NC to help counties comply with immigrant translation services

NC will help counties with issues related to language translation to comply with federal regulations requiring that interpreters or documents in other languages be provided. This has become a controversial issue as the immigrant population continues to increase and some citizens claim will help illegal immigrants...

Charlotte Observer
Febuary 18, 2007
Danica Coto

N.C. aids immigrants with language issues
Critics dispute changes they say will help illegal immigrants

North Carolina is making it easier for non-English speakers to file complaints about language barriers and get quicker results, but taxpayers are questioning the move. The push for change comes after a study found that most N.C. social service agencies and health departments -- strapped by resources -- could be violating federal law by not providing interpreters or documents in other languages.

State officials expect to contract with a telephone translation service soon and make it available to 50 counties that haven't been able to afford the program, said Carlotta Dixon, civil rights compliance coordinator for the N.C. Division of Social Services. Mecklenburg already has the service.

Requiring counties to provide translation services, especially smaller, cash-strapped ones, is a touchy subject, Dixon said. "The first thing we'll hear," she said, "is that we're wasting taxpayers' money."

More than 363,000 people in North Carolina who speak another language at home say they don't speak English very well, a 22 percent jump from 2000 to 2005, according to the U.S. Census. Read more...