LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENCY AND TITLE VI OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT April 15, 2015 Fair Housing Training Gary Hanes

2 NOT EVERYONE SPEAKS ENGLISH 25 million or about 9% LEP population in the U.S. 60,000 LEP persons in ID or about 4% of the population 380 languages in the U.S. (160 are indigenous) Language other than English spoken in 10%+ of ID homes Worldwide there are 7000 languages

Boise Meridian 58 Canyon County 12 Twin Falls 21 Why is this important? 3 LANGUAGES IN OUR SCHOOL DISTRICTS

These are households where no one over age 14 speaks English very well 4 LINGUISTICALLY ISOLATED HOUSEHOLDS All HHSpanish HH Idaho2.2%21.3%

The City of Boise’s Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing and its Fair Housing Plan reported: 5 LANGUAGE ASSISTANCE NEEDS IMPROVEMENT 72% of refugees…said they received verbal interpretation of their apartment lease; 14% reported no form of translation or having to obtain translation services themselves.

 Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act Prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin in programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance  U.S. Supreme Court—Lau v. Nichols (1974)  Executive Order (2000)  Federal Agency Guidelines HUD – LEGAL UNDERPINNINGS

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Persons who do not speak English as their primary language and who have a limited ability to read, write, speak, or understand English can be limited English proficient, or ‘‘LEP.’’ 9 WHAT IS LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENCY?

Interpretation: listening to something in one language…and orally converting it into another.... Translation…replacement of written text from one language into an equivalent written text in another language. But, what about gesturing and pantomiming? Or, speaking louder and slower? 10 WHAT IS LANGUAGE ASSISTANCE?

11 FULL SPECTRUM LANGUAGE ASSISTANCE No/Low Touch High Touch No plan Customer service Lose a customer Low tech to Higher tech Machine interpretation & translation Child interpreters Lower accuracy Low cost [Speak slow & loud?] [Gesture/Pantomime?] Language Assistance Program Customer service/CIVIL RIGHTS Monetary penalties Lower tech Human interpretation/translation Adult (certified?) interpreters High accuracy/Cultural competence High cost Interpretation of a document Translated ‘offer to interpret’ No or low impact HIGH IMPACT Low risk HIGH RISK No federal $ FEDERAL $

12 LANGUAGE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

13 LANGUAGE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM LANGUAGE NEEDS ASSESSMENT

14 LANGUAGE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM LANGUAGE NEEDS ASSESSMENT LANGUAGE ACCESS PLAN

When the client is:  Assessed as being LEP; and,  The communication involves the meaningful access by a person to information or services, then: The interpretation must be competent, timely and free 15 YOU MUST PROVIDE INTERPRETATION

 Using friends and family…especially children to interpret  Different dialects/cultural competency  Machine interpretation not equal to human interpretation  There is no “safe harbor” for interpretation! 16 INTERPRETING CAUTIONS

17 WHAT DOCUMENTS SHOULD BE TRANSLATED? VITAL DOCUMENTS Those documents that are critical for ensuring meaningful access by beneficiaries or potential beneficiaries generally and LEP persons specifically. Such as…

Are there other reasons to translate docs? 18 THERE IS “SAFE HARBOR” FOR TRANSLATION

 All agencies of the federal government  All programs that receive federal assistance  State and local agencies  Subrecipients  For-profit and nonprofit entities  Special districts (fire, water, sewer, etc)  Consultants? 19 WHO MUST COMPLY?

 All agencies of the federal government  All programs that receive federal assistance  State and local agencies  Subrecipients  For-profit and nonprofit entities  Special districts (fire, water, sewer, etc)  Consultants? 20 WHO MUST COMPLY?

 All agencies of the federal government  All programs that receive federal assistance  State and local agencies  Subrecipients  For-profit and nonprofit entities  Special districts (fire, water, sewer, etc)  Consultants? 21 WHO MUST COMPLY?

 All agencies of the federal government  All programs that receive federal assistance  State and local agencies  Subrecipients  For-profit and nonprofit entities  Special districts (fire, water, sewer, etc)  Consultants? 22 WHO MUST COMPLY?

 All agencies of the federal government  All programs that receive federal assistance  State and local agencies  Subrecipients  For-profit and nonprofit entities  Special districts (fire, water, sewer, etc)  Consultants? 23 WHO MUST COMPLY?

 All agencies of the federal government  All programs that receive federal assistance  State and local agencies  Subrecipients  For-profit and nonprofit entities  Special districts (fire, water, sewer, etc)  Consultants? 24 WHO MUST COMPLY?

Feds MONITORING 25

Feds States & Local Gov’ts MONITORING 26

Feds States & Local Gov’ts Grantees Subrecipients MONITORING 27

Feds States & Local Gov’ts Grantees Subrecipients MONITORING 28 ABC’s : Advocates, Beneficiaries and Citizens

Coverage extends to a recipient’s entire program or activity, i.e., to all parts of a recipient’s operations. This is true even if only one part of the recipient receives the federal assistance. What are the implications of this? 29 COVERAGE

In a jurisdiction where English has been declared the official language, a HUD recipient is still subject to federal nondiscrimination requirements, including Title VI requirements as they relate to LEP persons. 30 BUT …ENGLISH IS THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE!

 Public Participation Plans  Environmental clearances – notices and public hearings  Environmental justice  Fair treatment  Meaningful involvement  Davis-Bacon wage monitoring  Section 3 SOME FOCUS AREAS 31

To improve community outreach To provide good customer service To comply with the law Ensure meaningful access by citizens Avoid disparate treatment Satisfy grant requirements To manage risk Civil Rights complaints Avoid lawsuits Avoid aggravation 32 WHY COMPLY?

A Spanish-speaking tenant failed to recertify HH income. All written and oral communication was in English from the housing provider. The tenant was terminated and did not know her appeal rights. The affordable housing provider did not have a LNA or LAP. There was bilingual staff, BUT no policy for its use. 33 CASE STUDY 1 -- PHA

The housing provider:  Paid the complainant $25,000  Adopted LEP Policy and completed a LNA and LAP  Improved procedures (inc. interpretation)  Translated documents  Trained staff  Conducted outreach 34 CASE STUDY 1 -- PHA (OUTCOME)

The housing provider:  Paid the complainant $25,000  Adopted LEP Policy and completed a LNA and LAP  Improved procedures (inc. interpretation)  Translated documents  Trained staff  Conducted outreach 35 CASE STUDY 1 -- PHA (OUTCOME) cue the colorful language

April 2014 – HUD announced that the State of Nebraska’s Department of Economic Development (DED) failed to sufficiently ensure that persons with limited English proficiency have meaningful access to HUD-funded programs (CDBG and HOME). CASE STUDY 2 - STATE 36

Nebraska entered into a 3-year Voluntary Compliance Agreement (VCA) with HUD:  DED -- Language Assistance Program  Perform a LNA and do a LAP  Notice to subrecipients  Train subrecipients  Monitor subrecipients …and meet HUD’s schedule! CASE STUDY 2 – STATE (OUTCOME) 37

Put a Language Assistance Program in place, follow it, and…  Document! 38 THE GOLDEN RULE:

Offers to Interpret -- Know your rights -- In the News -- Langwij Finder -- Connect on Linked In 39 RESOURCES

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GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE IS WELCOME IN ANY LANGUAGE – Erik Kingston