In order to expand the service of new residents in Hualien County, the Hualien Social Affair Department has set up a new resident multilingual service counter and hotline to provide consultation and interpretation services in six languages, including Vietnamese, Indonesian, Thai, Cambodian, English and Chinese.
On July 25, the Hualien County Government held a press conference of "New Residents Multilingual Service Counter Expansion Service" on the third floor of the Hualien County New Residents Family Service Center.
Hualien County Mayor Hsu Chen-wei (徐榛蔚) said that Welcome new residents to Hualien to become our family. More than ten years ago, the county government compiled many children's picture books and disaster prevention and rescue information for new residents. Hualien Cultural Bureau and the Department of Education also provide books and spaces for new residents to read through the Thirteen Township Library, giving them a channel to learn about Taiwanese culture.
She also mentioned that because the language and the cultural differences, it is likely to increase barriers to new residents to access to public sector services. After taking office, she instructed the Social Affairs Department to expand the "New Resident Multilingual Service Counter" and set up a multilingual service hotline 038-246997, hope to help new residents overcome language communication barriers through interpreting services.
The multilingual service counter is staffed by senior new resident volunteers from Social Affairs Department. It provides on-site/hotline consultation and interpretation services in six languages including Vietnamese, Indonesian, Thai, Cambodian, English and Chinese. New residents can consult about social welfare, health care, rights and interests, educational and learning and employment. If the short service cannot solve the problem, the staff will continue to provide services in coordination with the staff of each bureau.
