PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Lloyd Feng, Data Policy Coordinator from Coalition for Asian American Children And Families (CACF)
2:50:25
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150 sec
Lloyd Feng from CACF testifies on the implementation of Local Law 30, emphasizing the need for better language access services and the importance of collecting ethnicity data alongside language data to fully understand and serve New York's diverse communities.
- CACF appreciates Local Law 30's aims but is concerned about implementation quality across agencies, especially regarding staff training and addressing persistent challenges.
- The organization highlights the need to consider Asian asylum seekers' needs, particularly those outside the DHS or DSS shelter system.
- CACF calls for updating agency guidance on language data collection to incorporate ethnicity data, arguing that language data alone is insufficient and potentially misleading for understanding community needs.
Lloyd Feng
2:50:25
Good afternoon.
2:50:27
My name is Lloyd Fang from CACF, the Coalition for Asian American Children And Families.
2:50:32
Where I serve as data policy coordinator for our invisible no more campaign.
2:50:37
Thank you very much, Chair of Eless, for holding this hearing and providing this opportunity to testify.
2:50:43
SACF appreciates the stated aims of local law 30 to ensure that all New Yorkers have access to language services, interpretation, translation, etcetera, in order for them to fully communicate with and receive services from New York City agencies.
2:50:57
We shared shared Avila's and the committee on immigration's interest in understanding the quality of implementation across all agencies, especially with regard to language access trainings to agency staff, lessons learned between agencies, and how agencies intend to address challenges that persist.
2:51:16
In addition, CACF is particularly concerned about how agency implementation of local law 30 is considering the reach of existing agency language access policies, service delivery, and staff in relation to the needs of Asian asylum seekers in New York City, especially individuals and families who are not part of the DHS or DSS shelter system.
2:51:40
CACF's larger concern about the existing implementation of local law 30 is the lack of contextualization of language data collected by agencies.
2:51:50
For almost 15 years, CACF's investment Lamar campaign has advocated for Asian New Yorkers needs to be better understood by pushing government agencies to collect and report disaggregated ethnicity data on our communities.
2:52:04
Agency officials often shared with us that ethnicity data was redundant since agencies could just rely on language data as a proxy for ethnicity, but we know that language data alone cannot tell a full story of who our communities are and what their needs are, especially as over time future generations increase utilization of English as their primary language.
2:52:28
Thereby rendering language data increasingly misleading and inaccurate.
2:52:33
As such, CACF calls on the New York City Council And New York City Agencies to update agency guidance on language data collection, reporting, and use so that agencies incorporate ethnicity data collection and reporting when agencies are determining where a community is, who makes up the community, what the community's needs are, and how best to serve them.
2:52:54
Thank you.
