“In the midst of an increasingly hostile national discourse on immigration, Mayor Bowser stands firmly on her commitment and that of our District agencies to take bolder steps and ensure that our city continues to be welcoming and accessible to immigrant communities that decide to make the District their home. ”
- OHR Director Mónica Palacio

This report intends to inform elected leaders, government officials, advocates and the public about the compliance of District government agencies with the requirements of the DC Language Access Act of 2004. The Act requires that all District agencies, and service providers contracted by agencies, provide interpretation services for customers who are Limited English Proficient (LEP) or Non-English proficient (NEP). Translation of vital documents, training for personnel in public contact positions and tracking of LEP/NEP customers are also required by the Act.

The Annual Compliance Review details specific steps agencies are taking to provide translation and interpretation services, and to implement strategies that allow limited-English proficient individuals to access services in their own language. In FY17, 38 District agencies collectively reported over 204,783 encounters with limited-English proficient individuals who spoke 73 different languages, made 71,859 calls to access a telephonic interpreter, utilized in-person interpretation services in 40,175 interactions with a limited-English proficient customer, and translated roughly 2,000 vital documents into Spanish, Amharic, French, Chinese, and 16 other languages spoken by their customers. Over 5,000 frontline employees across District agencies also received language access compliance and cultural competency training.

Download the report:

Highlights of 2017 - Web Quality (5 MB PDF)

Learn more about the Language Access Program.