Expanding Outreach to California's Diverse Communities

Published: May 24, 2023

We’re investing heavily in multilingual resources and support. We added dedicated phone lines staffed by experienced EDD representatives who speak Armenian, Korean, and Tagalog so California’s eight most spoken languages are served directly by the Unemployment Insurance program. We also have no-cost interpreters in over 100 languages.

Our website has language resources, including how to access an interpreter, for the most spoken languages in California. Those resources are located at the top of each EDD webpage with the globe icon for easy identification.

Other developments include:

• We are working next to add online unemployment applications in Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Tagalog, and Armenian.
• We are partnering with community organizations to establish a Multilingual Access Advisory Committee that will advise on language considerations that affect people seeking and receiving our services and benefits.
• We’ve announced a new Language Access Officer, Erica Chovva Ruiz. She previously served as the Community Engagement Manager at the Department of Industrial Relations.
• We’ve launched a California’s Unemployment Language Opportunity Program, administered by The Center at Sierra Health Foundation, that is empowering communities to access EDD services. The grants provide support for education and outreach to communities of focus for them to better access the Unemployment Insurance program, and other services and benefits.