Martin Plascencia. Photo courtesy of the County of Orange.
“The pandemic has only deepened language access issues,” said Chairman Andrew Do, who authored the County’s Language Access Policy last April. “Now more than ever, we must reach every community and neighborhood in Orange County.”
Nearly half of Orange County adults (46 percent) speak a language other than English at home, according to the 2019-2020 Orange County Community Indicators Report, with a quarter of the overall population native Spanish speakers.
In an effort to directly reach our Spanish-speaking communities, the County brought on board a prominent figure in the Latino community.