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SR-106-019 . -/tJ6,t//? CM:VR:dvm Council Meeting 4/9/85 Santa Monlca, CalIfornIa II-A APR 0 9 1985 TO: Mayor and CIty CouncIl FROM: Clty Staff SUBJECT: Report on Procedures and Programs to Increase LatIno Involvement In Clty Sponsored Actlvltles INTRODUCTION Thl s report prov Ides Counc II WIth Informat Ion on the proposals developed by the LatIno AdVIsory CommIttee and recommends a number of 1nit1atIves to Increase Lat1no Involvement 1n act I Vl tles and ser V1ces sponsored by the CIty of Santa Mon1ca. A recommendat1on 1S made to enter into a contract with a qualIfIed translatIon serVIce for no more than $2,000 to provide translatIon services to C1 ty departments Hi the preparatIon of informatIonal materlals for the remaInder of thIS fIscal year. In addl t lon, In format lon IS prov1ded on efforts WhICh have been developed by VarIOUS city departments to 1mprove outreach and serVlces to the Lat1no communIty. BACKGROUND In 1982 the CIty funded the then newly formed Lat1no Resource Organ1zat1on to conduct a survey of Latino res1dents 1n Santa Monica. The goal of the survey was to 1dent1fy concerns and needs WhICh exist Hi the local LatIno community and to thereby Increase communIcatIon between local government and Santa MonIca LatInos. InformatIon produced by the survey suggested that 11- /-l APR 0 9 1985 - 1 - . . Lat Ino res idents ar e by and lar ge un1nvol vea 1n C1 ty government and often are unaware of C1 ty serVIces and programs WhICh are available. Lack of citizen participation in city affa1rs was 1dentifled as a slgniflcant problem In the local LatIno communIty. In August, 1983 CIty CouncIl appointed a 15 member Task Force on Latlno Affairs to study clty departments and develop recommendations for Councll consideration on actions which could be taken to Improve serVIces to and Involvement of LatIno reSIdents In Santa MonIca. In December, 1984 the Final Report of the Task Force was presented to Councll and referred to Cl ty Staff for analYSIS and subsequent recommendatlons. CounCIl request ed that staff cons 1 der the following I terns WhIch were ldentlfied as of partlcular interest to the Council: l. Establishment of a central CIty Hall phone number wIth a bl-llngual operator and status of bI-llngual capaCIty within the 911 systemj 2. Use of bl-llngual prInted materIal In City bUSIness; 3. Improvement of the affIrmatIve actIon mailIng lIst; 4. Status of securIty at VIrglnIa Park, and 5. POSSIble Inequity In PNA dlstrlbutlon of hOUSIng rehabilItatIon program. DIScussions have been held WIth city departments addressed In the Task Force Report to analyze the recommendatIons presented to Councll and to identify possible actions which could be taken to comply WIth the goals of the Task Force. These goals are to: - 2 - . . 1. Create a climate of mutual trust, understandIng f cooperatIon, and involvement between the cIty of Santa Monica and the ever-expandIng Latino community. 2. Increase Latino participation In CIty government. 3. Increase Latino ut IlIzatIon of eXIstulg cIty-provIded and cIty-funded serVIces. 4. Increase the quality of eXIstIng serVIces and help create add I t ional ser VIces to fIll "servIce gaps II In the Lat ino community. In some cases departments have already made efforts to Improve outreach to LatIno residents and these are described In thIS report. Task Force recommendatIons WIll also be addressed In the proposed objectives and workplans for FY 1985-86. AFFIRMATIVE ACTION A number of the recommendations made by the Task Force related to Improvements In the City's AffIrmative Action program. The major recommendatIons are addressed below: The Rule of Three The abilIty of the CIty to hIre and advance mInorIty candIdates IS lImited by the CIty Charter requIrement that the CIty hIre one of the top three candIdates emergIng from the CIVIl serVice test ing process. The Charter prov i s Ion dates back to the 194 Os and current pUblIC personnel practIce 15 to move to broader band selectIon from eligIbIlIty lIsts. Because often hundredths of a point separate indIVIduals on a lIst, the top three rule IS unnecessarIly restrIctIve. The League of CalIfornIa CItIes - 3 - . . recommends a mOdel procedure WhICh expands the list to the top fIve, and many other cItIes have adopted that procedure or other alternatives to liberalize hIrIng practices. In order to brIng Santa MonIca's procedures into conformance WIth modern practIce, an amendment to the Charter would be necessarYt accomplished through a vote of the people. The Personnel Department Intends to inItIate the process to expand the Rule of Three by developIng an InitIal study and evaluation of such a change and Its potential benefIts and drawbacks for Santa MonIca. However, the ultImate deCIsion must be made In an electoral context and has collectIve bargaInIng ImplIcatIons. Without the elImInatIon of the Rule of Three, the City's efforts to aggressi vely recruit mInorItIes and women can easily be frustrated when these candIdates place fourth or fIfth on an eligIbilIty lIst. The use of greater fleXIbIlIty In hIrIng and promotIng mInorIty persons as suggested by the Task Force IS not pOSSIble untIl the Charter prOVISIons are amended. However, efforts can contInue to be made In the area of candidate recruitment. AffIrmatIve Actl~n Mall~.n~ Li~t At the request of the Personnel Department members of the LatIno Task Force have submitted a substantIally expanded affIrmatIve actIon lIst WhICh will be of great help to the CIty in recrUIting applIcants from the Latlno communIty. The lIst IS partlcularly complete In the area of professional organizatIons in many fields of interest to the CIty. - 4 - . . AffIrmatIve ActIon OffIcer The Task Force recommended the creatlon of an AfflrmatIve Actlon OffIcer positIon WhICh would report directly to the Clty Manager In order to dlrect more cIty staff tIme for recruItment of mInorIty candidates for varIOUS CIty departments. The Task Force also felt that such a posItIon could offer technical assistance to cIty departments and ser ve as a clear lnghouse for var 10US Issues related to services to the mInor 1 ty communIty in Santa MonIca. In a survey of 9 comparable clties In the area, it was dIscovered tha t most house the affi rmatl ve act ion res ponslb III tIes wi thin the Personnel Department rather than the City Manager's OffIce and that only 2 surveyed citIes have a distInct posItIon des Ign ated as an afflrmat i ve actIon offIcer pas i t Ion. The rest dl v Ide the responslb III tIes for the admlnlstrat Ion of the AA program among different personnel staff, usually at the Personnel Analyst level or hIgher, as IS the practIce currently In Santa MonIca. The deSIgnatIon of a new pOSItIon within the Personnel Department with prImary responslbI1Ity for the admInIstratIon of the AffirmatIve ActIon program would provIde added staff capabIlltles to devote to recruitment, retentIon of mInorIty and women employees {WhICh IS a current concern WIthIn the protective servIces), technical aSSIstance to department heads in fIllIng positIons, and outreach actIvIties amongst minority and female youth regarding Job possIbilitIes. - 5 - . . The posItion could addItionally either fill other responsIbIlItIes wIthIn the Personnel Department or take on other tasks related to outreach to the mInority communIty discussed below. The pOSSIbIlIty of creatIon of the posItIon WIth the res pons ib III t Ie s outlIned above wi 11 be revIewed In the conte xt of the 1985 - 86 proposed budget delIberatIons. AchIevements to Date The Task Force pOInted out that 17% of the City f S workforce IS composed of Latinos. ThIS compares favorably to the 11% representatIon of LatInos In Santa MonIca'S populatlon, but falls short of the 24% repr es entat Ion in the Standard MetropolItan StatIstIcal Area (SMSA) labor force. However, the hIghest concentrations of Latino employees are In the lower employment categorIes InCludIng para-professIonals I offIce/clerIcal and service/maIntenance. In the decade SInce the cIty'S fIrst AffIrmatIve ActIon plan was wrItten, the city's work force has Increased by 17.7%, whIle representat10n of LatHlOs 1n the work force has Increased by 75.4% (from 11.4'% of the work force 1n 1974 to 17'% Hl 1984). LatInos make up 26.2% of serv1ce/maintenance employees, 21.4% of SkIlled crafts employees J 15.6% of cl er leal employees, 11. 6% of protectIve serVice employees, 16.7% of technIcal employees, 6.3% of professional employees and 5% of offlclals/adm1nlstrators. The Personnel Department has IdentIfIed the hiring of Latinos and Blacks 1n profeSSIonal and admlnlstrati ve pOSl tions as a major - 6 - . . budget ObjectIve for FY 1984-85 and 1S concentrat1ng staff efforts 1n th1S area. The hlrIng of mInorItIes in admInlstrative pos1tIons was seen as a priority of the Task Force because of the effect such pOSitions have on City policy development. There 1S one apprent1ce pos1tion 1n each skilled craft (l.e. painter, electr ic ian, plumber) pas i tlon In the city work force through WhICh some women and Latinos have gone to become permanent staff members. Whlle lImIted to 3 pOSItions, th1S does represent a vocatIonal educatIon tra1ning program open to women and minor1ty candIdates, WhICh was recommended by the Task Force. PERSONNEL DEPARTMENT A number of other recommendations were made which related to the work of the Personnel Department. Pay D1fferent ials fOT Billng~al_ Skills The Rent Control, Attorney Cler1cal and Municipal Employee ASSoc1at1on MOUs have a provIs1on for prOVIdIng a monthly "sklll pay bonus" for employees who are "aSSIgned to speak or translate a language in additIon to Engl1sh." Employees have been tested for verbal and wrItten translation skills and a pay dIfferent1al has been prOVIded If Spanlsh language SkIlls are utIlized as part of the employee's work wIth the oi ty. A lIst Ing of employees WIth these SkIlls WIll be dIstrIbuted throughout CIty Hall for informational purposes and they may be called on from t1me to tIme to provide translatIon serVIces at the dIscret10n of their department head. - 7 - . . Span~s~ ~_s .~ S~cond_L~ng).1age Tra1nIng for Current__E~l_~yees Because profIcIency at a second language requIres extensIve study and practice, past efforts to offer language classes to city employees have had lim1ted success and are seen as ImpractIcal. However, the tUitIon reimbursement program prOVIdes up to $1,000 a year to employees who study subJects which wIll enhance theIr work performed for the city. This tUIt10n program 1S avaIlable for employees Interested In studying SpanIsh who would utilIze SpanIsh as part of their CIty employment, and the Personnel Department wIll encourage such use In advertls1ng the program amongst CIty employees. PrOVIde Employm~nt and Tra1nIngLnfo~matlon In SpanIsh Information about employment and tra1ning opportunit1es with the CIty W1ll contInue to be translated and d1strIbuted through the Spanish language newsmed1a when approprIate. SPANISH LANGUAGE INFORMATIONAL MATERIALS Most CIty departments produce InformatIonal materIals WhICh should be prOVIded In Engllsn and SpanIsh for dIstrIbutIon to the publIC. However, translation serVIces are expenSIve and are not generally budgeted withIn departmental budgets. To overcome a SItUatIon in whIch departments must draw on theIr own limited resources to translate materIals, and to assure uniformt hIgh qualIty translatIons WhICh are readable and well wrItten, a central translatIon contract should be held WIth a qualified translation serVlce. Such a serVice should be able to translate Into well wrItten and grammatIcally correct SpanIsh, wlth access to technIcal expertise for specialized technical vocabularies, - 8 - . . and able to provide translatIon services in a timely fashIon. It is dIffIcult to estImate the extent to whlch such a service WIll be utIlIzed, but a FY 1984-85 contract not exceedIng $2,000 would allow city departments adequate access to translatIon serVIces for an untlal effort. Such a contract, with an estlmated cost for trans lat lon ser vices of $. lOa word, would prov ide translatIon of approxlmately 80 pages of double spaced typewrItten text. Such a contract would lnclude translatlon of the Recreatlon and Parks schedules and portions of the clty newsletter, ~e~~ca~e. Translat10n serVlces for the next f1scal year w1ll be addressed In the 1985 - 86 proposed budget. PUBLIC SAFETY 212-Emergency Number Currently there IS a Span1sh-speaking operator on every shIft handlIng the 911 Emergency Number. No problems have been encountered to date with language problems through thIS service. In add1 t1on, if a non-Engli sh speak lng per son calls and translation ser vices aT' e needed, the 911 program has Immed late translatIon available 1n a number of forelgn languages, allOWIng for dIrect communication between the caller and the operator. However, there is lIttle publIcity In the SpanIsh-speakIng community WhICh lets indivlduals know that the serVIce eXIsts In languages other than EnglIsh. The SMPD IS plannIng to publICIze thIS eXIstIng service to encourage use of the 911 number by LatInos and others WIth lImited English SkIlls. InformatIon WIll be affIxed to police vehIcles and will be d1stributed to SpanIsh - 9 - . . language newsmedia in the area. The newly redesigned CIty hall phone system dlrects phone calls dIrectly to cIty departments, bypassIng a central sWItchboard. Therefore, it is lmpossible to have all incoming calls pass through someone wIth a bIlIngual capacity. The long-term sol utIon for Improv Ing communlcat Ions wIth the Spanlsh-speak In g communIty calls for bIlIngual staff capaCl ty WI thin each department capable of provIdIng InformatIon and services to those residents who have limited Engll.sh skills. However, to address current needs, a specIal CIty Hall lIne wlll be installed at the Per sannel desk 1.n the Cl ty Hall lobby whIch already ser yes as a general informatIon desk and is staffed by bIlIngual staff members. The number WIll be pUblIcIzed through Seascap_e and other appropriate information outlets. The information desk staff will also have access to the lIst of CIty staff wIthin each department capable of fIeldIng questIons 1n Spanish and provId1ng oral translatIons. Cost for lnstallatlon of the llne WIll be und er $200. ~~.1lce ActiX~,ty in Vlrgin1.a Park Currently beat offIcers walk through VIrgInla Park as part of the Pica neighborhood foot patrol two or three tlmes a nIght, Wednesday through Saturday. There is no PICa nelghborhood foot patrol Sund ay, Monday or Tuesday, the regularly aSSI goed offIcers' days off. o fflcer s conducted an consecutive days in undercover operation at January after receivIng the park three complaInts of - 10 - . . strongarm robberIes in the park. The operatIon resulted In six arrests, IncludIng two ror strongarm robbery. The Dorchester tunnel has recently been the scene of Increased youth act). Vl ty , result Ing In dIsplays of graffl tl around the tunnel and the surroundIng area. The Pollce Department 15 aware of the problem, has met with area resIdents and 15 InvolVIng local gang members 1n a graffltl clean up campaIgn in the immedlate area. Promotions It has been suggested by the Task Force that some admlnlstratlve pos 1 t ions W1 thIn the protec t1 ve ser VIces be fi lIed from outsi de the CIty work force. The thr ee-per son recru i tment team 1n the SMPD currently Includes a woman and an HispanIC, and fluency In SpanIsh IS seen as an Important attrIbute for new offIcers and PolIce Department personnel. The FIre Department's special 35 week traInIng course and a prior lateral recruItment resulted In hIring four HIspanICS In the FIre Department in the last year. Youth InteractIon wIth the PolIce Department The Task Force suggested the establishment of more informal Interaction between the protectIve serVIces and LatIno youth In the communIty. Currently a youth dIverSIon program IS run by the Pollce Department In co-operatlon WIth the YMCA, but no Informal sports program WhICh Involves pollce offIcers and local youth eXIsts. Although few pollce officers 11 ve l.n Santa MonIca, the Department IS nonetheless open to suggestions In thIS area. - 11 - . . 9ang-related Activltl~~ In 1984 gang act 1 VI ty wi thin and around the cIty Increas ed. In response, a polIce offIcer WIth expertise In gang related actiVIty, was transferred to the InvestIgatIve DIVISIon and gIven the responslblll ty for coordInating all Information related to Santa MonIca area gangs and establIshIng lIaIson WIth them. Approx Imately 35 meetIngs have been held wIth par ents of gang members to gIve the parents InSIght Into theIr chIldren's gang related actIVItIes. Meetings have been organIzed by the Lati'1o Resourc e Organ 1 zatlon and the P ieo Ne Ighborhood Associat Ion In WhIch members of the HispanIC communIty were told about gang-related actiVitIes WIthIn the area. Monthly meetIngs WIth the School DIstrict began in November, 1984 to discuss gang actIVIty on Santa MonIca school campuses. AddI tionally, the offIcer attends the monthly meetIngs of the CalIfornia Gang Investigator's Associatlon and exchanges gang related InformatIon with all other polICIng agenCIes in Los Angeles County. RECREATION AND PARKS Task Force recommendatIons focus on the areas of Improved communIcation with the LatIno community and the development of culturally relevant programmIng to attract Latino reSidents to RecreatIon and Parks sponsored actIVItIes. Dissemination of Information The Department of Recreation and Parks dIstributes numerous flIers and announcements which prOVIde InformatIon on recreatIon - 12 - . . programmlng some of WhICh are now produced In SpanIsh. WIth the av al1abi 11 ty of a tr an slation ser vlce, addItIonal fll er s can be translated Into SpanIsh and dIstrIbuted through the normal dl str Ib utlon networks (i. e. schools, parks, etc.) In addi tioD, specI a1 pub1i CIty efforts WIll be made for actl v 1 ties In WhlCh mlnorlty partIcipation has been small, notably SWlmmlng instruction. "Offlcer B Ill" Type .~_U~.l_IC Ity In order to encourage more LatInos to take advantage of recreatIon opportunIties avaIlable through the cIty, the Task Force suggested the development of an "OffIcer BIll" type program In WhiCh a bilingual recreation speclallst would speak to school and church groups about program opporturn tIes. Such a staff member could also provide feedback to the Department about WhICh programs would be of special Interest to the LatIno community (e. g ESL classes). WI thIn next year r S budget the hIr lng of one part-tlme bilIngual and bIcultural recreatIon specialIst wl1l be considered. Such a staff member would be trained to provIde communlty outreach for the range of serVices offered by the Recreation and Parks Department to Include programs for chIldren, adults and senlor citizens. The cost for such a part-tlme pos It Ion would be about $8, OOO/year . Dut ies could include an evaluation of the most effectIve means to dIssemInate information to the LatIno community, Includlng the posslble development of a Spanlsh-language edItIon of the Recreation and Parks schedule. LIBRARY SERVICES While not addr essed by the Task Force report, the Santa Monlca - 13 - . . library has developed program InitiatIves to Increase serVIces to the LatIno community Wh1Ch deserve ment10n In th1S report. For the past eIght years, the Santa Mon1ca Public LIbrary has been paY1ng special attentIon to the lIbrary needs of Spanish-speaking commun1ty members. ThIS has resulted in an expanded collectIon of materIals In Spanish at the MaIn Library (Wh1Ch has recently been relocated to a hIghly Visible locat1on), the addItIon of Spanish-speaking staff, and the creation of an HispanIc outreach program at the Fairview Branch LIbrary. The collectIon of SpanIsh language materIals 1S housed near the front entrance. It 1S comprised of approxImately 2,500 books, 150 r ecor ds, 8 magaz ines, and 2 newspaper s. In addl t1on, the lIbrary offer s English as a Second Language mater I als In pr in t and audiocasette format. The amount of money allocated for the purchase of SpanIsh language materIals has been 1ncreased each year In response to a steadIly grOWIng demand for and use of the materials. The MaIn Library presently has the equIvalent of 5 staff members who speak Spanish, 3 of whom are full-time Reference LIbrarians, W1 th the rest part-tIme staff In the Reference and CIrculatIon Departments. For the past 2 years the lIbrary has Increased Its efforts to encourage llbrary use by the LatIno community by aSSlgrnng an H1spanIc outreach Ii brar1an to attend conferences, workshops, semInars and organIzational meetIngs to learn how the lIbrary may better serve the needs of thIS group. In addItion, the library regUlarly schedules book talks at schools and tours - 14 - . . of the 11 brary for H1span Ie stude nts and adult s of non-Engll sh speak1ng backgrounds. The Falrview Branch L1brary was targeted by the llbrary as the SIte for the library's Hispanic outreach project due to Its proximity to a large segment of the city's Spanish-speakIng community. The project has resulted In the creation of a separate collectIon of books, records, audlocasettes, per10dicals and pamphlets In SpanIsh. In addi tlon, the llbrary has books, records and cassettes that teach EnglIsh as a second language, and a collectIon of books for new readers in EnglIsh. New to the collectIon thIS year are cIrculatlng record and cassette players, The Falrview Branch staff Includes 3 Span1sh-speaklng staff members, one of whom IS a full-tIme clerk. The ChIldren's LIbrarIan conducts bIweekly bIlingual pre-school story tImes for two Head Start groups Wh1Ch ar e brought to the 11 brary. In addi tlon, the HIspanIC outreach lIbrarIan from the MaIn L1brary spends fIve hours each week workIng at FaIrvlew on outreach and working wIth the Branch LIbrarIan on the maintenance of the collectIon. DurIng th IS year, the outreach Ilbrar ian has made fourteen contacts with ag~ncIes serv1ng the HIspanIC communIty to apprIse them of the Ilbrary's serVlces and to learn how the library may better serve the needs of the LatIno communIty. TRANSPORTATION On December 11, 1984 CounCIl authorIzed the C1ty Manager to enter into a contract wlth Transcom, Inc. for a tranSIt marketing and publIC lnformation program to Include market research, development of a marketlng plan, users gUIde, advertISIng and - 15 - . . promotIonal and commun1ty outreach materIals as well as an evaluation of transportatIon serV1ces. In lIne wIth CounCil dIrectIon, the proJect has Included telephone surveys conducted lD SpanIsh and the convenIng of a "focus group" of HispanIC bus users and non-users to dISCUSS improvement to the transportatIon serVIces as well as marketIng strategies. GUIdes to serVIces WIll be produced 1n both EnglIsh and Spanish and distributed throughout the communIty begInn1ng 1n June. The user gUIde WIll show people how to take the Big Blue Bus to varIOUS attractIons and events in the Bus Company's service area. Advert1sIng materials Will be produced In both Spanish and EnglIsh, and WIll be available In September. SOCIAL SERVICES In addItion to IdentIfYing speCIfIC areas of need for the Latino communIty (e.g. legal aSSistance and ImmIgration counselIng), the Task Force focused on the need for bIlingual and bIcultural staff capaCity WIthIn serVIce agenCIes and InstItutIons In the city. Wi thout the language capabIlity and cultural sen:31 ti VI ty needed to work effectIvely WIth the LatIno community, eXistIng social services cannot be effectIvely dell ver ed to thl s segment of the communIty. For the past 2 years the city has funded the LatIno Resource Orgarnzat1on to provide a varIety of services to local agenCIes IncludIng help WIth outreach to the LatIno community, translatIon services, and publiCIty through LRO's newspaper. - 16 - . . School DistrIct When allocating the proceeds from ProposItIon LL, the Santa Man 1ca/Mal ibu Uni fled School D1 str lct funded a pas 1 t Ion for a bIlIngual social worker to work withIn the school dIstrict handling famIly related problems. WIth the Increase In the D1strIct's bIl1ngual student body, such a posItIon was seen as a neceSSity for effective communIcatIon wIth Latino parents.The establIshment of such a posItIon wIthIn the DIstrict was recommended by the Task Force to offer counselIng for students ) and educatIon for parents. The schools are the one unIt of local government wIth WhICh the LatIno communIty has the most contact, and Improved communication between parents and the schools was IdentIfied as an Important goal by the Task Force. Domestic Violence Another recommendatIon of the Task Force was to prOVIde preventIve educatIon focusing on domestIC vIolence within Latino families. ThIS year the Santa Monica PolIce Department expanded Its domestIC vIolence unIt to Include a bIlingual counselor who has qUickly established rapport wIth LatIno parents through school presentatlons and 1S recelvlng an increaslng numbers of calls. The domestIC violence unit, now composed of two full time counselors, makes presentatlons to classes, PTAs and other interested communIty groups and conducts inter views and in take for VIctims of ChIld abuse or sexual vIolence. Recrultment of Bicultural Staff in SOCIal SerVice Agencl~s Local agenCies have made efforts to include blllngual and blcultural profeSSIonal staff to expand theIr outreach efforts - 17 - . . with the Latino community. However, as the Task Force noted, it IS often diffIcult to hIre staff with such capabilit~es given the modest salarIes offered by serVIce agenc1es and the shortage of bIlIngual professionals In this fIeld. The affIrmative action lIst prov~ded by the Task Force wIll be shared wlth local agencIes to aid in theIr staff recruitment efforts. Agency Evaluatio~ As agencIes are monItored by city staff during the program year and new program proposals are evaluated, the ablllty of the agency to do outreach to the Latino communIty and to offer serV1ces to the low lncome resldents of Santa Mon~ca has been Identifled as an lmportant component. As part of the grant application process agencIes are asked to descrIbe theIr abilIty to serve all segments of the community and to quantify the numbers of mInorIty group members who are served. WhIle no formal complaint system, as suggested by the Task Force, eXlsts for c11ents dissatlsfled wlth agency servlces, each agency ~s asked to develop an evaluation of serVIces WhIch includes a client satisfaction component. Many agenCies have developed this evaluatIon In Spanish as well as Engllsh. ~P~9i_f:i~ _S~r.vlce _N~e_ds Sever al soc 1al ser VIces wer e hI ghllghted by the Task Fore e as areas 10 wh~ch lmproved serVlce delivery or expanslon of services were seen as needed by the LatIno communIty. The areas of mental health, health education and medical serVIces for LatIno seniors are handled by the Senlor Health and Peer Counseling Center WhlCh has added a Lat1no outreach worker to its staff during the past - 18 - . . year. In addltion, Venice Family Clinic, which reports seeIng a large number of Santa Monica senIors, has a bilingual capability. In the areas of immigratIon and legal counseling, LIEU-CAP offers advocacy help for those applYIng for Immigration documents, and WestsIde Legal SerVIces offers a range of legal help with bIlIngual staff avaIlable. WhIle It cannot be suggested that these programs meet the need which eXists for these complex services, there 15 mInImally some capaclty withIn thiS communIty to offer the Identified serVIces to LatInos wIth limIted EnglIsh skills. Culturally appropn.ate, low cost organIzed youth actl VI tIes ldent 1 fled as an addl tional need ed serVIce can be offered through the Department of Recreation and Parks and should be addressed through the added capaCIty brought to the department with the addItion of a bIcultural part-time recreatIon specIalIst. ~ou.s ~,n g;._R~ha ~)llI tat,IO,!,! ~rogr ~m The Pico Neighborhood hOUSIng rehabilitatIon program is essentIally a paInt-up, fix-up program WhICh prOVides Improvements and emergency repairs for a maXimum of $2,000 per unlt. As designed, only bUildIngs whlch have under 7 units are ellglble for the rehab program. I"1formation about the program has been distrIbuted by word of mouth and printed materials. The Task Force expressed some concern about the low percentage of Latinos WhlCh had taken advantage of the program. ThIS concern was shared by the PlCO Neighborhood ASSOCIatIon which has developed outreach Information Including meetings and SpanIsh language flIers and targeted maIlIngs for area Latinos. ThIS - 19 - . . program has a goal of rehablll. tatIng 55 units in thJ.s fiscal year. LatIno partIcIpatIon In thIS program so far thIS year has increased to 30%. SUMMARY In summary It can be seen that the var 10US departments of cIty government have taken serIously the recommendatlons of the Task Force on LatIno AffaIrs and are trYIng in a varIety of ways to respond to the Intent of the Task Force recommendatlons. In some cases, as In the Rule of Three, a grea t deal of effort must be expended before a sIgnIfIcant change can be made In the hirIng procedures utilIzed by the cIty. In other cases, staff has thoughtfully developed mechanisms to extend programs to and communlcat ions WI th the LatIno communIty WI thIn the conte xt of theIr current departmental actIvitIes. WIth the addItIon of LatIno staff members and wlth the Increased communIcatIon with the LatIno community, additional program Improvements can be anticIpated as the needs and Interests of Santa MonIca's LatIno community are better understood by CIty government. BUDGET/FINANCIAL IMPACT Most recommendatIons InvolVing expendItures of funds WIll be addres sed In pr epar atJ.on of the propos ed FY 1985 - 86 budget. The $2,000 for translatJ.on ser vices WIll be drawn from account #01-700-271-000-411. RECOMMENDATIONS: - 20 - . . It IS recommended that: 1. Council authorize the expendIture of $2,000 for translation services for FY 1984-85 from account #01-700-271-000-411 and authorIze the City Manager to enter into a contract for such s er vi c e s . 2. Council dIrect staff to evaluate the followIng Issues in the context of the 1985 - 86 budget: a. EstablIshment of an AffIrmatIve ActIon OffIcer posItlon. b. Contr act for translatIon ser VIces for all CIty departments. c. Study of modifIcations to the Rule of Three. d. ASSIstance to department to Improve outreach to LatIno CommunIty. e. HIrIng of bIlingual RecreatIon SpeCIalIst. f. AbIlIty of funded agenCIes to prOVIde serVIces and outreach to SpanIsh-speakIng residents. 3. CounCIl direct CIty staff to contInue to mOnItor progress In this area and prOVIde an update on serVIces to the LatIno communI t y in December, 1985. Such an update will Include the ld entlflcatlon of CIty departments Whl ch would benefIt from a multI-year plan of actIon and the goal s of such a plan. Prepared By: ViVIan Rothstein CommunIty LIaison (Latrptx) - 21 -