San Francisco Language Access Ordinance Report 2018 San Francisco Language Access Ordinance Summary Re | Page 16

RECOMMENDATIONS
LOOKING AHEAD
Although immigration policies and laws are determined at the federal
level, cities like San Francisco have an important responsibility to provide
inclusive, safe, and sustainable policies for all people living, working, or
attending educational institutions in the city. Language access is a critical
component to integrating newcomers into the city and ensuring that they
are included, engaged, and informed.
Community resilience and engagement is most important in crisis and
emergency situations. Having a standardized, quality approach to
meeting language access needs across the city will prove life-saving and
cost effective. OCEIA will work with its partners to strengthen these
standards in the years to come.
CREATE METRICS AND A “REPORT CARD”
TO BETTER MEASURE PROGRESS
OCEIA will update reporting guidelines and establish rules and
regulations to create standardized, objective, and measurable
metrics. OCEIA’s spot-check program will be redesigned to
obtain consistent data points in an effort to highlight gaps in
language services.  
DEVELOP CITYWIDE CULTURAL AND LINGUISTIC
COMPETENCY STANDARDS
By creating linguistic competency standards, adopting plain
English usage, and training all City public contact staff on
culturally appropriate approaches to customer service, the City
will be able to better deliver quality language access services .
ESTABLISH BASELINE CITYWIDE PROTOCOLS AND
FOR CRISIS AND EMERGENCY SITUATIONS
OCEIA, in conjunction with first responders, the Department of
Emergency Management, and the Department of Public
Health, shall work to create baseline protocols that can be
deployed in crisis or emergency situations. 
16 | LAO 2018