(Washington, DC) The DC Department of Employment Services (DOES) was commended for its community outreach efforts to limited English proficiency (LEP) persons and its partnership with organizations serving the District’s bilingual population, according to a September 30, 2004 limited compliance review report by the US Department of Labor.
“Providing equal access to jobs and training is a priority of this agency,” said DOES Director Gregg Irish. “During the past two years, we have translated more than forty documents, produced three informational videos in various languages, developed an ongoing cultural sensitivity campaign, while offering one of the first interactive websites, DC Networks Virtual One Stop System, where workforce development information and jobs are available in English and Spanish.”
The report also recommended additional measures DOES should implement to shore up the existing system for access to job training and unemployment insurance benefits. For example, DOES originally translated several general information documents which outlined the procedure for filing unemployment insurance (UI) claims. The agency has recently completed translation of all vital documents associated with filing and the appeals process for UI.
The report noted that DOES has incorporated a number of technologies and language services to facilitate the access of LEP customers to its services, including scheduled UI orientation sessions at the two full service one-stop career centers, an automated telephone answering service with prompts in various languages, and the immediate access to language interpreters in more than 140 languages via a telephone service.
Labor officials stated that the District’s job service agency is ahead of the curve in translating vital documents and is one of the most effective state agencies in providing access to its services: