CALIFORNIA ASIAN PACIFIC ISLANDER LEGISLATIVE CAUCUS

SACRAMENTO – The California Asian Pacific Islander (API) Legislative Caucus has launched an expanded multi-lingual website in Chinese, Korean, Tagalog, and Vietnamese to help improve language access for some of the state’s most linguistically isolated populations.

“Since more than a third of California’s API population is limited English proficient, it has been a goal of the API Caucus to improve language access for these Californians,” said Assembly Member Alberto Torrico (D-Fremont), Chair of the API Legislative Caucus. “We are especially proud to take this step in helping those in our community who face linguistic barriers to better access and participate in government.”

The API Caucus strives to represent and advocate for the diverse API communities from around the state, including ensuring language access and providing culturally competent services in government programs. As California has undergone a tremendous demographic shift, APIs have become one the fastest growing racial and ethnic groups in the state, making up over 14% of the statewide population.

“Once again, the API Caucus has taken a leadership role in enabling API community members to participate and engage in the policy making process,” said Vivian Huang, Legislative Advocate for – Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality (AACRE). “We hope this will encourage other government agencies to also ensure their services are accessible for limited English proficient individuals.”

According to a recent statewide demographic report by the Asian Pacific American Legal Center of Southern California, API households have the highest levels of linguistic isolation in the state. Nearly half of Chinese Americans, the state’s largest API group, are limited English proficient. Six API ethnic groups have majority limited English proficient populations, including two of the five largest API groups, Vietnamese and Korean. Persons who speak English less than “very well” are considered limited English proficient. The full report can be found at http://www.apalc.org/CA_Report_feb_%202_05.pdf

The API Caucus website can be found at http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/apilegcaucus.