Dear Community Leaders,
On behalf of the Korean Resource Center (KRC) and the Community Health Promoters (CHP), we would like to request your presence at a town hall meeting which will discuss the serious shortfalls of language access programs and develop a solution that is sensitive to linguistic barriers. This meeting will take place on Friday, February 27, 2009, at 10:00 A.M. at Immanuel Church, 3300 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90010.
Contrary to the Civil Rights Act Title VI, limited English proficient Medi-Cal beneficiaries face discrimination and unfair treatment because they are denied the ability to understand their public health benefits. For example, findings from a recent KRC language access survey revealed that over 62% of participants did not understand or speak English. Further, over 88% of the survey participants responded that they received Notices of Action from Medi-Cal only in English and never in their preferred language. During the span of the Medi-Cal Language Access Campaign, 1,074 Los Angeles county residents signed a petition which includes a demand for language access and non-discriminatory services in the Medi-Cal program. In both, the survey and the signed petition, it is glaringly apparent that there are significant disparities between what the law requires and what occurs at the local Department of Public Social Services offices.
The Medi-Cal Language Access Campaign is a grassroots campaign led by senior citizen advocates, otherwise known as Community Health Promoters. Since its inception in 2005, CHP has been at the forefront of language access advocacy – educating, mobilizing, and organizing their Korean American peers.
We appreciate your interest and partnership in this important matter and look forward to seeing you at the town hall meeting. You can pre-register at www.krcla.org/townhall . If you have any questions regarding the town hall, please feel free to contact Sunhye Choi at sunhye [at] krcla.org or 323-937-3718.
Sincerely,
Dae J. Yoon
Executive Director, Korean Resource Center
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