Ferreira testifies before Boston City Council

May 13, 2016

Drawing from recently completed research on language barriers preventing Latino migrants in East Boston and Revere's access to educational and health resources, Boston College doctoral candidate in Applied Developmental & Educational Psychology, and Center Certificate in Human Rights and International Justice student Kevin Ferreira testified before Boston City Council’s Committee on Government Operations in support of docket #0412, “An Ordinance Establishing Language and Communication Access for City Services” during a public hearing on Tuesday, May 10.

If passed, the ordinance would require all departments in the City of Boston establish a language and communications access plan for residents who may have a disability, who are English language learners, or who are limited English speakers. Ferreira shared findings from a recent participatory action research project led by Center Associate Director M. Brinton Lykes and two local community partner organizations. The majority of the 21 migrant families interviewed shared stories of problems accessing local services, with some describing wait times from two to eleven hours for interpreters and making decisions to forgo medical treatment due to delays. Although advocates find limitations in the current iteration of the ordinance, Ferreira along with numerous other advocacy organizations that testified felt that the proposed ordinance would provide increased access for the 37% of families in Boston who speak a language other than English at home, reduce stigma for those who speak languages other than English, and ensure that city departments meet the same standards and can communicate with their residents.

More information here in English about the research findings in the Center’s report "Migrant Families and Language: '...The person who speaks two languages has double the value'".  The research was supported by an Alumni Grant given by the BC Lynch School of Education to support Lynch School faculty research with community-based organizations.