This article originally appeared in the May-June 2001 issue of the Children's Advocate, published by Action Alliance for Children.

Getting to health care: Speaking your language

By Adrianna Khoo

A 28-year-old California law guarantees people the right to state services in their own language—at any state agency with more than 5 percent of the clients speaking that language. But a recent audit showed that only two of 10 agencies surveyed even knew about the law and only one was translating its materials.

Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA), the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), and Maternal and Child Health Access of Los Angeles are spearheading a campaign to strengthen and enforce this law, called the Dymally-Alatorre Act. This spring, speakers at public hearings in Los Angeles and San Francisco described some of the problems that families experience when the law is not enforced.

Seventeen-year-old Carrie Mai, whose family has been in the U.S. for less than three years, says, "My parents have to work and my mom doesn't want to call Healthy Families. Last year I sent a check to Healthy Families for $22.65 and I got a letter saying they're going to cancel my insurance. So I sent a check again. But they just kept sending me letters. I can't even understand the letter. I can't translate clearly into Chinese and I don't have time. But my parents get mad and ask me 'What did you learn in school?'"

Fifteen-year-old Grace Zeng tells how frightened she was when her little brother was sick and she couldn't translate to her mother what the doctor was saying. "It was really scary because I don't know what is happening and I can't really translate exactly, words like coughing." Grace ended up calling her aunt to come from 40 miles away to translate.

"Non-English-speakers pay taxes and work in the communities, so they should have the same language access that everyone else has," says Ted Wang of CAA.

Language-rights advocates say California should:

• Impose penalties on state agencies that don't comply with the Dymally-Alatorre Act—currently there are none
• Require state agencies to report on the languages of their clients and services
• Mandate the State Personnel Board to decide which documents must be translated.

If you have problems getting services in your language or if you want to help advocate for language rights, contact:

• Chinese for Affirmative Action, 415-274-6760
• MALDEF, 213-629-2512
• Asian Pacific American Legal Center, 213-977-7500
• Maternal and Child Health Access, 213-749-4261

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