LANGUAGE ACCESS AND EQUITY IN THE PORTLAND, ORE., METRO AREA
A conversation with Cassie Salinas, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Project Manager from Metro, the regional government for the Portland metropolitan area.
CLI calls Portland, Ore., home, and Metro, the Portland area’s regional government, recently released a “Community Snapshot” that describes how the population in the metropolitan region is changing. The snapshot focuses on diversity in the region and identifies areas where greater effort can be made to advance racial equity. It’s really eye-opening and very informative.
CLI is focused on equity through language access, and Metro uses CLI’s over-the-phone interpreting services. We decided to ask Metro’s language resource and diversity, equity and inclusion project manager Cassie Salinas about some of the languages spoken here and what the regional government does to support community members who might not speak English primarily.
In this Snapshot, it’s mentioned that there are 88 different languages spoken by different members of the community in Wilsonville. What are some of the languages spoken in Portland by people who do not speak English at home? Is there in general a large immigrant community in the Portland region?
Metro works to improve the quality of life for the Portland metropolitan region’s 1.5 million residents by providing land use and transportation planning; entertainment, educational and convention-related venues; parks, natural areas, cemeteries and outdoor recreation facilities; and recycling and garbage services. Like most of the nation, the Portland region’s communities are becoming more diverse. It is projected that by the year 2045, communities of color will be the majority.
Metro conducted a limited English access needs assessment of the region in 2015 and identified Spanish as the predominate language (next to English) spoken in the region. Metro also identified many other languages spoken in the region including Vietnamese, Chinese, Russian, Korean, Ukrainian, Japanese, Arabic, Romanian, Tagalog, Somali, Mon-khmer Cambodian, Nepali, Persian and Lao plus many more.
For decades, immigrant and refugees have lived in the Portland region — relocating from various countries across the world. Many are Latino, Asian, African or Middle East immigrants, or originate from Slavic and Russian-speaking communities. According to the Coalition of Communities of Color’s “An Unsettling Profile,” data collection for communities of color is often under counted and often times they are seemingly invisible, but we know they live, work, play and pray in our region and we need to continue to build and deepen relationships with these important communities.
The Metro Council recently adopted the “Strategic Plan to Advance Equity, Diversity and Inclusion” (“Strategic Plan”). Can you tell us a little about that plan and describe what’s outlined there? Does Metro have a similar strategic language access plan?
Over the past three years, Metro staff worked hand-in-hand with community partners to develop the “Strategic Plan to Advance Racial Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.” The Strategic Plan establishes five agency-wide goals related to hiring practices, engagement with communities, accessibility of its spaces and venues, investment and procurement practices, and Metro’s role to advance equity in the region. The plan outlines an equity framework, tools and an organizational structure that will guide the agency into the future. It also establishes immediate investments and actions for implementation. Together, these elements will create the foundation for Metro to most effectively and efficiently advance equity within the agency and the region. The plan has a racial equity focus, meaning that Metro will center its strategy on removing barriers faced by people of color. Metro recognizes that this strategic approach will benefit all communities because it will address the largest, most pervasive barriers in the community, which are shared by other historically marginalized groups.
Prior to the development of the Strategic Plan, Metro developed a Limited English Proficiency Plan to help improve access to Metro’s programs, activities and services for persons with limited English proficiency. The plan includes a language resource guide to help Metro staff handle written translation requests and outlines the process for requesting an interpreter — but the plan is always evolving and we are continuously looking for different methods to better engage people who don’t speak English well.
What are some things the Metro government does to accommodate residents who may have limited English proficiency? What programs or services benefit Limited English Proficient people?
Metro is committed to ensuring that all community members of the region have access to services and decisions that affect their lives — and we have made progress in providing different types of accommodations in order to better serve people who speak other languages besides English.
Metro employs various methods and strategies to provide people who have limited English proficiency with information critical to accessing Metro’s programs and services. In partnership with CLI, we operate a language phone line to communicate in more than 180 different languages. We deploy in-person interpretation services for community events or meetings either by utilizing bilingual staff or through various interpretation contracts. We created a language hub on our website (http://www.oregonmetro.gov/languagehub) to provide information about the agency in 13 languages — this site also includes multilingual videos describing the different types of programs and services we provide.
As the agency continues to improve its services and programs and engages more community members, we hope to provide other opportunities to make our work relevant, accommodating and meet people where they are.
To see Metro’s complete regional snapshot, visit: http://www.oregonmetro.gov/news/you-are-here-snapshot-portland-regions-changing-communities
To view Metro’s “Strategic Plan to Advance Racial Equity, Diversity and Inclusion,” visit: www.oregonmetro.gov/equity
To view Metro’s Limited English Proficiency Plan, visit: http://www.oregonmetro.gov/sites/default/files/2015_limited_english_proficiency_plan.pdf
Written by Christopher Bayerle, Content Marketing Specialist, CLI
