OC Partnership for Young Children report 1999

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language learners. Eight respondents said that they have received some type of anti -bias and multicultural curriculum training, and 16 would like to attend training on this topic. Ways to Help Child Care Providers Work with Spanish Speaking Children Eighteen of the 31 respondents surveyed answered the question "What is the most important thing the Orange County Partnership for Young Children could do to help you provide child care for Spanish speaking children ?" Their responses focused mainly on ways to minimize the lap uagre barrier to working with parents and children. The most frequent responses included providing training in Spanish, offering English as a Second Language classes for parents, and arranging interpretation services. There were suggestions to offer Spanish language classes for staff in child care provider homes or centers, and to offer ESL classes at the centers. Agency Survey Respondents Profile The agency survey was mailed to 81 separate sites of government agencies and nonprofit organizations in Orange County. To gain a diversity of perspectives, each agency was asked to have both an administrator and a direct service provider complete surveys. Forty -seven individuals representing 33 different organizations returned completed surveys. This represents a 41% response rate from organizations. The range of respondents included nearly all county government agencies, and nonprofit organizations in the areas of health/mental health, human services, recreation, and the arts. Agency Survey Results Capacity of Agencies to Serve Spanish Speaking Families and Children Survey data confirmed that Orange County agencies are indeed serving Latino families and children. Eight out of ten responding organizations (83 %) report that they are currently serving non - English speaking clients. More importantly, two- thirds (68 %) indicate that they serve clients that speak only Spanish. However, the ability of many of these agencies to effectively work with these families is constrained due to their lack of Spanish speaking staff. One -third of respondents said that none of their staff members who have direct contact with clients speak Spanish. About half (53 %) reported that some staff members speak Spanish. Barriers to Serving Spanish Speaking Families and Children Responding agencies almost universally report (91 %) that they have experienced barriers to serving Spanish speaking clients as fully as they would like Respondents were asked to select from a list those barriers which existed within the agency, and those barriers which are experienced by clients. With regard to organizational barriers, the lack of Spanish speaking or bilingual staff was recognized by 80% of respondents as an impediment to service provision. Other significant impediments included difficulty outreaching to Spanish speaking families and children, and funding services in Spanish, both noted by 58 %. Language barriers were also emphasized by at least half of 15