Advocacy

Ceiba serves the community by being a strong advocate. Currently, Ceiba’s advocacy focuses on protecting the rights of Limited English Proficient (LEP) populations. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act requires that all entities that receive federal funding, including local governments, ensure equal access to LEP populations. Failure to do so can result in loss of federal funding (Presidential Executive Order #13166).

Between 2008 and 2010, Ceiba’s advocacy activities included:

• Getting outgoing Philadelphia Managing Director Loree Jones to issue Directive 62 (Language Access Policy & Plan for Operating Departments - this directive is still in effect).
• Getting Mayor Nutter to upgrade the city’s Executive Order (9-08) ensuring equal access to city services for LEP populations.
• Coordinating meetings between the Language Access Committee of the Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition (PICC) and the Department of Licenses & Inspections to begin implementation of their language access policy.
• Testifying about the needs of LEP populations before City Council and at the annual hearings of the Office of Housing and Community Development.
• Working with the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Task Force on Access to Justice for People with LEP to develop proposed Rules for Judicial Administration to implement PA’s Interpreter Certification Law. The law grants equal access to non-English speakers for all matters in Pennsylvania’s courts.