California Department of Mental Health

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Office of Multicultural Services - Language Access

Achieving Equity | Interpretation | Translation | MHSA Documents en Español | MHSA Documents VIỆT

The Office of Multicultural Services is working toward improving language access for California’s mental health consumers. Language access is a term used to describe an agency’s or organization’s efforts to make its programs and services accessible to Limited English proficient (LEP) persons or non-English speakers. Language barriers can inhibit LEP persons or non-English speakers’ access to necessary services. Recognizing the need to improve communication and interaction with LEP persons is critical for advancing equal access to mental health services.

For more information, please refer to the Language Access Fact Sheet

Achieving Equity by Building a Bridge from Eligible to Enrolled

As we draw closer to 2014 and the full implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), we continue to increase our understanding of its full potential and its implications. In California, about 6.7 million nonelderly adults will be eligible for coverage under the law, through either Medi-Cal or tax credits to purchase insurance through California’s new Health Benefit Exchange.

This policy brief highlights findings from the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education and the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research’s California Simulation of Insurance Markets (CalSIM) model. The CalSIM model estimates the effects of specific provisions of the ACA on family and employer decisions about insurance coverage in California.

People of color and those who speak English less than very well (Limited English Proficient, or LEP) could benefit greatly from implementation of the ACA. However, although the LEP population represents a considerable portion of those eligible, without effective multilingual outreach and enrollment efforts, language barriers may result in a difference of 110,000 fewer LEP individuals enrolled in the Exchange. Click here to see the full report Achieving Equity by Building a Bridge from Eligibile to Enrolled.

Interpretation

Interpretation is the conversion of a message (usually oral) from one language (the source language) into oral form in another language (the target language).


Mental Health Interpreter Training Program

DMH supported the development of a Mental Health Interpreter training program, in partnership with National Latino Behavioral Health Association, CIMH, and community mental health agencies. The DMH helped fund the pilot and evaluation of this training curriculum that is now available to county mental health programs. For purchase information, visit the National Latino Behavioral Health Association (NLBHA) website. 

Translation

Translation is the conversion of a message (usually written) from one language (the source language) into written form in another language (the target language).


The Dymally-Alatorre Bilingual Services Act (1973) requires California state agencies to provide translated materials and serve monolingual customers in languages other than English. State and local agencies must translate any materials, explaining services available to the public, into non-English languages spoken by persons comprising 5 percent or more of the people served by any local office or facility of the State.

The following translated documents are currently available:


Mental Health Services Act (MHSA)

MHSA Documents en Español

MHSA Documents in VIỆT