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Office of Immigrant Services and Language Affairs (ISLA)

ACS serves all New Yorkers, regardless of immigration status or English language proficiency. We provide services that respect your culture and language needs.

The Office of Immigrant Services and Language Affairs (ISLA) provides support and guidance on immigration and language access issues. Given that 50% of NYC children live in a household with at least one foreign-born family member and 25% of New Yorkers are limited English proficient (LEP), immigration and language access considerations are integral to child welfare cases in New York City.

Immigrant Services and Language Affairs (ISLA) ensures support for ACS clients who have immigration and/or language access needs by providing resources, training, guidance about agency policy, and case support. In addition, ISLA serves as a liaison with the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA) and other city agencies, and advocates to coordinate responses to issues affecting immigrant and limited English proficient clients.

For more information about each area of our work, please see below:

Know Your Rights

In accordance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, Federal Executive Order 13166, NYC Executive Order 120, and Local Law 30:

All children and families have the right to:

  • Communicate with ACS and provider agency staff in their preferred language.
    • All ACS and provider agency clients have the right to ask for an  interpreter when communicating with ACS or provider agency  staff.
    • All ACS and provider agency clients have the right to receive services in their preferred language.
    • All ACS and provider agency staff must provide equal access to services, regardless of a client's English language proficiency.
    • Interpretation services for clients with limited English proficiency must be accurate, timely, and free for the client.
  • Ask for documents from ACS to be translated into their preferred language
    • All ACS commonly distributed public-facing documents should be translated into the 10 citywide languages: Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, French, Haitian Creole, Korean, Russian, Polish, Spanish, and Urdu.
    • If an ACS document is not available in the client's preferred language, ACS can have the document translated into that language.
    • ACS will translate documents into clients' preferred languages or have their documents translated into English for ACS staff.
    • Requests for translation should be sent to Language.Access@acs.nyc.gov
  • Receive child welfare services regardless of their immigration status.
  • Have any immigration status information they share with ACS or our provider organizations remain confidential, with very few exceptions.
    • ACS and our provider organizations are only allowed to ask about a client's immigration status for the purpose of determining whether they might qualify for certain specific programs, services, or benefits. With the client's permission, ACS may also ask about their immigration status for the purpose of connecting them with immigration legal help.

Immigrant Services and Language Affairs Data & Policies

Contact

  • ACS Language Access Coordinator: Lauren McSwain, Director of Immigrant Services and Language Affairs

If you have a question for ACS related to:

  • Immigration, email us at immigrationQuestions@acs.nyc.gov
  • Language access, email us at language.access@acs.nyc.gov
  • U Visa Certification, email us at uvisa@acs.nyc.gov

For all other ACS-related issues, you can call the ACS Office of Advocacy Help Line at 212-676-9421

If you have additional questions, call 311.

To learn more about your Immigration rights, visit the Mayor's Office for Immigrant Affairs.

How to File Language Access Complaints

You can file a complaint if you did not receive service from the NYC Administration for Children’s Services, because of the language you speak. You can file a complaint anonymously and regardless of your immigration status. You are not required to leave your name, if you want to be anonymous.

You can file complaints by:

It helps if you can provide this information:

  • What the problem was
  • When it happened
  • Who you spoke with
  • Office address you went to or the phone number you called
  • Language you speak

Google Translate Disclaimer

The NYC Administration for Children’s Services website is provided in English. However, the "Google Translate" option may assist you in reading it in other languages. Please note that “Google Translate” cannot translate all types of documents, and it should not be relied upon for vital information. The NYC Administration for Children’s Services does not guarantee the accuracy of the translation provided by this tool.

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