In San Diego County, the Chinese population is 30,750 (2000 US census), which represents about 1.9% of the population within San Diego County. Although the Chinese population percentage is small, the majority of San Diegošs governmental agencies do not serve the Chinese population. Because of San Diegošs proximity to Mexico, most agencies serve the English and Spanish speaking public. Thus, governmental agencies do not provide Chinese bilingual written material or Chinese bilingual staff.The lack of Chinese bilingual staffing at the various governmental agencies stresses the significance of the Chinese Service Centeršs direct assistance and services to the Chinese community.
Several non-governmental ''social services'' organizations in San Diego County also execute parallel services. However, only very few non-governmental social service centers are staffed with Chinese speaking personnel. The Cantonese and Mandarin dialects are the most predominantly used Chinese dialects spoken in San Diego County. The Chinese Service Centeršs staff speaks several Chinese dialects: Cantonese, Hakka, Toishan, Taiwanese and Mandarin. The bilingual staff attracts many clients into a Center that fully appreciates and understands their problems and issues.
