| Limited English Proficiency - Overview |
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Limited English Proficiency - Overview
Although English is spoken by 95% of United States residents,
the nation is also home to millions of persons who cannot speak, read,
write or understand the English language. In order to assure that no person
would be subject do discrimination because of limited language ability,
the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published a policy
guidance to clarify the responsibilities of providers of health and social
services who receive Federal financial assistance from HHS and assist
them in fulfilling their responsibilities to Limited English Proficient
(LEP) persons, pursuant to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The
guidance sets out the policies, procedures and other steps that recipients
can take to ensure meaningful access to their programs by LEP persons.
It also provides examples of policies and practices that OCR would find
in violation. The guidance does not impose any new requirements but reiterates
longstanding Title VI principles that the Office of Civil Rights has been
enforcing for over 30 examples of covered entities include but are not
limited to hospitals, nursing homes, home health agencies, managed care
organizations, universities and other entities with health or social
service research programs, state, county and local health agencies, state
Medicaid agencies, state, county and local welfare agencies, programs for
families, youth and children, Head Start programs, public and private
contractors, subcontractors and vendors, physicians, and other providers
who receive Federal financial assistance from HHS.
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Providers are allowed flexibility in designing effective programs. The types of language assistance a provider must have in place to ensure meaningful access depend on a variety of factors, including the size of the facility or covered entity, the size of the eligible LEP population it serves, the nature of the program or service, the objective of the program, the resources available to the facility or covered entity, and the frequency with which LEP persons come into contact with the program. Small practitioners and providers have considerable flexibility in determining how to fulfill their obligations to ensure meaningful access for persons with limited English proficiency. Depending on the need and the circumstances of the individual facility, options for providing oral language assistance range from hiring bilingual staff or hiring on-staff interpreters to contracting for interpreter services as needed, engaging community volunteers, or contracting with a telephone interpreter service.
The written guidance, "Title VI Prohibition Against National Origin Discrimination as it Affects Persons with Limited English Proficiency," is available in the Federal Register, through OCR's 10 Regional Offices, or on the Internet at http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/