FRAC Special Analysis:

New York City Agrees to Provide Translated Documents and Interpreters to Non-English Speaking Food Stamp Applicants

Food stamp recipients who speak little or no English settled a class action lawsuit filed in August 1999 against New York City in which they alleged that the city acted unlawfully by failing to provide interpreters and translated documents in Food Stamps claims. The settlement follows a finding by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that the City's Human Resources Administration unlawfully discriminates against non-English speakers and disabled clients.

Under the settlement, New York City is required to translate all of its documents into Spanish, Arabic, Chinese and Russian, and to staff its welfare offices with employees who speak the languages spoken by most food stamp clients. The City has also agreed to provide a free interpreter, either in person or on the phone, to anyone who requests one. The settlement also requires the city to assess the number of languages spoken by its food stamp clients. The plans to make this assessment by distributing surveys written in English, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Arabic, Creole, Albanian, Bosnian/Serbo-Croatian, French, Hebrew, Hindi, Italian, Khmer, Korean, Laotian, Urdu, Vietnamese and Yiddish. It is estimated that 100,000 low-income immigrants will benefit from the agreement.

The plaintiffs were represented by the NYLAG, the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund and Make the Road by Walking (MRBW). For copies of the New York Times, Daily News and City Limits clips, link to Make the Road by Walking.

10/30/01. Prepared by the Food Research and Action Center, 1875 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. 20009. 9/10/01. For more information, please contact Sonya Schwartz at sschwartz@frac.org (202) 986-2200 x 3025.