latino legacy: speaking the language of your audience

John R. Warner, CF, CATexas A&M Forest Service

andTamberly Conway, Ph.D.USDA Forest Service

Latino Legacy: Speaking the Language of

Your Audience

Overview of Federal LEP Guidelines

Examples of successful programs

Challenges and solutions

Discussion regarding future opportunities to reach LEP audiences

Improving our reach to Limited English Proficiency (LEP)

audiences

Executive Order 13166

Improving Access to Services for Persons With LimitedEnglish Proficiency

Improve access to federally conducted and federally assisted programs and activities for persons who,as a result of national origin, are limited in their English proficiency (LEP)

Who is a person with limited English proficiency?

An individual who does not speak English as their primary language and who has a limited ability to read, write, speak, or understand English, can be considered limited English proficient, or “LEP.”

LEP Guidance• Federal agencies must examine the

services it provides and develop and implement a system with meaningful access to those services

• Recipients of Federal financial assistance must provide LEP audiences to meaningful access to programs and activities

• LEP audiences will provide input that will help to create more meaningful access

All programs and operations of entities that receive assistance from the federal government (i.e. recipients), including:

• State agencies • Local agencies • Private and nonprofit entities • Sub-recipients (entities that receive federal funding

from one of the recipients listed above) also must comply.

Who Must Participate?

Develop a Language Assistance Implementation

Plan (LEP Plan)Five steps in designing an LEP Plan:

Identify LEP individuals who need language assistance

Identify ways language assistance will be providedTrain staffProvide notice to LEP audiencesMonitor and update LEP Plan

Types of Language Services

Items to consider: Competence of interpretersHiring bilingual staffHiring staff interpretersContracting for interpretersUsing telephone interpreter linesUsing community volunteersUsing family member, friends, and othersCompetent language services should be free

Oral Interpretation - listening to something in one language and orally translating it into another language

Types of Language Services

Items to consider:

Determine what documents should be translated

Determine what languages applyCompetence of translatorsDocuments on websites

Written Translation - the replacement of a written text from one language into an equivalent written text in another language.

El Bosque Móvil - The Forest Mobile

Successful program Examples

Latino Legacy B u i l d i n g P l a c e - B a s e d C o n n e c t i o n s

o f Yo u t h T h r o u g h Fa m i l y E x p e r i e n c e s

o n Fo r e s t L a n d s

Forest Information Team

• E m p l o y e d m e m b e r s

• O v e r 5 0 % b i l i n g u a l

• Vo l u n t e e r s

FS LEP Assessment (Latino Legacy)

• Research focus on program assessment and input from LEP (Spanish-speaking) audience

• Language usage

• Topic interest

• Program interest

I-TriadInv i te p e o p l e t o p ar t i c i p a t e

Inc lude d i v e r s e y o u th , c o mm un i t y m e mb e rs a nd l ea d er s i n th e p l an n i ng , d e ve l o p m e nt a nd d e l i ve r y p ro c e s s e s

Invo l ve d i v e r s e c o mm un i t i e s i n d e c i s i o n -m a k i ng p r o ce s s e s r e l a t e d t o na tu r a l r e s o u r ce c o ns e r va t i o n

Chavez, D. (2002) USDA Forest Service

Provides volunteer, internship and employment opportunities

PLT GreenSchools! Latino Legacy Youth Leadership In Nature

Challenge (YLINC)

Texas A&M Forest Service Community & Urban Outreach Team

• Developed using Latino Legacy model

• USFS Redesign grant

• Established bilingual outreach team

• In partnership with NGO and other partners

• Focused upon urban community outreach and on-site programs

Community & Urban Outreach

Surveyed 750 residential landowners in Peach Creek Plantation subdivision, 5-50 acre lots, Montgomery County, TexasCultural diversity:

45% Hispanic 30% non-Hispanic White25% Asian-American

Languages spokenEnglishSpanishChineseKoreanVietnamese


Survey provided direction for programs

Sustainable practices for food, water, and wildlifePollinators, native species selection and where to purchaseAgroforestryAesthetic management and development Arboriculture individual tree care and maintenanceTax incentives and valuation alternatives

KEY - survey revealed that residents felt it was important to have healthy ecosystems that provide benefits to society.


Culture


Program took into accountSite-based versus off-site educational

learning


2014 Society of American Foresters

House of DelegatesCultural Diversity and

Outreach

Texas A&M Forest Service Urban & Community Outreach Team

With PartnersUSDA Forest Service

Friends of National Forests & Grasslands of Texas

School DistrictsNon-profit organizations

Feeder pattern schools

Recruiting bilingual youth and community members

Trained in conservation practices and programs

Assist with educational and community outreach

Latino Legacy Program evolution Houston Greenbelt – Green Ambassadors

USDA Secretary of Agriculture 2015 Abraham Lincoln Honors Award

Diversity, Inclusion and OutreachLatino Legacy

Houston Greenbelt Green Ambassadors

Hispanic Tree Care Workers Arboriculture Course

The tale of two programs…

Hispanic tree care worker arboriculture short-course

Focused on Spanish speaking frontline workers dealing with safety and tree care

Language-appropriate design

Source: Warner: Survey Results from Hispanic Workshop Attendees

pic

Hispanic tree care worker arboriculture short-course

Spanish does not translate to English word for word

Find people that know the profession and terminology


How did attendees learn about workshop72% learned of course through direct

mailing to employers (10% English and 90% Spanish)

19% saw a flyer located at business (2% English and 98% Spanish)

9% heard the PSA on several Houston Spanish-language radio stations



Valuable information:

Future topics Best time of year to offer workshopsHands-on learning and demonstrationKeep cost of workshop affordableSpeaking Spanish does not necessarily

mean you can read Spanish.

Survey Feedback & Comments


Cómo realizar los cortes de poda correctos

Making Proper Pruning Cuts

Bilingual design

Source: Treesaregood.org

ChurchesDay labor centersCommunity collegesGreen job training centersSpanish community magazines, papers

Give yourself time to plan, survey, research target audience

Other ways to increase attendance for future trainings

Source: Warner: Survey to Hispanic Workshop Attendees

Certificate of Completion

Participants received certificate of completion

Important since most are not members of professional organizations – YET.

Pay attention to detail

Wrap up – know where you are goingUnderstand the

audience before deciding on a program path

Outreach appropriately

Survey to improve

latino legacy: speaking the language of your audience

Environment