Document Type

Other

Publication Date

Spring 2009

Keywords

bilingual, Child Protective Service, New York City

Abstract

New York City Children's Services (CS) serves an increasing populations of persons with limited English language proficiency (LEP). Federal and local laws mandate that these persons are provided with meaningful language access services. This analysis attempts to find the most cost-effective strategy for CS' Division of Child Protection (DCP) to provide interpretation services to LEP persons involved in DCP cases of child abuse and neglect. The study first identifies alternative strategies for providing these services, and then qualifies the cost of the current methods and alternative methods. A framework of transaction cost economic theory guides the cost analysis process. Next, it discusses the effectiveness of each strategy. The main finding of the analysis is that the use of bilingual Child Protective Service (CPS). Specialists is both the least costly and most effective method of providing these services.

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