Skip to content
Know Your Rights
Source: NY1
Subject: Language Access
Type: Media Coverage

Study: Language Barriers Exist In City Benefits Offices

A new study says language barriers are creating
obstacles in benefits offices throughout the city.

The study
released Wednesday by immigration advocates (including Make the Road New York) found that 26 percent of Human Resource
Administration offices are not meeting legal requirements by providing
translators for their clients.

As a
result, residents who are not proficient in English are having a hard time
receiving benefits. 

"Our
clients who encounter language barriers on a daily basis are often facing
economic crisis. The benefits provided by the Human Resources Administration
are vital benefits for poor New Yorkers facing hard times," said Amy
Taylor of the Language Access Project. "When our limited-English
proficient clients cannot speak with someone at an HRA office, it means they
likely will not get the food stamps or income assistance that their families
desperately need to get by."

HRA says
they didn’t know about the findings of this study until Tuesday, and that the
report was lacking specific information from the surveyed centers.