Eighteenth International Conference on Diversity in Organizations, Communities & Nations

Abstract

Increased transmigration of people requires that social service agencies provide support in ways that address issues for newcomers who utilize their services or are targeted for intervention. Language barriers when service users do not speak the languages of a country can prevent responsive services and can be a burden for individual practitioners that can go unnoticed by agencies. This paper reports on findings from a qualitative research study that utilized focus group interviewing to explore ways in which child protection workers responded to families and the strategies they used in service provision where language barriers existed. Specifically, since the study was conducted in Canada, the exploration focused on provision of services to clients with limited English proficiency. Findings show that agencies hire bilingual and multilingual workers to an extent and use interpreters on occasion. Although benefits are noted when using these strategies, numerous challenges were also identified in both situations, including challenges in forming relationships with clients, lack of relevant services for immigrant families, lack of clear protocols in using interpreters, over/inappropriate use of bilingual workers, and inadequate training of interpreters and bilingual workers. These challenges placed additional “burdens” for service providers that go unrecognized by agencies. Burdens identified by bilingual/multilingual workers and by those using interpreters suggest that agencies need to provide better guidelines and training for services and examine ways in which to recognize the struggles of workers in their efforts to be responsive to their clients.