Department of Housing and Community Development: guidelines: translation.

Assembly Member Fong's proposal to expand language access for California's housing programs would require the Department of Housing and Community Development to translate its public-facing guidelines into languages spoken by substantial non-English-speaking populations in the state.

The legislation directs the department to conduct a comprehensive review of its existing and amended guidelines to identify those that explain rights or available services to the public. Guidelines meeting these criteria would then require translation according to language thresholds defined in the Government Code. While the department currently maintains discretionary authority to provide bilingual staff and translated materials, this measure would establish mandatory translation requirements for specific types of guidelines.

The bill builds upon the department's existing language access infrastructure without requiring new state appropriations. Implementation would occur through the department's regular operations, though the timeline for completing guideline reviews and translations remains unspecified in the proposed legislation.