017 of 2022 - Joint Ceremonial Resolution Declaring Salt Lake City’s Commitment to Promoting Equitable and InclusiSALT LAKE CITY CORPORATION
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JOINT CEREMONIAL RESOLUTION DECLARING SALT IA.KE CITY'S
COMMITMENT TO PROMOTING EQUITABLE AND INCLUSIVE
LANGUAGE ACCESS TO SALT IA.KE CITY CORPORATION'S SERVICES
AND INFORMATION
WHEREAS, Salt Lake City is a vibrant, diverse, and welcoming city that strives to ensure
that all residents, regardless of background, can be fully integrated, active, and
empowered members of the social, civic, and economic fabric of the community;
and
WHEREAS, the primary focus of Salt Lake City Corporation (the "City'] is to provide
support and safety to all Salt Lake City residents; and
WHEREAS, in ensuring support and safety, the City is committed to promoting equitable
and inclusive access to City services and information, as well as meaningful
community engagement/or all residents; and
WHEREAS, equity and inclusion are essential to building relationships and improving
outcomes in Salt Lake City communities, especially for under-represented and
under-served communities, including, but not limited to, immigrants, refugees,
and communities of color who are among Salt Lake City's most vulnerable
residents; and
WHEREAS, Title VI of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 states that "[ n]o person in the
United States shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded
from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination
under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance" and
requires federal grant recipients to provide language access; and
WHEREAS, in Lou v. Nichols (1974), the United States Supreme Court stated that one type of
national origin discrimination is discrimination based on a person's inability to
speak, read, write, or understand English; and
WHEREAS, in August 2000, President Bill Clinton issued Executive Order 13166,
"Improving Access to Services for Persons with Limited English Proficiency,"
which directed any recipients of federal financial assistance to publish
guidelines on how to provide access to limited English proficiency persons,
improve language accessibility of such federally assisted programs, and
implement consistent standards of language assistance across such programs;
and
WHEREAS, in May 2021, the Salt Lake City Office of the Mayor established the Office of
Equity & Inclusion ("OEI'] to promote equity and inclusion in the City's service
delivery, decision making, and community engagement practices by identifying
and eliminating the underlying barriers that perpetuate inequities and
providing opportunity and advancement for all; and
WHEREAS, the OEI has identified language differences to be one such underlying barrier to
equity and inclusion; and
WHEREAS, in November 2021, the OEI created the Language Access Task Force to review
City services and consider research for establishing effective guidelines,
consistent with Title VI of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Executive
Order 13166,for City employees to follow when providing services to, or
interacting with, individuals who have limited English proficiency; and
WHEREAS, according to the American Community Survey conducted in 2019 by the U.S.
Census Bureau, 4.9 percent of all households in Salt Lake City report limited
English proficiency; and
SALT LAKE CITY CORPORATION
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WHEREAS, according to the American Community Survey conducted in 2019 by the U.S.
Census Bureau, 4.9 percent of all households in Salt Lake City report limited
Englishproficiency; and
WHEREAS, according to Salt Lake City School District, which has the most comprehensive
set of language data for Salt Lake City, Spanish is the most common non-
English native language by a substantial margin. Karen and Somali are second
and third, and Swahili and Burmese are fourth and.fifth; and
WHEREAS, according to the Salt Lake City School District data, additional languages
spoken by Salt Lake City community members include, but are not limited to,
Tongan, Arabic, Vietnamese, French, Korean, and Chinese; and
WHEREAS, the Language Access Task Force has concluded that all public-facing City
departments should develop Language Acce,?s Plans that set forth procedures
for providing meaningful language access through in-language services,
translation of written materials, and in-person interpretation or telephonic
interpretation; and
WHEREAS, the Language Access Task Force has created a series of goals and guidelines to
assist City departments in develop fn:g Language Access Plans.
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED,
that the Salt Lake City Council and Mayor ofSabt Lake City support:
1. City resources and staff b~ing used to develop a Language Access Policy to govern
City operations in the furtherance of promoting equitable and inclusive language
access to City services and information.
2. The Mayor's Office coordinating the creation and implementation of Language
Access Plans throughout City departments to identify and close gaps in access.
3. Considering adequate funding for resources needed to promote language access .
4. Continued monitoring of the best available data, including the American
Community Survey from the U.S. Census Bureau, to better understand the language
access needs across Salt Lake City.
Adopted this \ .t\ -\-V' day of June 2022
Erin Mendenhall
Salt Lake City Mayor
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Darin Mano, Vice Chair
Salt Lake City Council Member, District Five
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Daniel Dugan, Chair
Salt Lake City Council Member, District Six
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Victoria Petro-Eschler
Salt Lake City Council Member, District One
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Alejandro Puy Chris Wharton
Salt Lake City Council Member, District Two Salt Lake City Council Member, District Three
* Ana Valdemoros Am~
Salt Lake City Council Member, District Four Salt Lake City Council Member, District Seven