Community Outreach to Immigrant and Ethnic Populations

Contents

• About This Page
• General Civil Rights Compliance - Recipients of Federal Funds
• Engaging Immigrant Communities
• Programs
• Outreach Services by Topic
• Other Information Resources
• Related MRSC Pages
  • Cultural Diversity Commissions
  • Demographic Change and Local Government

About This Page

In recent years, many Washington communities have seen an influx of immigrants from many countries. The challenge is to integrate these persons into our communities. They have diverse cultural backgrounds and special needs. Many are low income and have limited English speaking abilities. A 2004 Brookings Institute article, "The Ride of New Immigration Gateways" by Audrey Singer, suggests six major approaches to ease the immigrants’ incorporation into their communities. The approaches are: understand local immigration dynamics; bring cultural and language sensitivity to service delivery; build English language capacity; provide workforce support; create linkages to mainstream institutions; and encourage civic engagement. There are many partnerships and innovative techniques being used by our local governments as they create inclusive communities. A few reference sources and a sampling of program descriptions have been assembled here to illustrate some of the approaches being taken.

General Civil Rights Compliance  -  Recipients of Federal Funds

Also see Voting below

• Executive Order 13166:  Improving Access to Services for Persons with Limited English Proficiency - U.S. Department of Justice
• LEP Limited English Proficiency - Federal Interagency Website - This Website supports fair, reasoned, and consistent implementation of Executive Order 13166, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Title VI regulations regarding language access. It also acts as a clearinghouse, providing and linking to information, tools, and technical assistance regarding limited English proficiency and language services for federal agencies, recipients of federal funds, users of federal programs and federally assisted programs, and other stakeholders.
• Federal Agency LEP Guidance & Language Access Plans - Each federal agency that provides financial assistance must develop guidance for its recipients on the obligation to provide meaningful access to limited English proficient persons. This page contains recipient LEP guidance documents by agency.
• Mattawa, WA,  Compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act
  • Justice Department Announces Memorandum of Agreement with Town of Mattawa, Washington, and Mattawa Police Department,  DOJ Press Release, March 18, 2008
  • Memorandum of Agreement (  1.37 MB) between the Department of Justice and the Town of Mattawa and the Town of Mattawa Police Department

Engaging Immigrant Communities

• Are Immigrants Seen and Heard in City Hall? ( 173 KB), Public Policy Institute of California, Research Brief No. 101, June 2005
• Building Inclusive Communities Action Guide, League of Minnesota Cities, Cultural Diversity Task Force
• Building Inclusive Communities: A User-Friendly Handbook for Those Who Care About Self and Others by Pamala V. Morris, Journal of Extension, June 2002. This is a review of a manual authored by Ann C. Schauber, Diversity Leader for Oregon State University Extension Service (see below).
• Creating Communities of Inclusion, written by William H. Woodwell, Jr., edited by Monica Sullivan, a League of Women Voters Education Fund publication, Publication # 1077, 1998
• The House We All Live In: Carnegie Report on Immigrant Civic Integration ( 705 KB), 2002(?)
• Immigrants and Local Governance: The View from City Hall ( 442 KB), by S. Karthick Ramakrishnan and Paul G. Lewis, Public Policy Institute of California, 2005
• Immigrant Policy Project - National Conference of State Legislatures
  • Immigrants to Citizens: A Role for State Legislators, by Ann Morse and Aida Orgocka, National Conference of State Legislatures
  • State and Local Immigrant Offices
• Increase in  Immigrant Population on MRSC Web site, Demographic Change and Local Government: Overview of Issues
• The Role of Municipal Leaders in Helping Immigrants Become an Integral Part of Colorado's Communities ( 1.73 MB), by Susan M. Thornton,  produced by The Colorado Trust in conjunction with the Colorado Municipal League, 2006 
• Working with Differences in Communities: A handbook for those who care about creative inclusive communities, by Ann C. Schauber, Oregon State University Extension Service, Manual 13, March 2002. MRSC Library Loan

Programs

• AWC's Diversity Home Page - Represents a snapshot of cultural diversity issues, actions, and resources available to and from Washington cities. AWCs Diversity Champion Awards applaud and recognize city efforts to celebrate diversity, provide leadership and empowerment in meeting the challenges of potential conflict, and demonstrate collaboration with all members of their community to develop maximum impact in improving the living, working, educational, social, and economic environment for their communities.
• National League of Cities Inclusive Communities Partnership - The partnership unites city leaders who are working create communities that include all members, as well at those who celebrate the diversity of race, religion, gender, ability, and culture in order to build communities that are accepting and representative of the differences among their citizens. Increased citizen participation, engagement, and the promotion of equal opportunity and fairness are the hallmarks of inclusive communities. The NLC Web site offers a tool kit for program participation and other related publications.
• NLC Launches Initiative to Help Cities Integrate Immigrants Into Their Communities, by Cherie Duvall, Nations Cities Weekly, 6-23-08
• Bellevue Cultural Diversity
• Clark County Diversity Strategic Plan 2009/2010 ( 138 KB) - Department of Human Resources
• Eastside Human Services Forum - Eastside cities participate in this program.  The site provides access to multilingual resource guides, Helpful Connections, to services in Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, and English. 
• • Helpful Connections - Produced and sponsored by the Eastside Human Services Forum and the Eastside Refugee and Immigrant Coalition (ERIC).  The guide has 22 sections providing a wide range of information subjects like banking, children’s education, neighborhood activities, and social services. ERIC designed the guide to be more than a mere telephone and address directory. Each section begins with a useful description targeting people who are unfamiliar with U.S. culture and services. 
• East King County Multilingual Resource Guide ( 1.74 MB) - from city of Kirkland Web site
• Redmond's Diversity ( 854 KB), Redmond Focus, Winter 05 - Outlines various education, social, cultural, and religious programs, both government and private, available to its growing multi-cultural community.
• Seattle
  • Seattle Resolution No. 30976 - relating to development of an action plan to identify and address issues facing Seattle's immigrant and refugee communities
  • Seattle Office of Mayor Immigrants and Refugee Initiative
  • Seattle Immigrant and Refugees Advisory Board
• City, County, and State Offices
  • Baltimore Office of International and Immigrant Affairs 
  • Boston Mayor's Office of New Bostonians
  • Hennepin County (Minnesota), Office of Multi-Cultural Services - Immigrants
  • Houston Mayor's Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs
  • Maryland Office for New Americans (MONA)
  • Massachusetts Office for Refugees and Immigrants

Outreach Services by Topic

• Communications
  • Communicating with People from Other Cultures - King County Office of Civil Rights
  • Burien has Spanish Translation Icon on its Web site's Home Page
  • Bellevue Spanish Language Web Site  - In 2003 the city created a Spanish Web site, "La Pagina de Internet de la Ciudad de Bellevue." The site was launched to help Latino residents with limited or no English-speaking skills to find the information, resources, and assistance they need to integrate into the community and to provide a better understanding of how Bellevue city and government systems function. 
  • Renton Community Resource Directory  (Right Column of  Human Services Referrals Page - scroll down) - Written in 12 languages - English, Cambodian, Chinese, Korean, Laotian, Punjabi, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Somali, Tagalog, and Vietnamese.
  • Yakima Transit  Bus Book  ( 1.25 MB)- Guide  is written in English and Spanish.
• Education
  • The New Americans Civic Engagement and Educational Outreach Campaign - ITVS-Community Connections Project, Active Voice, The National Issues Forums Institute and Outreach Extensions
  • The New Demography of America's Schools: Immigration and the No Child Left Behind Act by Randolph Capps, Michael E. Fix, Julie Murray, Jason Ost, Jeffrey S. Passel, and Shinta Herwantoro, Urban Institute
  • Kent School District Alliance for Diversity and Equity
• Health and Human Resources
  • Domestic Violence: Cultural Issues Affecting Domestic Violence Service Utilization in Ethnic and Hard to Reach Populations, Seattle & King County Department of Health
  • Eastside Human Services Forum
    • Community Perspectives: Ideas for Improving Immigrant and Refugee Access to Human Services in East King County ( 91 KB) , a research report produced by the Eastside Refugee and Immigrant Coalition and The Eastside Human Services Forum, September 2005.
  • EthnoMed - A joint project of University of Washington Health Sciences Library and the Harborview Medical Center's Community House Calls Program. EthnoMed provides medical and cultural information on immigrant and refugee groups. While information-specific to groups in the Seattle area, much of the cultural and health information is of interest and applicable in other geographic areas. The site is designed to bridge cultural and language barriers during medical visits. However, the information about culture, language, health, illness, and community resources would also be useful background for persons designing social, health, and other human service programs for ethnic groups.
  • Immigrant Info.org - Immigrant Info.org is sponsored by the Santa Clara County (California) Office of Human Relations and IRIS (Immigrant Relations and Integration Services).
    • Immigrant Rights, Responsibilities and Resources Guidebook of Santa Clara County (California)
• Libraries
  • New Americans Center at Minneapolis Central Library, Press Release, April 14, 2006
  • Boulder (Colorado) Public Library Multi-Cultural Outreach Services
  • Hennipin County (Minnesota) Library Outreach Services to Recent Immigrants
  • WebJunction's Focus on Indigenous and New Immigrant Communities - In June and July 2004, WebJunction focused on libraries that are making their services available to North America's newest and oldest communities.
  • WebJunction Spanish Language Outreach Program - Helps equip local library staff with knowledge and resources to reach out to Spanish speakers in their communities and increase their access to technology.
• Public Safety
  • Lost in Translation Limited English Proficient Populations and the Police, by Bharathi A. Venkatraman, Attorney, Civil Rights Division Coordination and Review Section, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., Police Chief, April 2006
  • National Crime Prevention Council -- Outreach to New Americans
  • Overcoming Language Barriers: Solutions for Law Enforcement, by Susan Shah, Insha Rahman, and Anita Khashu, Vera Institute of Justice, March 2007 
  • Sample for Discussion Purposes Planning Tool: Considerations for Creation of a Language Assistance Policy and Implementation Plan for Addressing Limited English Proficiency in a Law Enforcement Agency -  Federal Interagency Working Group on
    Limited English Proficiency
• Utilities
  • Consumer Confidence Reports, Water Translations for Public Notification - Department of Health, Office of Drinking Water
  • Serving Diverse Populations with Recycling: A Model for Local Government Recycling and Waste Reduction - California Integrated Waste Management Board
• Voting

Four Washington counties are required by the federal Voting Rights Act to provide bilingual election information and ballots. King County must provide these materials in both English and Chinese, and Adams, Franklin, and Yakima counties must provide ballots and election information in English and Spanish.

• About Language Minority Voting Rights - U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division (Voting Rights Act of 1965, Section 203)
• King County E-News
  • Chinese, bilingual speaking poll workers needed for fall elections, 6-23-06
  • King County Elections needs English to Chinese translation service providers, 6-19-06
• Yakima County's Bilingual Election Program - Yakima County Auditor

Other Information Resources

• Immigrants - Urban Institute - Publications, policies, links
• Maryland Office for New Americans (MONA) Links - Includes organizations and agencies operating at the national level.
• Who Are America's Children? - Foundation for Child Development
• Partnership for Immigrant Leadership and Action -works to increase immigrant civic and political activism to strengthen democracy and advance social justice by building and sustaining the capacity of organizations to empower their immigrant constituents.
  

Related Resources
MRSC Index – Minorities, cultural awareness, diversity, inclusive communities