Beyond Interpretation & Translation: Lessons Learned & Considerations for Moving Toward Language Justice in Local Government Public Health Evaluations

Abstract Information: People in the U.S. communicate in over 1,000 different languages. Program evaluations have historically excluded many people who speak languages other than English. This limits the perspectives, experiences, and wisdom shared in evaluations. It also reduces the relevance and impact of our work. Language justice offers a useful framework to ensure meaningful, multilingual participation in evaluations. Language justice is the idea that all people have the right to communicate in the language in which they feel most comfortable (Antena, 2013). This framework pushes us to focus on more than interpretation and translation. It highlights the need to create equitable, multilingual spaces that center relationship building. Public Health Seattle & King County (PHSKC) aims to center equity and social justice in evaluation. This includes investing in language access and community partnerships. In this roundtable session, we will share how we have tried to use language justice principles in evaluations of family and youth programs in King County, WA. We will share lessons learned about: 1) planning and budgeting for multilingual evaluations, 2) building relationships, and 3) sharing power throughout the process. Our examples will draw on our experience as evaluators within local government, examining the challenges of applying language justice principles in this context. We will facilitate a broader discussion of successful strategies and considerations when conducting multilingual evaluations. We hope attendees learn more ways to apply language justice principles in their work.