Language Access Coalition

(January 2019 - Spring 2020)

CURL worked with the Jane Addams Senior Caucus and the Language Access Coalition to better understand the challenges of Limited English Proficient (LEP) seniors living in the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) buildings. Through a multi-pronged collaborative approach, we sought to examine the experiences of LEP seniors living in CHA buildings in order to identify and address the gaps and deficiencies in services. Leaders collected surveys for residents while students and researchers looked at CHA policies, documents and trainings. Through an analysis of the data, we worked with the Language Access Coalition made up of LEP tenants and their allies to craft policy solutions that address the needs of LEP tenants and win equity-based language access policy in the CHA.

Final Report: Falling Flat: The Chicago Housing Authority’s Inadequate Implementation of Their Language Access Plan

Media:

• NPR

• Chicago Tribune

• Univision

• Chicago Sun-Times

Research Team:

• T. Neumann, CURL

• C. George, CURL

• I. Abbott, CURL Undergraduate Fellow

• G. Rock, CURL Undergraduate Fellow

• Becky Ozacki, Jane Addams Senior Caucus

• Kelly Viselman, Jane Addams Senior Caucus

• Eleana Binder, Shriver Center on Poverty Law

• Emily Coffey, Shriver Center on Poverty Law

Community Partners:

• Jane Addams Senior Caucus

• Shriver Center on Poverty Law