Improving Access to Services for Persons with Limited English Proficiency

1. Improving Access to Services for Persons with Limited English Proficiency Naomi M. Barry-Pérez Civil Rights Center U.S. Department of Labor

2. Legal AuthorityTitle VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 "No person in the United States shall on the grounds of race, color or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance."

3. Who is Covered? Any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance from the Department of Labor.

4. Recipients are required to… Take reasonable steps to reduce language barriers so to ensure meaningful access to the information and services provided.

5. The Four Factor Analysis 1. the number or proportion of LEP individuals served or encountered in the eligible service population; 2. the frequency with which LEP individuals come into contact with the program; 3. the nature and importance of the program or activity to the participant or beneficiary; and, 4. the resources available to the recipient in carrying out the program or activity and costs.

6. Elements of Effective Programs • Assessment • Development and Implementation of a Written Policy on Language Access • Oral Interpretation • Written Translation • Outreach • Staff Training • Monitoring

7. Assessment The recipient conducts an assessment of the language needs of the population to be served.

8. How can this be done? • identifying the languages other than English that are likely to be encountered in the recipient’s program or activity and by estimating the number of LEP persons that are eligible for services and/or benefits and that are likely to be directly affected by its program or activity through a review of census, client utilization data and statistics from school systems, community agencies and organizations;

9. determining the language needs of LEP clients; • locating the points of contact of all stages of the program or activity where language assistance is likely to be needed; • reviewing delivery systems to determine whether any program system denies or limits participation by LEP individuals;

10. assessing the resources that will be needed to provide effective language assistance and the location and availability of these resources, including: • Types of language services available and how staff can obtain those services; • How to respond to LEP callers; • How to respond to written communication from LEP persons; • How to respond to LEP individuals who have in-person contact with recipient staff; • How to ensure competency of translation/interpretation services.

11. Development and Implementation of a Written Policy on Language Access The recipient may wish to develop and implement a comprehensive written policy that will ensure meaningful communication. This plan could be assessed and amended, if necessary, on a regular basis, depending on the needs of the local service population.

12. Translation of Written Materials A recipient may determine that an effective language assistance program ensures that written materials that are “vital” or routinely provided in English to applicants, clients and the public are available in regularly encountered languages other than English.

13. Possible Strategies for Providing Notice to LEP Persons • Advertising and outreach to communicate the rights of individuals to employment benefits, services, and job training programs to which they may eligible, which could include public service announcements in appropriate languages on television or radio, newspaper advertisements, or distributing materials to organizations that serve LEP persons. • Use of language identification cards that allow LEP beneficiaries to identify their language needs to staff and for staff to identify the language needs of applicants and clients. To be effective, the cards (e.g., "I speak cards") must invite the LEP person to identify the language s/he speaks. This identification could then be recorded in the LEP person's file.

14. Posting and maintaining signs in regularly encountered languages in waiting rooms, reception areas and other initial points of entry. In order to be effective, these signs should inform LEP applicants/clients of their right to free language assistance services and invite them to identify themselves as persons needing such services.

15. Training of Staff The recipient should take steps to ensure that staff understands the policy and is capable of carrying it out. Effective training will ensure that employees are knowledgeable and aware of LEP policies and procedures; are trained to work effectively with in-person and telephone interpreters; and, understand the dynamics of interpretation between LEP clients, the recipient’s staff, and interpreters.

16. Vigilant Monitoring The recipient may wish to conduct regular oversight of the language assistance program to ensure that LEP persons can meaningfully access the program or activity.

17. Compliance Assistance The CRC is available to provide guidance to recipients as they establish and/or improve, implement and monitor their policies and procedures to provide meaningful language assistance pursuant to Title VI and Section 188. Please contact: Annabelle T. Lockhart, Director or Naomi Barry-Pérez, Technical Advisor at (202) 693-6500