Standing, strategizing, and mobilizing in solidarity with Marylanders with limited English proficiency
Justice for Breakfast discussion series
Thursday, January 16, 2025
9:00 AM-10:30 AM
Zoom link will be provided after registration.
PRESENTERS
Ashley Woolard, Attorney and Team Leader, Health and Benefits Equity Project
Sam Williamson, Attorney, Health and Benefits Equity Project
David Reische, Paralegal, Health and Benefits Equity Project
Imagine that you receive a letter from a Maryland agency notifying you that your benefits will be terminated unless you take specific actions by a deadline. Now, imagine that this letter arrives in a language that you cannot read, write, or speak – what would you do? What if your friend or child was asked to act as an interpreter for you in a conversation about treatment for a private and complex medical issue with your doctor? What would you do if a state agency or healthcare provider denied you services simply because you do not speak English? These are unfortunately common and traumatic forms of national origin discrimination that individuals with limited English proficiency experience.
Under Maryland and certain federal laws, certain state agencies and healthcare providers have the duty to provide meaningful access to their programs and activities to individuals with limited English proficiency. This means that they must provide free qualified interpretation and translation services to individuals who need it. In 2020, the Trump administration put forward new regulations that stripped important, long-standing civil rights for individuals with limited English proficiency from a key federal law. Although the Biden administration recently took steps to restore and strengthen these protections, these rights are at serious risk of being gutted yet again on the federal level with the incoming administration.
Now is the time to stand in solidarity with Maryland’s immigrant communities and individuals with limited English proficiency – we must mobilize together. Please join the PJC’s Health and Benefits Equity Project to learn about language access rights and gaps in Maryland’s language access landscape, and strategize with us on a plan to strengthen and preserve these important rights at the state level.
