County Group Working to Strengthen Language Access Countywide

With over 3.3 million individuals residing in San Diego County, including over 400,000 individuals who speak a language other than English at home, strengthening language access is essential.

Recognizing there was a growing need for support and collaboration, staff from different County departments came together to form the Translation, Language, and Culture Connection (TLCC) work group to strategize and continue supporting one another in meeting the needs of frequent translation requests.

TLCC is a cross-enterprise group of County employees that meet once a month to discuss how to improve external communications to make them more accessible, culturally responsive, trauma informed and translated into multiple languages to reach diverse communities throughout the County.

In early 2020, the COVID-19­­­­ pandemic highlighted the urgency and need for daily document translation into multiple languages to meet the­­ needs of San Diego County’s diverse population and the need to convene County staff to streamline practices and ensure staff support. The County’s Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) and Public Safety Group (PSG) formed the work group in July 2020, which is comprised of staff with expertise in linguistic translation, community engagement, communications and others who are there to learn about language equity strategies for replication in their departments.

In August 2022, San Diego County Board of Supervisors adopted a County-wide Inclusive and Equitable Language Plan that supports the County’s Language Access Board Policy A-139, which requires that departments provide translation and interpretation services in eight threshold languages—Arabic, Chinese, Filipino, Korean, Persian, Somali, Spanish and Vietnamese—, as well as American Sign Language. The Plan directly reflects the work and recommendations from the TLCC group. The group has since blossomed into a wonderful resource for county employees with over 80 participants from all business groups.

The TLCC work group is led by three co-chairs: Justine Kozo, Chief, Regional Community Coordinator for the North Central Region in the HHSA’s Department of Homeless Services and Equitable Communities, Elizabeth Bustos, the HHSA equity liaison and José Álvarez, the language services manager from the County Communications Office.

“The TLCC work group was formed to create a supportive space for employees who were trying to meet the growing translation needs during the height of the pandemic. It has expanded into something much bigger with equity at its core. Creating clear and culturally responsive communications not only aligns with our efforts to advance equity, but it also builds trust with the community, improves health literacy and will ultimately lead to better health outcomes,” Kozo said.

“TLCC is a story about equity leading the way to shape policy. Most importantly, TLCC is about a group of passionate, committed colleagues who understand the power of culturally responsive communications in building bridges to save lives,” Bustos said.

To strengthen language access across the enterprise, the County has hired 15 vendors that can provide interpretation and translation services in the eight threshold languages, ASL, and over 200 others. Departments can request translation and interpretation services directly from the vendors by setting their individual accounts.  The County Communications Office has also established a translation review team of bilingual County employees who can review translations done by vendors in the eight threshold languages.

“The contributions and recommendations from TLCC members were instrumental in the development of the Inclusive and Equitable Language Plan and continue to be essential as the County moves forward with its efforts to enhance language access and provide services to residents in a language they understand,” Álvarez said.

Employees who would like to join TLCC can do it by emailing Cassandra Muñiz at Cassandra.Muniz1@sdcounty.ca.gov. TLCC meets virtually at 3:30 p.m. the second Wednesday of every month.