Language Access Services

Overview

Free language assistance is available for individuals with limited English proficiency to access IHDA programs and services. IHDA has bilingual team members who speak Spanish and Polish and assist with both in-person and phone inquires. Telephonic interpretation in other languages is also available free through IHDA’s third party service.

To address your questions most efficiently, IHDA recommends contacting the organization over the phone by using the following guide:

How to Receive Additional Assistance

Interacting via phone may be the quickest way to answer your inquiry, but you may also submit a Language Access Request Form or complete one at reception. An “I-speak” card is available at reception for identifying the requested language and our website can be translated into many languages utilizing the “Select Languages” Google Translation tool found at the bottom of each web page.

Translation Services

IHDA documents can be translated upon request. The time required for translation requests vary upon the length and complexity of the document. To request a translation, please complete and submit a Language Access Request Form.

Hearing and Visual Assistance

IHDA also provides free aids and services to people with disabilities, such as qualified sign language interpreters through third party services. Illinois also has the Illinois Relay Center, a free service available 24 hours a day and seven days a week that allows people who are deaf, hard of hearing, speech-disabled, or deaf-blind to place and receive calls to standard telephone users via a keyboard or assistive device.

How to Share a Concern or Issue

If you believe that IHDA has failed to provide the services noted above, please complete a Language Access Complaint Form. A complaint form must be filed within six months of the alleged incident. This form pertains only to IHDA.

If you have questions, concerns, or feedback regarding IHDA’s language access services, please contact languageaccess@ihda.org.

If you are not satisfied with the findings or corrective action taken in response to your complaint, you may reach out to the Governor’s Office of New Americans to elevate your unresolved complaint.