VI. Steps Toward Providing Language Access
The Bureau of State Audits has compiled two reports assessing state and local compliance with the Bilingual Standards Act. Based on these reviews, the Bureau has identified a number of steps to ensure client needs for bilingual services are identified and addressed adequately. First, use formal procedures to identify languages clients speak and assess the sufficiency of existing bilingual resources regularly. Second, translate materials explaining services into languages spoken by a substantial number of LEP clients. Third, develop policies that clarify local agencies' responsibilities for providing bilingual services. Fourth, ensure that local departments are aware of existing bilingual services resources and encourage local departments to consider using state contracts to obtain bilingual services whenever doing so is cost-effective.
In addition to the Bureau of State Audits's advice, the Institute for Local Government recommends that agencies take the following steps in order to ensure compliance. To ensure strong language access coordination and accountability, agencies should: ensure that local departments are aware of existing language access services and resources; appoint a coordinator or, in large agencies, a working group of individuals from different components to monitor or update the agency's response to the needs of LEP service users; consider developing policies that clarify agencies' responsibilities for providing language access services; monitor agency compliance to ensure staff cooperation and accountability; and conduct regular trainings on access to ensure that all staff is aware of the agency's policies, especially those who frequently encounter the public.
In order to conduct effective needs assessment, agencies should: Survey clients and chart their needs; track encounters with LEP service users; obtain service-user feedback via surveys or other methods; use the information obtained to target language access efforts to priority services and locations; use formal procedures regularly to identify the languages that residents speak and to assess the sufficiency of their language access resources to meet their needs; and consider establishing complaint processes through which the public can report the absence of language access services or resources.
To ensure reliable access to disaster and emergency preparedness information, disaster and emergency preparedness should always be a priority focus for language access efforts.
To ensure that they are able to use and maximize existing resources, agencies should: leverage existing contracts with other departments through such programs as the California Multiple Award Schedules (“CMAS”) and share resources within and across agencies, for example, by forming regional and interagency partnerships.
Agencies should use bilingual employees effectively and appropriately and avoid assumptions about competence and willingness of bilingual staff to provide language services. Once an agency has identified competent and willing bilingual staff, ensure that they are strategically posted. Agencies should also leverage community-based organizations for interpretation and translation assistance, provided that quality control procedures are used.
Web pages can be a helpful, less intrusive tool to provide information about services and programs available to LEP service users. Allowing LEP service users to obtain information via the internet can ease fears of immigrant residents who may not feel comfortable seeking services in person. Non-English-language web pages should be easy to locate and navigate. These web pages should serve as “one-stop shops” for agency information. Web pages should be available in as many languages as possible, especially in languages a substantial number of residents in the community speak. Translations through web-based services may be inaccurate; web pages translated professionally or written in the language initially may be more helpful.
To ensure consistent enforcement of quality control standards, agencies should: follow the suggestions above related to ensuring competence of bilingual staff, interpreters, and translators, accuracy of web-based information and translations in nonEnglish languages, and reliance on service-user feedback; avoid ad hoc approaches when engaging LEP service users by ensuring staff familiarity with an agency's limited English proficient plan; and avoid relying on an LEP individual's family and/or friends for interpretation and translation, whether on an ad hoc basis or as part of the agency's general language assistance strategy.
Generally, family and friends should not be used for language assistance, except in certain emergency situations while awaiting a qualified interpreter, or where the information sought to be conveyed is of minimal importance to the LEP individual.
To establish and maintain community partnerships, agencies should seek and enlist the cooperation of community and ethnic organizations for interpretation and translation assistance, for example, to review translations and non-English web pages for accuracy and tone. Agencies should attempt to use quality control measures when using the services of external organizations. Community organizations can help local agencies determine their language access priorities by identifying the services and information most frequently accessed or “in demand” by various language communities.
Community organizations can also help agencies assess the effectiveness of their LEP Plan by providing honest feedback. Finally, community organizations can be a source of “good publicity” for agency language access efforts by informing LEP community members of agency services and the manner in which said agency is striving to meet the needs of LEP residents.
Agencies should ensure effective marketing of language access programs. In order to access services, LEP speakers must know about them. It is helpful to market language access programs to target communities. Agency officials should attend seminars, symposia, and community health fairs, and inform ethnic media and culturally diverse media outlets of an agency's commitment to language access.
Creative approaches to budget and funding may include charting encounters with LEP service users to provide “hard data” in support of requests for LEP resources, including hiring of bilingual personnel, obtaining funding for interpretation and translation, among other things. Another creative approach may include tying LEP efforts to the mission of the larger agency to enable budgeting for LEP access when it falls in line with mission-critical objectives, such as national security or emergency preparedness.
