have 3 staff currently working on the language access side, young, myself, and Alicia Lopez, who's a capacity building manager.
1:43:54
To lead some of the efforts around building our communities of practice, providing more resources across city agencies, while we also work on the monitoring front.
1:44:07
The the bulk of the hub has been to bring in more capacity to do translation translation work and be partners on providing language services.
1:44:21
We now have 13 language access specialists across 9 languages.
1:44:31
The intent is to have were possible.
1:44:35
2 linguists per language, and we're trying to make sure that we're growing continuing to grow that out.
1:44:41
The focus was on providing translation services for Maia, Merrill Offices in City Hall, And the the value of having internal translators or language staff is to help provide direct services to be more responsive to improve quality and also to contribute towards tools that we think will help our work and also help city agencies.
1:45:13
We anticipate doing more work around common glossaries in terminology, style guides.
1:45:21
Also, as mentioned in testimony of parts of the day, but was not able to get to.
1:45:26
They have contributed to a lot of other arenas.
1:45:31
Including to the secret shopper program, to visiting asylum seeker sites, including the arrival center and perks, supporting outreach for IDNYC, a a broad range, but, you know, the core work is around being linguist and informing the word way that we all provide better language services.
