Limited English Proficiency

Important Terms Language Access: Refers to the rights of Limited English Proficient (LEP) individuals to receive meaningful access to federally funded programs. LEP Individuals: People who do not speak English as their primary language and who have a limited ability to read, speak, write, or understand English. Meaningful Access: Language assistance that results in accurate, timely, and effective communication at no cost to the LEP individual. National Origin Discrimination: Unequal treatment based on ancestry or the language spoken.

Legal Rights and Federal Protection Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Title VI regulations: Prohibit national origin discrimination. Executive Order (2000): Prohibits national origin discrimination by failing to provide meaningful access to LEP individuals.

Top 5 LEP Languages in U.S. Spanish French German Italian Chinese Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey

Top 3 LEP Languages in Florida Spanish Haitian Creole French Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey

Efforts to Provide Language Access Translation and Interpretation Services Bilingual Staff Translated Documents Notice of Language Access Services

Examples of Barriers for LEP Persons Limited Services Unreasonable Delays Limited Participation Requiring an LEP person to use a family member or friend for language assistance

Language Access Procedures: Workforce Staff Responding to Telephone Calls Qualified Bilingual Staff Contracted Interpreters For assistance with RA services, call Call Center staff at this number can contact DEO’s contracted translation service. LWDB Procedures LWDBs should establish local procedures for language access assistance for programs other than RA.

Language Access Procedures: Workforce Staff Responding to Written Correspondence Initial response is prepared in English by staff who would normally respond Translation is completed by qualified bilingual staff or by a contractor Monitoring LEP Interactions Call Center staff manually record the number of calls from LEP customers Invoices from contracted translation services

Language Access Procedures: RA Staff Responding to Telephone Calls Qualified Bilingual Staff Call Center staff access interpreter services by transferring the call to the “Other Languages Queue.” Assigned agents then contact translation service and assist via three-way conference Other RA staff may access translation services by calling the contractor interpreter line

Language Access Procedures: RA Staff Responding to Written Correspondence Initial response is prepared in English Translation is completed by qualified bilingual staff or by a contractor Recording LEP Services Invoices from contracted translation service

Notice of LEP Services Available on the Office for Civil Rights Website Interpretive Services Poster Equal Opportunity is the Law Poster (English, Spanish, Haitian Creole) Language Identification Cards (Used to identify 37 languages) LEP Plan and LEP Training PowerPoint

LEP Complaints Department of Economic Opportunity Office for Civil Rights 107 East Madison Street, MSC 150 Tallahassee, FL Phone: (850)