Limited English Proficiency

1
Limited English Proficiency

• Another Structural Barrier to Equal Justice
• Washoe County, Nevada

2
History

• In 2005, Washoe County, Nevada was selected as
  one of the project sites by the Youth Law Center
  (YLC) to work on issues related to
  Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC).
• The purpose of the project was
• (1) to address the lack of comprehensive data on
  Latino youth in the justice system and to
  accurately assess and identify appropriate
  strategies to reduce Latino DMC and (2) to
  address other youth at critical decision-points
  in the system.

3
YLC Project Findings

• Committed youth were significantly more likely to
  have two parents who did not speak English (58
  of committed youth compared to 44 of
  non-committed youth).
• Latino youth were more likely not to be attending
  school at the time of the last arrest preceding
  commitment.
• Latino youth were more likely than white youth to
  have in the suspended commitment disposition an
  order for mandatory school attendance.
• A higher percentage of Latino youth were born
  outside the United States (29 compared to 5 of
  white youth and no African American and Asian
  youth).

4
YLC Project Findings Continued

• Latino youth were more likely to have repeated a
  grade.
• Latino youth (77) were more likely than White
  youth (43) or African American and Asian youth
  (33) to be involved with negative social peers
  (delinquency and/or gangs).
• Latino youth were somewhat more likely to have a
  court translator.
• Latino youth (9) were more likely to be parents
  compared to 3 of White youth and no African
  American and Asian youth.

5
Transition Program Self-Inspection

• In July of 2006, guided by the Youth Law Center,
  the department of Juvenile Services sought to
  replicate the transition practices in the Arizona
  State Project and formed a workgroup (School
  District Administrators, The Childrens Cabinet,
  Probation and Detention Staff).
• In August of 2006, a facility self-inspection was
  conducted to evaluate our detention center
  according to the JDAI guidelines. The inspection
  team identified the following areas of concern
• Limited Education Program
• No Educational Records
• No formal process to transfer credits
• No effort to identify youth in need of special
  education
• No access to GED preparation

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Recommendations

• Create an Education Transition Program to reduce
  the number of students who recidivate and are
  sentenced to state juvenile and adult corrections
  and to increase the number of students who are
  successfully and continuously engaged in school,
  work, and community activities.
• Make Detention School Improvements by identifying
  LEP students acquiring for LEP students English
  language development computer programming for the
  school computer lab and training all of the
  detention center school teachers in sheltered
  instruction, an instructional strategy aimed at
  LEP student language needs.
• Develop a Limited English Proficiency
  Questionnaire to better assess language access
  needs of Latino and other youth and their
  families.

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Progress Made

• Facilitated transfer of school records
• Addressed the credit transfer issue
• Full-time teacher added
• 36 new computers with Plato access

• Full-time school clerk
• IEPs faxed on the day of enrollment
• GED preparation facilitated
• Upgrade of school library

9
Program Statistics 2007-2008 School Year

• 308 youth interviewed during year 1 and 256 of
  those participated in program.
• 82 Males, 18 Female
• 43 Caucasians, 46 Latino, 8 African American,
  2 Pacific Islander/Asian, and 1 Native
  American.
• Recidivism
• 88 successful, 12 committed new offense
• High School Enrollment after 30 days
• 70 enrolled, 10 obtained their GED 3 not
  enrolled, 17 not applicable due to placement.

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Court Access Other Servicesfor LEP Youth

• Certified Court Interpreters
• 24-hour Language Line Access
• Bilingual / Bi-Cultural Detention Probation
  Staff
• Detention Orientation and Court Process Video
  available in Spanish
• Free Family Wellness classes through the
  Childrens Cabinet

• Probation documents are accessible in Spanish
• 6 out of 7 Outreach Staff are bilingual and are
  required to assist with traffic hearings,
  assessments and probation appointments.
• Increased collaboration with the school district
  via their Hispanic Liaison
• Supervised Released Program Orientation offered
  in Spanish

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Washoe County LEP Contacts

• Elizabeth Florez, Program Manager, Juvenile
  Services
• eflorez_at_washoecounty.us [phone]
• Brenda Carrera, JDAI Coordinator
• bcarrera_at_washoecounty.us [phone]
• Angelica Sanchez-Cronin, Probation Officer
• acronin_at_washoecounty.us [phone]
• Kathleen Sandoval, FYI Program Director
• The Children's Cabinet - Transition
  ksandoval_at_childrenscabinet.org [phone]