Transcript Limited-English Proficiency

Background

Civil right laws have been challenged as a
result of suits alleging that rights have been
violated when services are not provided in a
language that is of the person’s preference
 These lawsuits have been won, and the
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
has taken stock in making sure that these
accommodations are made for people
receiving federally funded services
 Why? Because the U.S. does NOT have an
official language
What is “limited-English”
proficiency?
When a person’s primary or preferred
language is something other than English
 People may be able to speak English, but
something as personal as therapy may only
be understood in their own primary language
 People have the right to choose which
language they would like to receive services
in, and by law, we must abide by this request
free of charge

Legal Basis

Many legal basis’ are being used to uphold
court challenges in this area. They include:
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The Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Rehabilitation Act of 1973
The American’s with Disabilities Act
The Rehabilitation Act states:

“No otherwise qualified individual with a disability in the United
States . . .shall solely by reason of his or her disability be excluded
from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to
discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal
financial assistance”.
Disability is being defined as not understanding or
speaking English well and Federal financial
assistance is being defined as Medicaid.
What Do We Need to Do?
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Determine number of people in our service area who would not
have English as their primary language.
People must be informed of their ability to state their preferred
language. Pines uses posters and has “I speak kits” to help
people tell us their preferred language.
Translation services must be offered free of charge when
requested, in fact “vital documents” must be available in the
languages prevalent for our area.
Interpreter services must be offered free of charge when
requested.
Vital Documents, Interpreters
and Translators

Vital documents are forms that have to do
with grievance procedures, anything needing
a response, or anything associated with the
reduction or termination of services.
 Interpreters are people who are competent to
speak the preferred language of the person.
*Should not be a minor, family member or spouse for clinical
reasons

Translation is putting written materials into
formats understood in the preferred
language.
Dos and Don’ts

Do document any instance which warrants
the use of an interpreter
 Do document anytime that a friend, family
member or spouse interprets despite having
been told that they have a right to free
interpreter services.
 Don’t suggest or allow a minor to act as an
interpreter
 Don’t suggest a spouse or family member to
be an interpreter (if the issue is domestic violence how likely
will the spouse adequately interpret the client’s complaints?)