Office on Latino Affairs: Characteristics of Latinos in the District of Columbia

The following information describes the characteristics of Latinos in the District of Columbia by different areas. Information published in this section has been taken from the US Census and research conducted by the District's Council on Latino Agencies (CLA), a non-profit organization representing several community organizations based in Washington, DC. CLA has granted OLA permission to publish this information:

Health

On average, DC Latinos are poorer, less likely to have health insurance, and less likely to utilize health care services than other District residents. Latinos compare favorably on some measures of health, including life expectancy, birth outcomes, and incidence of heart disease and cancer, but fare less well on other measures, such as prevalence of diabetes, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS. Evidence suggests that as Latinos acculturate to a US lifestyle they abandon many healthful practices and do not access preventive health care services, which may eventually lead to mortality and disease patterns that correlate to those of non-Latinos. Latino immigration to Washington has had a notable impact on the city's health care delivery and financing system; 38 percent of non-elderly Latinos are uninsured. However, the Alliance program has clearly benefited a large number of uninsured Latinos in recent years. Community health programs and clinics compensate for mainstream health services that are often neither financially nor culturally accessible to immigrants. District government is working diligently to meet the increasing need for health services in the Latino community. Research has found notable characteristics in the area of health for Latinos, including, but not limited to:

Sex, age, and income correlates of Latinos' health status
Acculturation erodes Latinos' healthful lifestyle factors
Latina women and infant health outcomes are more favorable despite inadequate prenatal care
Latinos are at high risk for communicable diseases
Substance abuse and mental health possibly linked to degree of acculturation
Environmental health concerns focus on lead poisoning
Availability and utilization of health services determined by cost, location, and language access
Financial barriers to health services means lower insurance and Medicaid coverage for Latinos
Immigration barriers to health services create anxiety
Linguistic and cultural barriers to health services further compromise services delivery

Housing

Following the 1991 Mount Pleasant disturbances, the DC Latino Civil Rights Task Force identified the lack of available, quality housing as one of the key problems that fueled the riots. Ten years later, housing conditions and access to services have deteriorated in some areas, and many leaders say the affordable housing is the most serious and overarching threat to the Latino community. Throughout the nation, low-income Latino households face the worst case housing needs—they do not receive federal housing assistance, they pay more than 50 percent of their income for rent, and they earn less than half of the area's median family income. The number of DC renter households with incomes below the poverty line exceeds by 16 percent the number of afforable housing units. Many Latino families live below the poverty line, and while financially eligible for housing programs, they encounter many barriers, including language isolation and the District's limited supply of affordable housing. City agencies are exploring strategies to address the future potential redevelopment to deteriorated and vacant housing stock, expand mortage markets, and promote transitions from crisis to permanent housing. Research has found gaps and suggested strategies in the area of housing, including, but not limited to:

Housing conditions for DC Latinos are overcrowded and costly
Gentrification and displacement continue in Ward One Latino neighborhoods
Housing affordability and availability have declined precipitously in the District
Homeownership in the Latino community can anchor neighborhood revitalization efforts

Education

Latino enrollment in the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) has almost doubled since the late 1980s and steady immigration to the region continues to transform the racial, ethnic, and linguistic characteristics of neighborhoods and schools. District schools are among the first public institutions that new immigrants engage in, and are therefore instrumental in helping immigrants integrate and become productive citizens. In the last 10 years, DCPS has devoted considerable effort and capital to school reform to improve academic standards, implement innovative in-school and after-school programs, and provide alternative paths to success for students most at risk for dropping out. Nevertheless, the Latino community confronts multiple barriers to student success, including under-schooling and limited English proficiency of both parents and students, inconsistent application of language assessment policies, and limited bilingual education. Making DCPS reforms equally successful for Latinos will require additional strategies. First, schools should be viewed as learning communities where students come first and where learning opportunities are accessible and responsive to the linguistic and cultural needs to all students. Teachers must demonstrate the skills and cultural knowledge to work effectively with all students. Assessment and accountability systems that include accurate data collection and reporting need to be in place to allow staff to reflect on their work and improve their performance. Finally, schools need to reach out to Latino parents and help them become effective partners in the children's education. Research has found notable areas for improvement in education among Latinos, including, but not limited to:

Latino student performance and drop-out rates remain troubling
Immigrant children face challenging transitions
Language assessment helps students, parents, and teachers
Language and cultural misunderstandings create barriers to Latino students' achievement
Latino students and parents can maximize the use of additional services
Preparing teachers, principals, and counselors to work effectively with Latino students

Employment

The rapid growth of Latino workers in the Washington Metropolitan area, coupled with Latino business entrepreneurship, demonstrate the importance of Latinos to the District's economy. In 1997, 337 firms wewe Latino-owned, employing over 4,300 workers and generating more than $600 million in goods and services. Nearly two-thirds of these enterprises were owned by Central or South Americans, and roughly the small percentage of firms were in the service trades. However, since 1990 most Latino workers have remained in lower paying occupations, often working part-time with no employer benefits or job security. Labor markets are increasingly metropolitan in scale, and District residents—at all education and skill levels—must compete with workers from suburbs for jobs in the region. Increasingly, entry-level jobs are located in the suburbs, and central city residents—few of whom own cars—are not gaining access to the full range of opportunities that the region offers. Distance, however, is not the only obstacle facing Latino workers in the District or the neighborhoods in which they live. Programs targeted to these comunities are identifying and addressing the full range of barriers to employment and upward mobility, including lack of basic skills, lack of information about job openings, and discrimination. Research has found notable characteristics and areas for improvement among Latinos, including, but not limited to:

Employment, unemployment and wages vary by ethnicity
Working conditions and employment opportunities are further restricted by federal employer sanctions
Linking central city Latinos to entry-level job openings