Final Letter Report on the New York County District Attorney’s Office’s Provision of Translation Services to the Limited English Proficient Population

Introduction

This Final Letter Report concerns the New York City Comptroller’s audit of the New York County District Attorney’s Office’s (DANY’s) provision of translation services. The objective of this audit was to determine whether DANY is providing translation services to the City’s limited English proficient population as required by relevant laws, standards, and guidelines.

New York City, with a population of more than 8 million people, is home to one of the most diverse populations in the world, with more than 3 million foreign-born residents from more than 200 countries. According to the New York City Department of City Planning, nearly one-half of all New Yorkers speak a language other than English at home, and almost 25 percent of City residents aged five and over are not proficient in English. For residents with limited English proficiency (LEP), interacting with City government and receiving access to City services can be a challenge.

DANY, also known as the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, seeks to protect the public by investigating and prosecuting criminal conduct in Manhattan.  In addition to its main office in lower Manhattan, DANY also has community offices located in Washington Heights and Harlem. DANY has several bureaus and units with select focuses that work together to deliver justice to victims of crime in Manhattan. DANY also provides a full range of services to crime survivors and their families in several areas including domestic violence, elder abuse, financial crimes, and fraud targeting immigrants.

DANY’s Witness Aid Services Unit provides a variety of court-related services, social services, and counseling services designed to meet the needs of crime victims, witnesses, and their families. It also provides information related to the prosecution of the case, assists victims in understanding the criminal justice system, and provides information regarding crime victims’ rights. In addition, the unit assists victims in overcoming the emotional trauma resulting from victimization and provides advocacy and support throughout the criminal justice process, and also works collaboratively with Assistant District Attorneys to assist victims. For the City’s LEP population who need interpretation services, DANY has two units—the Interpreter Services Unit and the Spanish Language Unit—that work with the Witness Aid Services Unit and other groups within DANY to provide the needed services.

Audit Findings and Conclusions

Our audit found that DANY generally complied with the translation standards prescribed by relevant laws, standards, and guidelines. Specifically, DANY has a language access plan and a dedicated email address and telephone number for language access services, and it also monitors the provision of language access to its clients with LEP. DANY’s Interpreter Services Unit and Spanish Language Unit are the two units primarily responsible for providing language access services.  Those units provide support as needed to DANY’s Witness Aid Services Unit and the office’s assistant district attorneys, as well as support staff and investigators, which are the groups that generally interact with members of the public who may require language access services. The Witness Aid Services Unit has bilingual staff that assist with language access services. When needed, the Spanish Language Unit also provides language access services including interpretation, translation, transcriptions, phone interpretation and conference interpreting in Spanish.

Audit Recommendations

To address the issues raised by this audit, we make the following two recommendations, that DANY:

• Maintain its general compliance with the standards for providing language access services to its constituents; and
• Implement its plan to work with its online website provider to enable its website to translate into at least the top 10 designated City LEP languages by the end of the year.

Agency Response

In its response, DANY agreed with the audit’s findings and recommendations stating, “We are proud to provide these services, free of charge, to all that require it. DANY will continue this important work, while also ensuring that staff are retrained and reminded of these language access services that are available for all staff to utilize in their work serving the public.”