The Social Security Administration is within the executive branch and primarily funded through payroll taxes. The funds are available for services related to disability, retirement, medicare, survivor’s benefits, and profile related issues. This page is not translated into Spanish, but here is a link to the SSA’s official login page information for account issues. You can apply for benefits, review your information and request to replace Medicare and Social Security Cards. https://secure.ssa.gov/RIL/SiView.action
It is important to know that an official from the IRS will not call you. The IRS takes your financial information seriously and they have made their information available in seven languages and there are tax forms in over 21 languages. The link above is the link for the Spanish IRS website for official information. You can access the IRS’ official forms for both personal and business reasons, information on Coronavirus tax reliefs, and your tax record.
General Health
Under the Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention performs research and releases information on a variety of topics pertaining to health promotion. This includes infectious disease, food borne pathogens, environment health and injury prevention. This is a great resource for updates on the coronavirus and food recall updates such as e.coli on lettuce. Not only is this a health concern, but for an agriculture community it may also impact the labor and employment sectors.
Like the CDC, the National Institute of Health is also a federal agency within the Department of Health and Human Services. The NIH is the primary agency for biomedical and public research. The website offers information tools and kits for how to talk with your doctor and community resources for your personal health. The translated Spanish URL offers graphics and easy to understand verbiage for a variety of health topics. There is a corner on the opening page with an approachable woman where patrons can ask questions. This is a unique way to engage the community.
MedLinePlus is a free website provided by the United States National Library of Medicine (NLM). Although the organization provides information in several languages, its priority is to provide the information in English and Spanish. The content bridges information from the NLM, the National Institute of Health (NIH), and other health related and federal government organizations.
In addition to providing information on health and drugs, it provides a directory for various medical services and it can link to your electronic health record (if you have one) related to your issue and medicines.
Women’s Health
In a 2018 Cureus journal article, the writers noted that the breast cancer rate in hispanic rate was no higher than in other racial demographics. The discrepancy between other racial groups was that the mortality rate was higher in hispanic women. Culturally it is not common to openly discuss private matters such as cancer and body parts like a woman’s breast. In an effort to normalize health issues like breast cancer within Spanish bilingual speaking communities between generations and this can be as simple as sharing this website.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency within the federal government. Its job is to enforce non-criminal, but civil matters of the U.S. Antitrust laws and protect consumers in matters related to identity theft and fraud. They also provide information for a free credit report and the Do Not Call registry.
The Arizona State Library provides a bilingual online resource to its residents for assistance in passing the U.S. Citizenship test. After creating an account, this link will provide the registrant free access to eBook with information on passing the test. Some libraries may not be able to maintain enough copies for all of the patrons, but it is important to share as a reference.
Under the Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website offers information on their translated citizenship resource center webpage. There is information on how to apply for citizenship and the webpage includes a sample test. Libraries and academic settings, and local government may have provided citizenship classes, but during the uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus this is a great resource to share.
The Government Publishing Office is the official publisher for the federal government. This agency provides publishing services for numerous agencies within all three branches of government. As such, they have created this game for children to be informed about U.S. history in a fun interactive way. It could be argued that people preparing for their citizenship test may enjoy this format of learning for the test and practicing their English.
Across the globe, they serve fellow citizens during some of their most important moments – births, adoptions, medical emergencies, deaths, arrests, and disasters. They also help U.S. citizens connect with the world by issuing millions of U.S. passports each year.
They keep our country safe and help foreign nationals connect with the United States by issuing visas to qualified visitors, workers, and immigrants.
The Department of Labor offers a bilingual web page to allow a space for common issues. Information translated include disability employment, equal employment opportunity, health and pension (retirement) benefits, and how to file a complaint. Rights under a union and Occupational Safety and Health (OSHA) also fall in the Department of Labor where more information is provided for this resource. This bilingual page also contains information regarding wages and work hours and guidelines for Youth and Labor. When you follow the link on the page, it will take you to the appropriate agency that will best fit your situation.
The Employee Benefits Security Administration falls under the Department of Labor, but the translated Spanish version shares handouts with tips for various issues pertaining to employment. An item that was featured dealt with the importance of changing financial habits with various life changes such as marriage, death, or gaining dependents. They also included information regarding the importance of saving for retirement.
Through the Trusted Traveler Program (TTP) from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the translated website offers information for the five programs available for faster travel when crossing international borders. In many libraries that border Mexico, there are a lot of reference questions on how to get the SENTRI pass. There are locations where one can pay someone to help process the paperwork, but those sites may not be vetted. This translated website comes straight from the source.
Under the Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) website offers their information in Spanish in a clear manner. ICE’s job is to enforce more than 400 federal statutes in order to prevent terrorism and combat the illegal movement of people and trade items. ICE also processes the various types of visas for people entering the U.S. Not only does this include labor related visas, but also to children studying in this country.
Often, family members know that a relative was in the military. What they may not be aware of is that family members (spouses, dependents, survivors, and family caregivers) may also be eligible for benefits from the military service member. This Veteran’s Administration (VA) website clearly shares links to resources that the service member may utilize; by sharing links to VA healthcare, compensation for disability, pension, life insurance, and housing assistance. The VA has information regarding (un)used educational benefits, employment information for dependents, home loans, life insurance, burial benefits, and information for burial in a VA national cemetery.
Family members may recall that a family member participated in a military fight; but may want to investigate more information on the battle(s). The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) works with the Department of Defense (DOD) to make some Official Military Personnel Files (OMPF) permanent records of the United States. Their agreement makes it so that the DOD transfers ownership to NARA sixty-two years after the service member's separation from the military. This allows for a timeframe of confidentiality for the service member.
Although the website does not end with .gov URL, this website may be helpful for patrons with veteran family members as it states, “This website is part of the U.S. Department of Defense's network of support for the military community.” Military One Source offers a variety of information and resources; if an individual is eligible, documents may be translated for free in more than 150 languages. Documents such as leases, marriage licenses, adoption documents needed for US Citizenship and Immigration Services, birth certificates, and school transcripts may also be certified and notarized. In any bilingual community, it is important to know where to access this free resource.
When speaking of legal document translation, it is important to know where to locate legitimate legal forms. The Arizona State Library and several county library districts offer access to state specific legal forms. It is important to share this information to patrons to avoid confusion with so many competing (and sometimes malintent) sources that market themselves with free legal advice.