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Common Sense Advisory aholkularitza estatubatuarrak bere internet-buletinean publikatuko berri batek bultzatu nau hemen idazteak. Izan ere, askoren ustetan ingelesaren inperioa den estatu horretan ere egoera aldatzen ari da hizkuntza-dibertsitatearen ikuspegitik. Gutxiengo linguistiko asko dituzte AEB, hispanoak izanik zabalena eta horien eskubide linguistikoak zaintzeko arauak eta legeak ezarri izan badira ere, sarritan ez dira aplikatu izan ez administrazio publikoan ezta behartuta dauden enpresa pribatuetan ere. Nataly Kellyren eskutik artikulu interesgarrian behean edo esteka honetan.

New York Fans the Flames of Language Access

Nataly Kelly

An administrative complaint. Last year, New York
Lawyers for the Public Interest filed a civil rights complaint with the
New York State Office of the Attorney General alleging that pharmacies
were failing to provide adequate translation and interpretation
services to their limited English proficient customers.
A settlement. The attorney general found that
seven chain pharmacies — A&P, Costco, CVS, Duane Reade, Rite-Aid,
Target, and Wal-Mart — were not meeting their obligations to provide
language services. By April 2009, the pharmacies entered into a settlement agreement and committed to boosting their interpretation services and print translations of the labels in other languages.
A step above and beyond. In a highly strategic
move, Rite-Aid announced that it would make language access possible,
not just in New York, but in all of its 4,900 stores across the
country. We spoke with Scott Jacobson, Director of Pharmacy Operations
at Rite-Aid, to learn more. “We have embraced this as an opportunity,”
said Jacobson, “By promoting the services to our associates, patients,
and the public, we can reach customers that are not getting their needs
met in other stores, and our business will grow among this clientele as
a result.” Prior to the complaint, Rite-Aid had a longstanding contract
with Language Line Services for telephone interpretation, and the
ability to print prescription instructions in 11 different languages.

We talked with Nisha Agarwal,
one of the masterminds behind the recent settlement. “While it is first
and foremost an issue of civil rights, the settlement also highlights a
clear market opportunity for these pharmacies,” she said. The companies
that provide linguistically competent services will be able to capture
larger market share in a country where 46 million people speak another language at home.

Also, just this week, advocacy group Legal Services NYC filed a lawsuit
challenging civil rights violations at Human Resources Administration
centers throughout the city. Sound familiar? We predict that we will
keep seeing stories like these in the headlines, as more advocacy
groups network and master the art of getting people to pay attention to
this issue.

According to Agarwal, the word is indeed spreading: “We are seeing
requests to provide assistance from advocacy groups in many other
states, including Pennsylvania, California, and the District of
Columbia,” she noted. Language service providers can help fan the
flames to help push these initiatives along. How? Find out in our
newest Quick Take, “Top 10 Ways to Accelerate Language Access” — a free download with registration on our website.

And, while state-level actions are increasing, so is federal
activity.The proposed health care bill directly discusses the need for
language access. Our latest members-only report, “U.S. Health Care Reform and Language Services”
analyzes the numerous impacts the new system would have on providers of
translation and interpreting services, and the health care
organizations that purchase these services.

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