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Office would reach out to Hispanic residents
Sunday, February 24, 2008
BY DIANE C. WALSH
Star-Ledger Staff

A new study that identified problems in the delivery of social services to Middlesex County's Hispanic population has become the impetus for a new county Office on Hispanic Affairs.

County officials expect to complete a grant application this week in hopes of winning an award from the state Department of Community Affairs to create the new office.

The move comes less than two weeks after the Middlesex County Hispanic Affairs Commission released a report showing most of the 110 programs and agencies providing social services in the county do not have bilingual staffers or volunteers to help the Hispanic community.

Hispanics make up 17 percent of the county's population, which equals about 134,000 of the county's 787,000 residents, according to the estimates in the 2006 U.S. Census survey.

The largest Hispanic populations are in Perth Amboy, New Brunswick, Carteret and Woodbridge. The Hispanic and Latino residents in those communities range from 70 percent of the population in Perth Amboy to 16 percent in Woodbridge.

Thomas Seilheimer, director of the county Department of Human Service, which assisted in the study, said the findings show "there is not a lack of services but communication difficulties and problems with disseminating information."

He said a Hispanic Affairs Office could work with the agencies to recruit more bilingual workers and improve community outreach.

Rutgers University assisted the county Hispanic Affairs Commission in the study, which was based on surveys completed by 110 social service agencies and programs in the county.

While the study showed 75 percent of the agencies served Hispanic and Latino clients in 2005, the services reached 10 percent of the county's Hispanic population.

Freeholder Blanquita Valenti, the first Hispanic member of the freeholder board, was instrumental in establishing the Hispanic Affairs Commission two years ago. Valenti, who is also a New Brunswick councilwoman, was born and raised in Puerto Rico. She is a founder of the Puerto Rican Congress of New Jersey.

Jeffrey Vega, who chaired the commission, said the study was a "first step that we anticipate will begin to address some of the needs of the county's rapidly growing Hispanic community."

In addition to establishing a Hispanic affairs office, the commission also recommended establishing a Spanish-language capability on the county website; providing all social service agency and county forms in Spanish; and increasing outreach to the Hispanic community so there is more awareness of the available services.

Diane C. Walsh may be reached at dwalsh@starledger.com or (732) 404-8087.