CONTACT:
Robyn Burke / 415-603-9696 / Robyn.Burke@sfgov.org
Public Information Officer
SAN FRANCISCO –
Today, District Attorney Chesa Boudin announced a new policy to take effect this week allowing staff members whose jobs involve regular contact with members of the public to take language classes from City College of San Francisco during regular work hours.
“According to data collected through 2019, 42% of San Francisco residents speak a language other than English at home. Prioritizing language access prevents us from excluding large segments of our community from access to services” said San District Attorney Chesa Boudin. “It is a priority of my office to promote increased accessibility; this policy will encourage our staff to continue to develop their language skills to better meet the needs of our victims, witnesses, and survivors.
District Attorney Boudin has prioritized the expansion of services for victims since he took office in January 2020. Since the beginning of District Attorney Boudin’s term the District Attorney’s Office has expanded to include victims services to all victims, secured $6 million in grant funding to promote accountability and victim healing, started a pilot program to provide funding for small businesses that have been victims of property crime – which has since been expanded citywide, partnered with local business to provide housing and transportation to vulnerable victims, and implemented a policy to ensure that victims with limited English proficiency have access to court interpreters when observing and attending in-court proceedings.
Additionally, this past year, District Attorney Boudin successfully secured funding to expand the District Attorney Victim Services Division and hire an additional ten victim advocates – including eight advocates fluent in English and another language, two property crime victim advocates, and two clinical social workers. These ten new victim advocates were funded as part of the District Attorney’s efforts to expand victim services and language access in San Francisco. The new hires include advocates fluent in Spanish, Cantonese, Tagalog, and Creole, while other advocates in VSD are fluent in Cantonese, Mandarin, Khmu, Spanish, Urdu and Hindi.
The San Francisco District Attorney’s Office is dedicated to promoting equal rights for all victims of crime, regardless of the language they speak. This new policy ensures that the DA’s office is doing everything possible to create a space where all community members will be understood and able to understand the complexities of the criminal legal system.
City College of San Francisco offers classes in nine languages, which are free to San Francisco residents – and often covered by employee unions for city workers. The District Attorney hopes that this policy will be replicated throughout the city to ensure that all city services are accessible to all San Franciscans.
中文
三藩市地檢官博徹思宣布新政策鼓勵地檢署職員增強雙語能力
三藩市——今天，三藩市地檢官博徹思宣布將於本週實施新政策，允許工作涉及與公眾接觸的地檢署職員，於正常辦公時間在市立大學上語言課。
三藩市地檢官博徹思表示：「根據 2019 年收集的數據，42% 的三藩市居民在家中使用英文以外的語言。 提高職員的語言能力讓我們可以更好、更有效率地為社區提供服務。地檢署的首要任務是促進和便利化服務。這項政策將鼓勵地檢署職員增強語言能力，以便更好地滿足受害者、證人和倖存者的需求。」
地檢官博徹思以擴大對受害者服務為首要任務。自他2020 年 1 月上任以來，地檢署擴大服務範圍至所有案件受害人、爭取六百萬資金用作受害者復康和促進問責、在第五區實行試點計劃，為店面遭受破壞的小商業提供補貼 (現時已擴大成全市計畫)、與本地機構合作為受害者提供住房和交通服務，並實施新政策確保不暗英語的受害者在出席法庭旁聽時可以獲得法庭口譯服務。
此外，在過去的一年裡，地檢官博徹思成功爭取撥款以擴大受害者服務部，聘請了十位新的受害者倡導專員 (其中八位是雙語人士)、兩名財物侵佔罪案倡導專員、和兩名臨床社工。 現時受害者服務部有精通流利西班牙語、國語、粵語、他加祿語、克里奧爾語 (Creole)、克木語 (Khmu)、烏爾都語 (Urdu) 和印地語 (Hindi) 的受害者倡導專員。
三藩市地檢署致力於促進所有罪案受害者，無論他們說何種語言，均可得到權利。 此項新政策確保地檢署盡所能協助職員擴展語言能力，能更好地與社區溝通，協助社區人士理解複雜的刑事法律制度。
三藩市市立大學提供九種語言課程，讓三藩市居民免費就讀，市府僱員學費通常由工會支付。 地檢官博徹思希望全市能推廣這項政策，確保市府所有部門均有足夠的語言能力為市民提供服務。