Commission of Immigrant Affairs Monday, May 4, 2020 Commission on Immigrant Affairs meeting to be held May 4, 2020 with Social Distancing Modifications Public comment will be allowed via telephone; no in-person input will be allowed. All speakers must register in advance (Sunday, May 3, 2020 by noon). All public comment will occur at the beginning of the meeting. To speak remotely at the May 4, 2020 Commission on Immigrant Affairs Meeting, residents must: •Call or email the board liaison at 512-401-7801 or connie.gonzales@austintexas.gov no later than noon, (Sunday, May 3, 2020). The information required is the speaker name, item number(s) they wish to speak on, whether they are for/against/neutral, and a telephone number or email address. •Once a request to speak has been called in or emailed to the board liaison, residents will receive either an email or phone call providing the telephone number to call on the day of the scheduled meeting. •Speakers must call in at least 30 minutes prior to meeting start in order to speak, late callers will not be accepted and will not be able to speak. •Speakers will be placed in a queue until their time to speak. •Handouts or other information may be emailed to connie.gonzales@austintexas.gov by Noon the day before the scheduled meeting. This information will be provided to Board and Commission members in advance of the meeting. •If this meeting is broadcast live, residents may watch the meeting here: http://www.austintexas.gov/page/watch-atxn-live Font Size: 12; Font: Times New Roman; Font Style: Regular COMMISSION ON IMMIGRANT AFFAIRS Monday, May 04, 2020 10am VIA VIDEOCONFERENCING CURRENT BOARD MEMBERS: Karen Crawford, Chair Juan Vences- Benitez Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch Banafsheh Madaninejad Krystal Gomez, Vice Chair Adrian De La Rosa Joseph Ramirez-Hernandez Nicole Merritt . Sam Adair Montserrat Garibay Rennison Lalgee Glen Rosales AGENDA CALL TO ORDER 2. NEW BUSINESS 1. REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF MINUTES: April 2020 a) Board elections b) Introducing Rocio Villalobos of Immigrant Affairs Office c) Discussion and possible vote on budget request for a quality of life study of the immigrant community, presented by Rocio Villalobos 3. OLD BUSINESS a) Bi-Lingual Summer Camp Recommendation FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS ADJOURNMENT The City of Austin is committed to compliance with the American with Disabilities Act. Reasonable modifications and equal access to communications will be provided upon request. Meeting locations are planned with wheelchair access. If requiring Sign Language Interpreters or alternative formats, please give notice at …
BOARD/COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION Commission on Immigrant Affairs Recommendation Number: 20200504-2c: Quality of Life Study of Immigrant Communities WHEREAS, the Commission on Immigrant Affairs passed a recommendation, subsequently adopted by City Council on March 20, 2014, declaring Austin a Welcoming City, WHEREAS, in 2018, Council directed the City Manager to “make a recommendation to City Council to determine how the City can most effectively coordinate and support policy and efforts related to the immigrant community,” WHEREAS, in August 2019, the City Manager published “Serving Austin’s Immigrant Community Report,” which included among its recommendations that the city “develop a strategy for providing services to immigrant communities,” WHEREAS, COVID-19 has highlighted existing disparities that negatively impact the immigrant communities in Austin. Immigrants, documented and undocumented, are facing difficulties in accessing resources and information, particularly during this time of heightened fear and uncertainty. The needs of the immigrant communities vary, in part, according to the way they arrived to the U.S. For example, while some qualify for support through the Office of Refugee Resettlement, including financial assistance and English language classes, others do not. Their needs also vary based on their levels of literacy and existing English language proficiency, all of which affect their ability to navigate systems and advocate for themselves. At this time, we have incomplete information about our immigrant communities, which affects our ability to support and serve them, WHEREAS, Austin/Travis County needs up-to-date and accurate information about our immigrant communities, with data collection methods and analysis that are anti-racist and equity based, will not put this community at risk for deportation, detention, harassment, or abuse, ensuring that our outreach and engagement efforts are culturally relevant and tailored to our various immigrant communities in order to provide resources and information that resonate and are effective. WHEREAS, difficulties that our immigrant communities face in accessing resources because we lack the relationships and adequate channels of communication to reach them can result in an inability to provide them with the resources they need, and inefficiencies in our service provision WHEREAS, the results of a Quality of Life study answer questions about the immigrant communities and will subsequently influence our policy recommendations to Austin City Council as well as our current outreach and engagement efforts. This research will guide our initiatives and bring our immigrant communities into the planning and implementation of future initiative, NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Commission on Immigrant Affairs …
BOARD/COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION Commission on Immigrant Affairs Recommendation Number: 20200504-3a: Creation of Summer Camps in Spanish or Dual Language Summer Camps WHEREAS, 22% of Austinites speak primarily Spanish at home1, and WHEREAS, the City of Austin is committed to “making reasonable efforts to ensure that City services and information about those services are provided in a manner that is accessible, relevant, and timely to residents” even if those residents are limited in their English proficiency (LEP).2, and WHEREAS, on November 3, 2016, the City of Austin passed Resolution No. 20161103-052 directing the City Manager to develop “Language Access Procedures” for each City Department that interacts with the public. The procedures were to specify steps for staff to follow to, among other things, deliver services to LEP individuals and ensure effective services are provided, and3 WHEREAS, 26% of the 81,000 students enrolled in the Austin Independent School District are English learners4, and WHEREAS, 88% of those English Learners speak Spanish as their primary home language5, and WHEREAS, the City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department (PARD) offers a wide variety of summer camps for children in Austin at affordable rates, and WHEREAS, the stated goal of the PARD’s summer program is to “provide children with exciting experiences through structured recreation in a safe and welcoming environment”6, and 1U.S. Census Data from 2008 available at: https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=language%20austin%20tx&g=1600000US4805000&hide Preview=false&tid=ACSST1Y2018.S1601&vintage=2018&layer=VT_2018_160_00_PY_D1&c id=S1601_C01_001E 2 See the City of Austin’s Language Access Plan p.3 available at: https://www.austintexas.gov/sites/default/files/images/Airport/Travel_Security/Language_Acces s_Plan.pdf 3 Resolution No. 20161103-52 available at: http://www.austintexas.gov/edims/document.cfm?id=267426 4 https://www.austinisd.org/multilingual 5 Data provided to the Commission by Dr. David Kauffman, Executive Director of Multilingual Education at A.I.S.D. 6 https://austintexas.gov/department/summer-camp-recreation-centers BOARD/COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION Commission on Immigrant Affairs Recommendation Number: 20200504-3a: Creation of Summer Camps in Spanish or Dual Language Summer Camps WHEREAS, the PARD currently offers their summer camp information, website and enrollment materials in languages other than English, but conducts all its over 500 camps in only English, and WHEREAS, English-only summer camps are not welcoming environments for children who speak another language at home, and WHEREAS, the City of Austin’s Commission on Immigrant Affairs received testimony and feedback from the Austin community regarding the need for City summer programming in Spanish, and WHEREAS, the Austin Independent School District offers Dual Language programs for elementary and secondary students in which the goals of the program are rigorous cognitive and academic development, academic proficiency in two languages, and cross-cultural development, and WHEREAS, there are …
COMMISSION ON IMMIGRANTS AFFAIRS Monday, May 4, 2020 10:00 AM VIA VIDEOCONFERENCING Approved Meeting Minutes Montserrat Garibay Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch Joseph Ramirez-Hernandez Glenn Rosales Board Members in Attendance: Karen Crawford, Chair Krystal Gomez, Vice-Chair Samuel Adair Adrian De La Rosa Board Members not in Attendance: Rennison Lalgee Banafsheh Madaninejad Staff in Attendance: Connie H. Gonzales, Staff Liaison/APH Darrell Barnett, Manager/APH Nicole Merritt Juan Vences-Benitez CALL TO ORDER at 10:04 am 1. REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF MINUTES – April 2020 Krystal moved to suspend Robert’s Rule of Order Kate seconded the motion Approved on 8-0 vote with Nicole, Banafsheh, Juan and Rennison not present. Kate moved to approve the minutes with amendments Sam seconded the motion Approved on 8-0 vote with Nicole, Banafsheh, Juan and Rennison not present. 2. NEW BUSINESS: DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTIONS: a) Board elections Montserrat moved to elect Karen for chair Krystal seconded the motion Approved on 8-0 vote with Nicole, Banafsheh, Juan and Rennison not present. Karen moved to elect Krystal as vice chair Sam seconded the motion Approved on 8-0 vote with Nicole, Banafsheh, Juan and Rennison not present. b) Introducing Rocio Villalobos of Immigrant Affairs Office c) Discussion and possible vote on budget request for a quality of life study of the immigrant community, presented by Rocio Villalobos Krystal moved to approve the recommendation to fund the Quality of Life Study of Immigrants Sam seconded the motion Approved on 8-0 vote with Nicole, Banafsheh, Juan and Rennison not present. Sam moved to approve the Quality of Life Study of Immigrants budget proposal Krystal seconded the motion Approved on 8-0 vote with Nicole, Banafsheh, Juan and Rennison not present. 3. OLD BUSINESS a) Bi-Lingual Summer Camp Recommendation Kate moved to approve recommendation for summer camp with amendments Montserrat seconded the motion Approved on 8-0 vote with Nicole, Banafsheh, Juan and Rennison not present. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS - None ADJOURNMENT Krystal moved to adjourn meeting at 10:29 am Kate seconded the motion Approved on 8-0 vote with Nicole, Banafsheh, Juan and Rennison not present. The City of Austin is committed to compliance with the American with Disabilities Act. Reasonable modifications and equal access to communications will be provided upon request. Meeting locations are planned with wheelchair access. If requiring Sign Language Interpreters or …
