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Department
of Human Services Families
First Online Policy Manual Rights and Responsibilities |
Revised: |
31.22 |
TITLE VI PROHIBITION AGAINST NATIONAL
ORIGIN DISCRIMINATION AS IT AFFECTS PERSONS WITH LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENCY
(LEP)
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In order to ensure compliance with Title
VI, DHS must take steps to ensure that LEP persons who apply for or receive
Families First and our related programs have meaningful access to those
programs. The most important step in
meeting this obligation is to provide the language assistance necessary to
ensure such access, at no cost to the LEP person. The type of language assistance provided depends on a variety of
factors, including: ·
The size of
the organization providing the service. ·
The size of
the LEP population the organization serves. ·
The nature
of the program or service. ·
The
objectives of the program. ·
The total
resources available to the organization providing the service. ·
The
frequency with which particular languages are encountered. ·
The
frequency with which LEP persons come into contact with the program. The key to providing meaningful access for LEP persons is to ensure
that the Department and the LEP person can communicate effectively. The steps taken must ensure that the LEP
person: ·
Is given
adequate information. ·
Is able to
understand the services and benefits available. ·
Is able to
receive those benefits and services for which he/she is eligible. ·
Is able to
effectively communicate the relevant circumstances of his/her situation to
the Department. In order to ensure that persons are not excluded from equal program
participation due to limited English proficiency (LEP), the Department must
provide trained and competent interpreters and other oral language assistance
services to accommodate our LEP clients.
We may: ·
Hire
bilingual staff. ·
Hire staff
interpreters. ·
Use
volunteer staff interpreters. ·
Use
volunteer community interpreters. ·
Contract
with an outside interpreter service. ·
Use a
telephone interpreter service. Friends and family members may be used as interpreters at the request
of the LEP customer provided the use of such a person would not compromise
the effectiveness of the services, violate confidentiality, and the client is
first advised that a free interpreter is available. The LEP customer’s declination of the
offer of free interpreter services must be documented. DHS must also suggest that a trained
interpreter (in addition to the friend/family member) sit in during the
interview to ensure reliable and correct interpretation of information. Minor children cannot be used as
interpreters. Written materials that are routinely provided in English to
applicants, recipients, and the public must be made available in regularly
encountered languages other than English.
We must ensure that communication tools are provided to LEP
customers. The following is a list of
the minimum requirements for written documents that should be in the language
of the customer: ·
Any
documents that have to be signed. ·
Documents that
describe the eligibility requirements to participate in a program. ·
Notifications
of changes in status. ·
Documents
informing customers of rights. ·
Communications
informing clients of meetings and reviews for the purpose of renewal. OCR (Office for Civil Rights) will consider the Department to be in
compliance with its Title VI obligation to provide written materials in
non-English languages for: ·
LEP language groups that constitute 10
percent or 3,000 (whichever
is smaller) of a service area, if the Department provides translated written
materials, including vital documents, for each eligible person to be served
or likely to be directly affected by the FF program. ·
LEP language groups that constitute 5
percent or 1,000 (whichever
is smaller) of a service area, if
the Department ensures that, at a minimum, vital documents are translated
into the appropriate non-English languages for each eligible person to be
served or likely to be directly affected by the FF program. ·
LEP language groups that constitute fewer than
100 persons in a service area if the Department does not translate
written materials but provides written notice in the primary language of the
LEP language group of the right to receive competent oral translation of
written materials for each eligible person to be served or likely to be
directly affected by the FF program. The “service area” is defined as the county served by each DHS
office. The LEP population in each
county would determine how individual offices apply the Title VI directives. |
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