Office of Latino Affairs, Washington, D.C.

This initiative has been identified as a good immigrant integration practice by the NLC. Click here to find all about the other programs!

The national capital of the United States, Washington DC has a population of 588,373 people of whom 13% are foreign born. Compared to 1980, this represents an almost doubling of DC’s foreign population in the past 30 years.

The Mayor’s Office on Latino Affairs (OLA) has served the Latino community since 1976. The office works with the local government and community organizations to learn and be able to inform the Latino community about the different city services available to them.

OLA serves as the mayor’s liaison on issues concerning the Latino community. It also provides partnership and outreach services to DC’s Latino residents through its Community Relations and Outreach Program. This program disseminates information and educational services to Latino residents and fosters community partnerships to gather information and design better programs to serve the Latino community.

A major responsibility of OLA is to properly implement the recent D.C. Language Access and Advocacy Program (LAAP), which provides technical assistance, expertise and guidance to city agencies to solve language barriers and better serve the Latino community. LAAP also advocates on the behalf of Latino families and other individuals with limited English proficiency in and outside the D.C. government, relying on its active partnerships with city decision-making groups such as the D.C. Housing Authority and D.C. Office of Human Rights.

In 2000, OLA established the first of its community-based grants, which gave funding to non-profit organizations to provide high-quality programs to the city’s Latino residents. Today this includes

• Latino Community Education Program
• Latino Community Health Program
• Latino Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Services Program
• Bilingual Health Access Program
• Latino Gang and Youth Violence Prevention Program

The city’s Office on African Affairs and its Office on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs does work similar to the Office on Latino Affairs in addressing the needs and interests of those particular immigrant communities in D.C.

For more information, please contact the Office on Latino Affairs at (202) 671-2825 or ola@dc.gov.