Good Afternoon, my name is Dejia Marie James, Policy Advancement & Media Manager with Partnership for the Public Good. I join you today with my colleagues Regine and Hagar as representatives of the Erie County Language Access Working Group that include community advocates, refugee and immigrant service agencies, and researchers.

We have worked for years on the Language Access Bill you all are assessing today after countless community experiences with difficulty gaining access to abundance of county resources that they are entitled to. This includes a plethora of stories from experiences with social services and the DMV. Our group began as a result of language inaccessibility to things as simple as food stamps, WIC, identification cards, permits and licenses. Currently, our communities have to patch work together to achieve proper assistance from family, friends or even children to access services.

Our goal is to standardize across all county departments, including essential emergency services, social services and the DMV, accessibility to the residents of Erie County. Many departments will not need to do much to make this happen but will be held to an agreed upon standard and understanding for the rights of citizens in Erie County.

Here are the key elements we have fought to include as best practices for our County to be a shining example not only for the WNY region but our entire state and the country:

1. Provide services in the top six languages in Erie County a. To account for shifts in population, top languages assessed biennial b. Each County Agency submitting language access plan and update its language access implementation plan biennially,
2. Including American Sign Language Interpretation via an on-site interpreter, Video Remote Interpreter (VRI), or Communication Access Realtime Translation for individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing or have hearing loss.
3. Section 1709. Language Access Advisory Board to advise on matters relating to LEP individuals and language access. The Board shall consist of fifteen members including:
   1. County Executive, or their designee;
   2. County Clerk, or their designee;
   3. Sheriff, or their designee; and
   4. Twelve members to be appointed as follows: Six members by the County Executive, six members by the Chair of the County Legislature. All twelve community member appointments will be subject to confirmation by the County Legislature.
4. Translated copies of vital documents must be published alongside any English documents that may be available online through the County website;
5. Incorporate a uniform training plan for agency employees, including annual training on the language access policies and the provision of language assistance services.
   
   We are grateful to the Erie County Legislature and their commitment to service ALL communities and continue to strengthen our region through language accessibility and passing the Language Access Bill. Thank you.