Photo credit L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti's Office
LOS ANGELES (KNX) — With the more than half a million immigrant residents living in Los Angeles in mind, Mayor Eric Garcetti signed a directive Thursday that will give English learners better access to city information and services.
"Los Angeles is a place of belonging where everyone can, and should, feel comfortable engaging in our civic process," Garcetti said. "This new directive will help to ensure that all Angelenos have equal access to what our [L.A.] has to offer."
Garcetti said the directive will require every city department to begin planning how to handle language access matters, including requests for service and disseminating information so that it reaches all non-English-speaking communities.
"For example," Garcetti said. "Providing non-English-speaking immigrant business owners and parents with the ability to apply for grants from [L.A.] and enroll their children in one of our many youth programs.”
Through the directive each city department will have to designate a liaison who will participate in the "Citywide Language Access Working Group," which will focus on improving access to city information, programs and services.
"Los Angeles is home to 538,800 immigrant residents designated as English Language learners, who represent over 37% of the immigrant Angeleno population," Garcetti's team said in a statement.
"This directive seeks to ensure that those Angelenos have equal access to information and services."
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