OHR’s Language Access Program works with a variety of government offices that conduct outreach to communities, including the Mayor’s Offices of Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs (OAPIA), Latino Affairs (OLA) and African Affairs (OAA).
The Language Access Program also works with the DC Language Access Coalition (the “Coalition”) – an alliance of diverse community based organizations who work to ensure that civil rights of immigrants and LEP/NEP communities are protected by advocating for meaningful language access within the District. The Coalition is a non-governmental and non-Mayoral appointed group that is written by name into the DC Language Access Act. DC Language Access Coalition members include:
African Resource Center, American University International Human Rights Clinic, Asian American Justice Center, Asian American LEAD, Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center, Bread for the City, CARECEN, Centro Nia, Columbia Heights Shaw Family Support Collaborative, Latino Federation of Greater Washington, Life Skills Center, DC Employment Justice Center, DC Learns, La Clinica Pueblo, Mary’s Center for Maternal and Child Care, Multicultural Community Service, Neighbors Consejo, Legal Aid Society, Vietnamese American Community Service Center, and Washington Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs.
If you are a limited or non-English speaker (LEP/NEP) in the District of Columbia, they can help you:
• identify which city services you need to access and who to contact for that service;
• find a community-based organization that can address your needs with the use of an interpreter;
• find bilingual job vacancies within DC Government.