Executive Order 13166

Limited English Proficiency Resource Document:

Tips and Tools from the Field

September 21, 2004

U.S. Department of Justice

Civil Rights Division

 

 

From the Executive Office of the President Office of Management and Budget
2002 Report

"The benefits of language-assistance services for particular LEP individuals, while not readily quantifiable in dollar units, can be significant. Improved access to a wide variety of services - ranging from the delivery of healthcare and access to food stamps to motor vehicle licensing and law enforcement - can substantially improve the health and quality of life of many LEP individuals and their families. Moreover, [it] may increase the efficiency of distribution of government services to LEP individuals and may measurably increase the effectiveness of public health and safety programs." omb website

 

Executive Order 13166
Limited English Proficiency Resource Document:
Tips and Tools from the Field

Table of Contents

Introduction: Overview of the Document and of the Federal Limited English Proficiency Initiative

Chapter 1: General Tips and Tools Common to Courts, Police, 911 Call Centers, and Domestic Violence Specialists and Service Providers

A. Determining Your Organization's Language Needs

B. Identifying Language Resources

C. Working with LEP Individuals

D. Ensuring Quality Control

E. Conducting Outreach

Chapter 2: Tips and Tools Specific to 911 Call Centers

A. Identifying Needs and Setting Policy

B. Accessing Language Resources

C. Working with LEP Callers

D. Ensuring Quality Control

E. Conducting Outreach

Featured: Miami, Florida 911 Call Center

Featured: Project Echo, Minnesota

Chapter 3: Tips and Tools Specific to Law Enforcement Agencies

A. Determining Your Needs

B. Identifying Language Resources

C. Working with LEP Individuals

D. Ensuring Quality Control

E. Conducting Outreach

Featured: Storefront in East Dallas, Texas

Featured: Haitian Citizens' Police Academy/Haitian Roving Patrol, Delray Beach, Florida

Featured: Summit County/Lorain, Ohio Interpreter Services

Chapter 4: Tips and Tools Specific to Domestic Violence Service Providers and Specialists

A. Identifying the Need

B. Identifying Language Resources

C. Other Services for LEP Victims of Domestic Violence

D. Ensuring Quality Control

E. Conducting Community Outreach

Featured: Rockland Family Shelter, New York City

Featured: Refugee Women's Alliance, Seattle, Washington

Featured: TAPESTRI, Georgia

Chapter 5: Tips and Tools Specific to Courts

A. Assessing the Needs of Your Court System and Creating a Plan

B. Identifying Language Resources

C. Working with LEP Individuals and Interpreters

D. Ensuring Quality Control

Featured: Seattle's King County Superior Court Interpreter Program

Featured: The New Jersey Judiciary

Featured: Oregon Courts

Chapter 6: Tips and Tools Specific to DOJ Federally Conducted Programs and Activities

A. Determining Your Organization's Language Needs

B. Identifying Language Resources to Help Meet Your Needs

C. Working with LEP Individuals

D. Ensuring Quality Control

E. Conducting Outreach

Conclusion

Introduction: Overview of the Document and of the Federal Limited English Proficiency Initiative

Over the last few years, the Coordination and Review Section (COR) of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) has spent considerable time meeting with, training, and learning from individuals working in sectors ranging from the justice system to the nonprofit and social service providers, to federal, state, and local government, regarding the provision of language assistance to limited English proficient (LEP) individuals. We have done so because we are charged with coordinating enforcement and implementation of certain federal civil rights laws that require entities that receive financial assistance from federal agencies, as well as federal agencies themselves, to ensure that they are taking reasonable steps to provide meaningful access for LEP individuals.

In June of 2002, DOJ issued guidance relating to language assistance pursuant to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. 2000d, et seq. (Title VI) and its accompanying regulations. The guidance focused on recipients of DOJ financial assistance (primarily law enforcement agencies, departments of corrections, courts, domestic violence service providers, and entities having a law enforcement or juvenile justice mission). That guidance has served as a launching point for COR's training efforts and discussions with federal, state, and other partners on the subject of language assistance. Often these interactions and trainings have become opportunities for sharing tips and tools from the field based on the experiences of recipients and communities working with LEP populations. Sharing anecdotes of community solutions that have been positively received, as well as sharing information about some of the drawbacks of certain approaches, offers entities opportunities to make great strides in developing their own solutions to language access concerns.

DOJ believes that this exchange of experiences more broadly is a useful tool for enhancing access for LEP persons. This document furthers that sharing.

What Will You Find In This Document?

To develop this document, COR reviewed information collected in informal surveys of court personnel, social service providers, police departments, 911 call centers, several DOJ components e.g. the Executive Office for United States Attorneys, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Office of Justice Programs), to determine how these organizations have responded to the call for meaningful access for LEP individuals. This document lists many of the tips, tools, and practices identified in our surveys. We highlight some agencies that have taken an innovative approach or applied a strong policy or strategy to a particular aspect of language services.

This document does not endorse or suggest that any particular program is legally required. Nor would we presume to state that this project has encompassed all of the current innovations in this area; local innovation will certainly produce additional successful practices. Moreover, variations in size, resources, mission, and populations served mean that different approaches will work for different agencies. The examples are, as described, consistent with the goal of the DOJ LEP Guidance and with Title VI and regulatory requirements, but the Department has not conducted an extensive review of the agencies providing these examples, nor has it reviewed how all of the policies and practices are being implemented in practice. While we strove to provide as comprehensive an approach as possible, you might find that certain types of interactions with LEP individuals are not fully covered by these tips. Language access coordinators and decision-makers should consult the DOJ LEP Guidance, discussed below, in conjunction with this document. More work will be done to continue to seek out additional resources and strategies for communicating effectively with LEP individuals.

For more information on the work of the Coordination and Review Section of the Civil Rights Division, visit our website.

What Is the Legal and Policy Background?

This document is part of a broader effort by the Department to share existing language access resources, practices, and tools for recipients. It is inspired by, and reflects the work of, entities in the field that focus on 911 call response, law enforcement, courts, and domestic violence, as well as some federal program managers. The framework and grounding for choosing the tips and highlighting particular aspects of the recipient programs is Title VI, the Title VI regulations, and policy guidance issued by DOJ in this area.

Under Title VI and federal agency regulations implementing Title VI, recipients of federal financial assistance have a responsibility to take reasonable steps to provide LEP individuals with meaningful access to their programs and activities. Title VI and its accompanying regulations prohibit recipients from discriminating on the basis of race, color, or national origin. Discrimination on the basis of national origin can occur if a recipient does not provide appropriate language assistance to LEP individuals because these individuals, whose language is usually tied to their national origin, will not have access to the same benefits, services, information, or rights that the recipient provides to everyone else. Thus, in certain circumstances, failure to ensure that LEP persons can effectively participate in or benefit from federally assisted programs and activities may violate Title VI and its regulations prohibiting national origin discrimination.

Link to Executive Order 13166
Access the DOJ LEP Guidance for recipients.

Executive Order 13166, titled "Improving Access to Services for Persons with Limited English Proficiency," required two things. First, it required federal agencies to take reasonable steps to provide meaningful access for LEP people to federally conducted programs and activities (essentially, everything the federal government does). Second, under the Executive Order, every federal agency that provides financial assistance to non-federal entities must publish guidance on how those recipients can provide meaningful access to LEP persons and thus comply with Title VI and Title VI regulations.

On December 18, 2002, the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights sent a letter to DOJ recipients of federal financial assistance and representative organizations, providing them with a copy of the DOJ LEP Guidance and asking them to spread the word about the need to provide meaningful access to LEP individuals. A copy of an article for newsletters can be found at: the COR website under newsletter article, or go to www.lep.gov.

Pursuant to Executive Order 13166, DOJ published final guidance for its own recipients on June 18, 2002. 67 Fed. Reg. 41455. DOJ's LEP Guidance assists recipients with fulfilling their legal responsibilities to provide meaningful access to LEP persons. This policy guidance provides a description of the four factors recipients should consider in fulfilling their responsibilities to LEP persons. DOJ uses these factors in evaluating whether recipients are in compliance with Title VI and its regulations. These four factors are:

1. The number or proportion of LEP persons in the eligible service population;

2. The frequency with which LEP individuals come into contact with the program;

3. The importance of the benefit, service, information, or encounter to the LEP person (including the consequences of lack of language services or inadequate interpretation/translation); and,

4. The resources available to the recipient and the costs of providing various types of language services.

The DOJ LEP Guidance should be used in conjunction with this document. Appendix A to the guidance provides additional information on how some DOJ recipients of federal financial assistance, such as law enforcement, correctional institutions, courts, and domestic violence programs, can apply the four-factor analysis. See 67 Fed. Reg. 41466-41472. The guidance also discusses the value and possible format of written language assistance plans, presents options for identifying language services and ensuring competency of interpretation and translation services, and provides DOJ's insights on when translations of certain vital documents should be considered.

Providing high quality and accessible services, benefits, information, and access to the justice system for LEP individuals requires resources but is often critical. Moreover, often the costs of failure to provide appropriate language access can be even higher than the costs of providing a qualified interpreter, translator, or bilingual staffer. Convictions can be overturned and defendants released for inaccurate interpretation during interrogation, evidence development, or testimony. Victims and witnesses may be unable to provide law enforcement and emergency responders with accurate information, resulting in additional human and financial costs. Poor translations may require expensive revisions and reprinting, or result in inaccurate information exchange. Thus, in addition to the legal requirement to provide meaningful linguistic access, recipients and others have many additional incentives to avoid initial non-compliance.

lep.gov is the website of the Federal Interagency Working Group on LEP. The website is intended to serve as a clearinghouse that contains useful information, guidance, demographic links, and resources for recipients, agency representatives, community members, and other stakeholders. This website is frequently updated to provide new tools that will facilitate language access.

In addition, there are many productive steps that the federal government, either collectively or as individual grant agencies, can take to help recipients reduce the costs of providing language services without sacrificing meaningful access for LEP persons. To that end, DOJ has provided and will continue to provide assistance and guidance in this important area. DOJ has established and oversees a Federal Interagency Working Group on LEP, which has developed a website, lep.gov, to assist in disseminating this information.

The Civil Rights Division is also working closely with DOJ funding components to ensure that language access measures are considered in the funding and monitoring of recipient programs and activities.

The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) of the Office for Justice Programs (OJP) is responsible for ensuring that recipients of financial assistance from OJP and the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) comply with civil rights laws that prohibit discrimination on the basis of national origin, including limited English proficiency. Since the DOJ LEP Guidance was issued, OCR has provided training to representatives from hundreds of organizations funded by OJP and COPS on providing services to their LEP communities. OCR has also recognized the value of the information exchanged during these interactions and has passed along some of these tips and tools from the field to the Civil Rights Division and incorporated them into its training presentations. OCR conducted a number of compliance reviews of law enforcement agencies regarding their level of services to LEP persons. Through these reviews, OCR was able to see a number of promising approaches to providing services to LEP populations up close and gauge their effectiveness through interviews with the affected LEP communities.

For more information on the work of the Office for Civil Rights of the Office of Justice Programs, visit the OJP website.

The Civil Rights Division is committed to providing the necessary LEP training and technical assistance to all interested stakeholders. These services are provided primarily by the Division's Coordination and Review Section (COR), which is responsible for coordination and implementation of the LEP initiative throughout the Executive branch. To date, COR has conducted over 50 LEP trainings at the federal, state, local, and community levels, and will continue to do so as the need requires. COR has also worked with the United States Department of Health and Human Services and the Food and Nutrition Service of the United States Department of Agriculture to develop a video on the application of Title VI to LEP access issues, including vignettes regarding emergency 911 services, law enforcement, foodstamps, and healthcare. To request a training session on LEP, brochures, a copy of the video, or for other technical assistance, please call COR at (202) 307-2222. TDD: (202) 307-2678.

Additional technical assistance tools include brochures which can be found on lep.gov and a LEP video, which is an excellent companion to COR’s general Title VI video. The LEP brochures and video were created in partnership with the Food and Nutrition Service of the Department of Agriculture, and the Office for Civil Rights of the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

With this background, we invite you to delve into the heart of this document - the Tips and Tools Chapters. We hope that this document will spark your creativity, provide examples you can replicate, and reaffirm what is already working for you as you endeavor to communicate effectively with all community members, regardless of language or national origin.

Chapter 1: General Tips and Tools Common to Courts, Police, 911 Call Centers, and Domestic Violence Specialists and Service Providers 

Whether you are a police officer, outreach worker, judge, intake worker, or emergency responder, chances are that you or your colleagues have encountered a limited English proficient (LEP) individual in carrying out your basic tasks. Having a strategy in place to deal with LEP issues effectively makes sense: it allows for cost-efficient and timely services that comply with the law and meet the needs of the public.

This General Tips and Tools Chapter provides Department of Justice (DOJ) recipient organizations, regardless of their primary mission, with a survey of strategies to deliver services to LEP community members. In reviewing the strategies that organizations used, we have found similarities cutting across disciplines and professions. One of the most important steps for effective communication is to set a policy and create a coherent plan for communicating with LEP individuals that includes a number of these common strategies. They are outlined in this chapter and are divided into five basic steps:

A. Determining your organization's language service needs;

B. Identifying language resources to help you meet those needs, and ensuring that personnel know how to access and effectively utilize those resources;

C. Familiarizing and training staff and managers with effective and innovative methods of communication with LEP individuals;

D. Implementing and enforcing quality control measures to ensure that you are communicating accurately and effectively with LEP community members; and

E. Conducting outreach to ensure that all community members, regardless of national origin or language, know that they can access your program, and can provide feedback to you on the language services you provide.

The five common steps are reflected in each of the chapters. You will notice some duplication of tips in order to emphasize certain practices in the context of particular types of recipients, but we have minimized this to the extent appropriate.

While this document focuses on various types of DOJ recipients, the strategies outlined in this General Chapter should be helpful to a wide variety of other organizations as well.

We hope that this General Tips and Tools Chapter will help you create, refine, and implement a plan to address a number of the LEP issues you currently face on the job. Once a plan has been established and implemented, it should be reviewed and updated as demographics, language resources, and other factors evolve.

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A. Determining Your Organization's Language Needs and Devising a Plan

• Review the language needs of the communities you serve or encounter.
  
• Keep track of the languages you encounter on the job through a record-keeping method that is consistent with your agency's practice. Data should be reviewed to determine your agency's immediate language needs.
  
• There may be LEP communities that you are not reaching and that should be included in your assessment. These populations may need additional outreach in order to participate fully. Include seasonal workers, vacationers, motorists, and visitors in your assessment. (See Section E below).
  
• Other sources for demographic information include:
  
• The demographics section of http://www.lep.gov.
  
• For Spanish speakers, the 2000 Census, provides detailed information down to census tract level and below as to the English ability of persons over the age of five who speak Spanish at home. Be aware of potential under-reporting, and account for the possibility that the community you serve may be larger than estimates predict.
  
• For languages other than Spanish, the most detailed data on English ability from the 2000 Census is reported only in terms of general language groups (e.g., Asian/Pacific Islander, Indo-European, Other). In such cases, more refined predictions of potential LEP populations can be made by combining the language data that is available with other demographic data closely associated with language, such as ancestry, citizenship, foreign-born data, and prior residence. Access such data through American Factfinder, an interactive demographic mapping service maintained by the Census Bureau.
  
• Also access Census 2000 Brief: Language Use and English-Speaking Ability (October 2003).
  
• Tables and maps of the thirty most commonly-spoken languages (which include languages spoken by individuals who also speak and understand English) can be found at the Census website . The tables provide information down to the zip code level.
  
• The U.S. Department of Education and school districts maintain data on languages spoken in the local public school systems. Schools should also have knowledge of the LEP parent population. See fastfacts and education statistics.
  
• Some agencies contract with the Census Bureau to conduct special counts of census data for particular demographic characteristics. For instance, the U.S. Department of Labor maintains a demographics tool broken down by Workforce Investment Area (WIA). The data sorts the number of people who speak one of 39 different languages by WIA and by state. Some limited social demographics such as education, employment status, and income are also provided for each group. The information is in Excel worksheet format, and can be downloaded in total or by specific state or workforce area. This information, and other technical assistance products for the workforce system, will be made available through Department of Labor website in the very near future. The project is a joint endeavor of the Department of Labor, Berkeley Policy Associates, and the Census Bureau.
  
• Community, ethnic, and faith-based organizations can assist you in identifying LEP communities in your service area. Include such organizations in an "advisory committee" as part of your continuing efforts to respond to LEP issues.
  
• Similarly, check with local interpretation and translation associations to determine which languages are most frequently requested. Ask for general information on the purposes for which interpretation and translation services are sought (e.g., medical, legal, immigration, or other purposes).
  

Want more info?

• Consult Chapter 6 of this document, entitled "Tips and Tools Specific to DOJ Federally Conducted Programs and Activities," for a more detailed analysis of the use of census data and special counts.

• Contact Karin Wang, Vice President of Programs (kwang@apalc.org)or Dan Ichinose, Project Director of Demographic Research Unit (dichinose@apalc.org) at the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC) in Los Angeles for information about effectively utilizing school district statistics and other data to determine interpreter needs.
  

Devise a written plan to meet the needs of LEP individuals in your area.

Helpful considerations include the four-factor analysis guiding the implementation of the Title VI language access requirement:

• The number or proportion of LEP persons eligible to be served or likely to be encountered;
  
• The frequency with which LEP individuals come into contact with your programs/activities;
  
• The importance of your program, activity or service to people's lives;
  
• The resources you have at your disposal and costs of implementation.  
  

Formulate and distribute a written plan with instructions to staff on accessing interpretation, translation, and other language resources to serve LEP individuals. Your plan should address the various types of contact your staff have with LEP individuals. Your plan will minimize confusion and ambiguity when situations involving LEP individuals arise, and will enable your agency to determine training, administration, planning, and budgeting needs.

The approach you identify in your plan may be different for less commonly-encountered languages than it is for languages encountered more frequently in your community.
Give priority to first-response units and other services involving access to important benefits, services, information, or rights. The more serious the consequences, the more likely competent language services are necessary.
Review, update, and refine your plan on a regular basis and as language group demographics and agency capabilities change. Do so in consultation with community groups and other stakeholders.

Want more info?

• Consult the handy self-assessment tool available at the lep.gov website . This assessment asks crucial questions to enable you to determine the responsiveness of your program or activity to the needs of LEP individuals, and provides guidance on key elements of a written plan.
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B. Identifying Language Resources to Help You Meet Your Needs

Differentiate between the many types of language service providers available, and determine which combination is appropriate for your program.
An interpreter listens to a communication in one language and orally converts to another language while retaining the same meaning.
A translator replaces written text from one language into an equivalent written text in another language.
Bilingual individuals have the ability to use two languages. A bilingual person can learn to become a translator or an interpreter, but is not automatically so qualified by virtue of his or her language abilities.
When selecting services, consider the strengths and limitations of various language service providers.
For instance, a bilingual person may be fluent and well-suited to having direct monolingual conversations (e.g., ish to ish and English to English conversations) in more than one language, but may not be skilled at converting those conversations from one language to another.
In addition, some of your staff may be less than fully bilingual. However, their language skills may still be helpful for limited purposes such as outreach activities and basic conversation to set people at ease or to provide simple directions in ways that do not have significant consequences if accuracy is not perfect.
By contrast, professional interpreters and translators are generally required to have undergone rigorous and specialized training.
Reflect on the importance of your services to the LEP community, the skill level and training of your bilingual staff, and the complexity of the communication, to determine whether the specialized skills of an interpreter or translator are required.
Identify bilingual staff.
In-house multilingual staffing is a cost-effective way to provide language services to LEP individuals.
APALC is an example of a non-profit organization in Los Angeles adopting this approach. They have also worked with other organizations to develop a coordinated approach to providing language services to LEP individuals and to helping immigrant victims who come into contact with the legal system. Consult their publication Expanding Legal Services: Serving Limited English Proficient Asians and Pacific Islanders by Gabrielle Hammond, November 2003. Click on , or visit their website under "literature" to obtain this document and other APALC resources.
In the social service setting, Safe Horizon, a New York City-based victim assistance agency, has partnered with the NYU Center for Immigrant Health to adapt medical interpreter curricula to the social service context. For more information, contact Tanaz Pardiwala Director of Community Organizing, at (718) 928-6953; TDD: (800) 810-7444 Hotline or email at tanaz_pardiwala@safehorizon.org
Where needs dictate, consider bilingual ability as a compensable hiring criterion for certain positions.
Some organizations and departments have instituted bilingual pay incentive programs. Employees who pass a proficiency exam and are willing to provide language services receive a bonus or salary differential.
Keep in mind that bilingual staff who are often called upon to facilitate communication with LEP individuals may find themselves routinely diverted from their normal work assignments. For more information on pay incentives for pre-screened bilingual ability, consult The Memorandum of Understanding between the City of Fresno and the Fresno City Employees' Association, pp. 32-33. For employer perspectives on this issue, visit this document at 9.
Create a directory of bilingual staff and their contact information. If appropriate for your agency's needs, bilingual staff and/or interpreters having contact with the public can wear badges indicating the languages they speak so that LEP individuals can easily identify such employees.
When bilingual staff provide or review written translations, they can often benefit from collaborating with others listed in the directory.
Test and train bilingual staff providing language services on a regular basis.
Untrained bilingual staff may not be versed in the standards of the interpreting profession (e.g., role, code of conduct, modes of interpretation, specialized terminology, etc.), resulting in compromised accuracy and statements with potentially limited evidentiary value. Both the agency providing services, as well as the LEP individual, have administrative, safety, and enforcement interests in accurately-rendered interpretation and translation services. Enable bilingual staff to access interpreter training courses and translation and language skills training. Such access benefits both your organization and the communities you serve. See also Section D on "Ensuring Quality Control" below.
Even when bilingual staff are used to provide direct services in a non-English language (rather than to provide interpretation), be sure to institute quality control measures and provide professional development opportunities to ensure that communication is effective and accurate.

Identify situations requiring the services of a professional interpreter or translator.
Establishing relationships with professional interpreters, translators, and other users of professional language services can help you to tap into a pool of qualified individuals to contact when necessary.
Professional interpreters are trained to convey meanings accurately, avoid conflicts of interest, and maintain confidentiality, impartiality, and accuracy in the course of performing their professional duties. Interactions involving a possible deprivation of liberty, such as interrogations, should involve a fully-trained professional. Untrained bilingual staffers or informal communication techniques should be used only as a stop-gap measure to stabilize an emergency situation until a professional interpreter (telephonic or in-person) becomes available to assist.
In situations with legal implications in general, and criminal implications in particular, the stakes can be very high. For example, the terms of a temporary restraining order in a domestic violence case should be accurately conveyed, both to an accused batterer and to the alleged victim. Failure to do so may result in unintended consequences, e.g., compromised safety and/or misunderstandings leading to criminal liability.
Professional interpretation and translation services are available in most cities. U.S. Attorneys' offices, state and federal courts, and FBI regional offices often contract with such local interpretation and translation companies. Contact such entities for lists of potential individuals or companies. National, regional, and state interpreter and translator associations also post lists of members by language and geographical location.
For information on interpreter and translator associations, go to the interpretation/translation section of http://www.lep.gov.
Monitor quality of interpretation and translation services. See Section D below.

• Telephonic interpretation services can ensure resources when in-house demand is high or immediate interpretation is needed.
  
• Telephonic interpretation is particularly useful for officers in the field, during 911 calls, or in other instances in which a range of languages could be encountered and swift response is necessary. Telephonic interpretation can be conducted utilizing a commercial telephonic interpretation service, professional interpreter, or trained bilingual staffer who cannot be available onsite (e.g., a police call at 3:00 a.m.).
  
• Commercial telephonic interpretation services are helpful where in-house language capacity is insufficient or unavailable. Telephone interpretation services are immediately available when crisis management is required in a range of languages. Such services can provide a per-minute rate in a broad range of languages.
  
• Monitor quality. Ensure that the provider you choose understands the context in which you operate and can accurately interpret or translate specialized terms you use, such as Miranda warnings. Other relevant information may include the connection time necessary for telephonic interpretation, and whether it is swift enough for your purposes.
  

Want more info?

• Contact Xenia Freeman, Director of Safe Horizon's (NYC) Domestic Violence, Crime Victim, Rape and Sexual Assault, and September 11 Support Hotlines at xfreeman@safehorizon.org., for more information on the utility of telephonic interpretation.
  

Work collaboratively with community groups and academic institutions, and train bilingual/multilingual community members, university professors, graduate and law students, and language educators to provide language services on an as-needed basis. 

• Identify potential sources of language assistance through local community/ethnic organizations, university language departments, law schools, and other logical venues.
  
• Train the identified individuals to serve as part-time interpreters on an as-needed basis. Ensure their familiarity with applicable standards (e.g., ethical requirements, modes and protocols of interpretation, specialized terminology applicable to your program, etc.)
  
• On occasion, authorities have successfully used language educators and community members to interview/debrief witnesses in the absence of professional interpreters.
  
• Recognize the potential limitations of using such individuals. For example, a ish teacher may not necessarily be able to interpret accurately during a beat patrol investigation
  
• Make sure to implement other quality-control measures.

Want more info?

• The Washington, D.C.-based Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center (APALRC) has created a "Legal Interpreter Project" which focuses on training community members, law students, and others to provide quality interpretation and translation for other agencies in the area. The selection process includes recruitment, training, testing, and monitoring. Refer to their website for detailed information about this project.
  

Factor language assistance costs into your budget and planning process and include interpreter and translator costs in grant applications and contracts.

C. Working with LEP Individuals

Create convenient and accessible points of entry for the largest language minority communities, such as a dedicated telephone number for ish speakers.

Such a telephone number could be connected to community outreach units of courts and police departments and other organizations serving many different language groups.

Alternatively, provide a recorded message in the most-commonly-spoken languages in your service area, explaining how callers can access the services you provide and receive language assistance if necessary. Post this phone number where the target community congregates.
Be sure to provide a mechanism to enable LEP callers to access emergency services in the event that they are calling regarding an urgent situation. Courts and other agencies may also want to consider mechanisms to enable LEP callers to immediately access the services most often requested, such as information from the court clerk's office. Don't make assumptions regarding an individual's first language.

For example, a Native American from primarily ish-speaking Guatemala may not necessarily speak ish. His or her language may be altogether different.
Make language identification flashcards (also known as "I Speak _______" cards) available to LEP individuals, so that they can identify their native languages for you.

The U.S. Census Bureau's version of these cards is available on www.lep.gov. Simply show these cards to LEP individuals in order to determine native language, but account for the fact that the LEP beneficiary may be illiterate.

Other federal agencies, such as the Social Security Administration (SSA), have similar tools. The SSA has forms available to LEP beneficiaries in 15 languages. Access them by visiting their website . Consider providing language assistance, even when you think an individual's English is "probably good enough."
It is easy to overestimate the LEP person's English language skills, particularly if he or she appears to understand you.
Also a person may not be LEP in some contexts, but may be LEP in others (e.g., a person who can ask for simple directions in English may not be sufficiently proficient to answer police interrogation questions). When working through an interpreter, use short simple sentences that are free of idioms. Avoid compound phrases, double negatives, rambling phrases, colloquialisms, etc.  
Examples of bad questions include: "You didn't say you wouldn't go there, did you?" or, "And then, although you knew it was wrong, you didn't, although you could have, stop him from what everyone knew was a mistake?"  Want more info?

Check out the many resources at the website of the Interpreters' Office for the United States District Court, Southern District of New York, also available through www.lep.gov.

Always address the LEP individual in the first person and look at that individual (not the interpreter) during questioning. 

Be aware that excluding an LEP person during long conversations with English-speaking individuals can sometimes convey negative messages. Wait until an interpreter or bilingual individual can be present to explain the communication to the LEP person and enable his or her participation.

Otherwise, the LEP individual may construe such communication as an indication of bias.

Be creative in asking questions of the LEP individual - you may have to ask the same question several ways before eliciting a response. Don't expect your interpreter to "fill in the blanks."

Don't overlook and don't overestimate the power of pictures.

While not a substitute for a live interpreter, posting universal signs/symbols can help enormously in temporarily bridging communication gaps in a cost-effective fashion while awaiting the arrival of an interpreter or competent bilingual staffer (e.g., a picture of a person with a beard and one without might help get a quick description of a fleeing suspect while an interpreter is being contacted, but may lead police down the wrong path if more information is not obtained in a timely fashion).

Over-reliance on pictures in complex, sensitive, or critical information exchanges can lead to a breakdown in communication.

Recognize the different modes of interpretation, and the contexts in which each is appropriate.

Simultaneous Interpretation - A speaker (judge, lawyer, conference presenter, trainer, etc.) speaks in one language, while an interpreter simultaneously interprets what is being said into the LEP person's or audience's first language.

Example: During a court proceeding, an interpreter sits next to the LEP defendant at the defense table and simultaneously interprets from English into the LEP person's language (either by whispering or using interpreting equipment) everything that is being said by lawyers, judges, and witnesses in the courtroom, so the proceeding can continue uninterrupted and the LEP person can follow what is being said.

Consecutive Interpretation - The speaker (judge, lawyer, intake worker, police officer, etc.) makes a statement or asks a question, pauses, and then the interpreter renders what was said in the LEP person's first language.

Example: During an interrogation, a police officer asks a question, the interpreter interprets the question, the LEP person answers the question in his or her first language, and the interpreter interprets the answer back to the officer in English. Consecutively interpreted sessions are of longer duration than when simultaneous interpretation is used.

Sight Translation - On-the-spot oral translation of a document.

Example: A document must be understood and signed by an LEP person before she can receive services from an organization that represents domestic violence victims, but the LEP person cannot read the document because it is in English. The interpreter translates the content of the document aloud into the LEP person's first language.

Consider and plan for the possibility that an LEP person may also have a disability.

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D. Ensuring Quality Control

Bilingual staff and community members often do not have the training and expertise of professional interpreters and translators. Provide staff and others with training or arrange for bilingual employees or community members to attend interpreter training courses and to participate in opportunities to improve their language skills. Incorporate interpreter certification and evaluation exams into your LEP plan for those staff used as interpreters . In addition, evaluate and monitor language skills of bilingual staff used to provide direct service in a non-English language or to translate documents

Consult APALRC's Legal Interpreter Project, mentioned in Section B (6)above. This program is designed to enable community-based organizations to train bilingual individuals to perform basic interpretation tasks through cost-effective means. Visit their website .

Do not make assumptions about the language skills of your bilingual staffperson, or even your interpreter/translator, regardless of apparent qualifications.

When obtaining translations, strongly consider having a "second-check" system.

It is more expensive to go back and fix a published document than to expend the resources to get it right the first time. Even excellent translators can benefit from the input of others.

Where time allows, consider having representatives of LEP groups also look at professional translations to ensure that they are "readable."

Before going to the presses, be sure to note the direction in which the language reads.

Put the name of the language, in English, somewhere on the document for ready identification.

Learn more about your interpreter or translator's background before deciding to use that person's services, if time permits.

Some background questions you might consider asking anyone providing language assistance include:

Are you a practicing interpreter or translator?

Where did you obtain your language skills (both English and the other language)? Will you be able to understand and be understood by the LEP person, who is from _____, or might there be a dialect or geography-based language barrier?

Example: A Spanish-speaker from Latin America may have some difficulty understanding some vocabulary or pronunciation of a ish-speaker from Spain and vice versa.

Example: A person who speaks "White" Hmong may have some difficulty understanding "Green/Blue" Hmong.

How long have you been a practicing interpreter/translator?

If not a practicing interpreter/translator, have you interpreted/translated before and, if so, in what situations?

What specialized training have you received, or are you self-taught?

Are you certified by and/or an active member of any interpreter/translator association?

[For spoken interpretation only] Are you able to perform simultaneous interpretation (technique where the interpreter interprets at the same time as the speaker)? Are you able to do consecutive interpretation (where there is a pause between language conversions)?

Do you know (the LEP individual)? Have you ever seen him or her before?

What will you do if you don't understand something that [the LEP individual] has said/written?

What will you do if you believe you have interpreted/translated something inaccurately?

Do you receive continuing education?

Do you specialize in law enforcement, medical, educational, or some other type of interpretation (oral) or translation (written)?  

Do you have any background issues I should know about? (Be sure to check!)

If appropriate, give the individual providing language assistance relevant background information. For instance, consider providing:

The LEP individual's name and native country and town;

The LEP individual's educational level, if known;

The LEP individual's ability to read and write, if relevant;

Any speech or other particularities, including the LEP individual's use of slang words, names, or other common words;

Information necessary to check for potential conflicts that the interpreter may have, as appropriate.

Make sure that the person providing language services understands his/her ethical obligations.

Professional interpreters are required to adhere to a code of ethics emphasizing confidentiality; impartiality; accuracy; avoidance of a conflict of interest; abstinence from communication with the LEP person beyond that which is necessary to carry out professional duties; and no adding to, editing, summarizing, or embellishing the LEP person's statement.

Ensure that the parties understand each other.

For instance, does the individual providing language services understand the LEP person and vice versa? Do you and the individual providing language services understand each other?

You might consider asking a question that requires more than a "yes" or "no" answer and, as appropriate, one to which you know the answer, so that you can determine if effective communication is going on.

Make sure that the LEP individual is comfortable with the person providing language services.

Do the interpreter and the LEP individual seem to know each other?

Do they come from traditionally adversarial communities? (This should ideally be determined before a face-to-face meeting between the interpreter and the LEP individual.)

Is there any affinity between the interpreter or translator and a party who opposes your LEP individual's interests (e.g., if your LEP individual is a victim of domestic violence, is the interpreter somehow aligned with the batterer)?

Instruct the person providing language services and the LEP individual to avoid having long dialogues between interpretations.

When dealing with professional interpretation services
(telephonic or in-person), be sure to ask the following additional questions, and to include appropriate terms in any contractual agreement regarding the services and qualifications of the interpreters:

Is the interpreter familiar with specialized terminology used in your field (e.g., American legal concepts such as Miranda warnings)?

Does the interpreter have experience in the particular field (e.g., legal, medical, or other interpreting)? How much experience does he/she have?

What is the cost? When entering into a contract with a telephonic interpretation service or professional interpretation/translation company, can the company offer services in a sufficient number of languages to justify the cost?

Are the interpreters familiar with both formal language and colloquialisms/street slang? Are the interpreters familiar enough with the community to be able to interpret effectively? People may share a single language, but speak it very differently.

What is the connection time necessary for telephonic interpretation? Is it swift enough for your purposes?

Ensure that the person providing language services answers all questions in the first person, as if he/she were the LEP person. 

Want more info on quality control?

• An self assessment tool that agencies can use to determine the quality of their language assistance contractors is available at www.lep.gov
  
• Also check out the website of the Interpreters' Office for the United States District Court, Southern District of New York, one of the sources for the tips above. This site can also be accessed through www.lep.gov.
  
• The American Translation Association has a guide to buying translations entitled: "Translation: Getting it Right." Contact the ATA at 225 Reinekers Lane, Suite 590, Alexandria, VA 22314 (703) 683-6100; at their website; e-mail: ata@atanet.org.
  
• Learn more about interpreter and translator standards in legal and quasi-legal settings from The National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators (NAJIT) at www.najit.org.
  
• Consult the DOJ LEP Guidance at pages 41461 to 41464, for guidance on assuring quality control in interpretation and translation.

E. Conducting Outreach

Form alliances with community-based organizations that serve your various language communities. Such alliances can promote referrals and sharing of expertise, and spread awareness about assistance available to affected LEP community members.

Consider including representatives of such organizations on an LEP "advisory committee" to ensure ready access to resources, assistance, and feedback.

Want more info?

• Refer to the TAPESTRI feature box in Chapter 4 (Domestic Violence Service Providers and Specialists).
  
• For more information on building programs that link and train community interpreters with agencies needing interpreters, see Section B (6), above.

Distribute important information at temples, mosques, churches, synagogues, ethnic shopping centers, and other gathering places for non-native English speakers in your community.

Religious and ethnic organizations maintain their own internal communications networks for their members, and often serve as safe and familiar cultural havens for speakers of various languages. A community relations officer may, for example, attend an on-site intake or legal clinic conducted in partnership with a legal service organization. 

Want more info?

Consult the self assesment tool for suggestions on outreach and providing notice of your services to LEP persons. 

Consider downloading and distributing the LEP "Know Your Rights" brochure, soon to be available in several languages, from www.lep.gov.

Consider partnering with media outlets (private television/radio stations and print media, ethnic and foreign language media) to develop feature stories, public service announcements, and dramatizations to deliver important information to non-English speakers in your community.

Some entities, such as courts and law enforcement agencies, have produced educational videos and other tools.

COR recently developed a LEP video. Call COR at (202) 307-2222 for a copy.

Want more info?

Consult the self assessment tool for suggestions on communicating information about your services through ethnic media outlets.
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Chapter 2: Tips and Tools Specific to 911 Call Centers

The three-digit telephone number, "9-1-1," is the designated nationwide emergency telephone number for all individuals throughout the United States to request emergency assistance. The number enables fast and easy access to a centralized public safety answering point that can dispatch emergency services, including police, fire department, and emergency medical services. By virtue of the context in which emergencies arise, accessing emergency services takes place in a stressful environment ripe for mis-communication. The trained 911 call-takers and dispatchers must be able to accomplish their mission despite this high stress. Their task is easily compounded if the caller: (1) is wary of government because of unpleasant interactions with the government in his/her country of origin or here; and/or (2) has no familiarity with a government that provides a benevolent or helpful public service. When a caller has a limited ability to speak or understand English, the vital nature of the call presents a new and critical challenge.

Many of the general tips and tools set forth in Chapter 1 apply to 911 call centers as well. The following are our additional recommendations specific to making 911 services more effective and accessible to LEP communities. These recommendations are based on our general survey of practices that many 911 call centers - including Miami, FL; Prince George's County, MD; Allentown, PA; Fairfax, VA; Oakland, CA; and others - use to communicate with callers who are LEP. LEP coordinators and decision-makers for 911 call centers should also consult the DOJ LEP Guidance.

A. Identifying Need and Setting Policy

Formulate a written policy/procedure for communicating with LEP callers.

911 centers should have written procedures on communicating with LEP callers as part of standard operating procedures for call-takers and dispatchers. Such written procedures should specifically address the process for connecting to the 911 center's telephonic interpretation service or to the appropriate in-house bilingual staff.

Issue a Directive on the Importance of Communication with LEP callers.

In order for any written policy/procedure for communicating with LEP callers to be effective, the head of the 911 center should inform all staff of the vital nature of 911 services to LEP callers and the importance of effective communication to the mission of the call center.

See Section A in Chapter 1, General Tips and Tools, for an in-depth discussion of how to assess your LEP needs and create a plan to address those needs.

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B. Accessing Language Resources

Employ In-House Bilingual Staff. 

Use bilingual staff to communicate with LEP callers.

Assess the language demographics within the call center's jurisdiction in order to identify hiring needs for bilingual call takers and dispatchers.

Advertise for bilingual call takers and dispatchers in ethnic newspapers.

Consider giving incentives or bonuses for language skills to recruit bilingual call takers and dispatchers.

Ensure that bilingual staff are available for each shift, to allow for 24-hour language assistance. Have a telephonic interpretation service as a back-up to live personnel.

Monitor quality control, as discussed below, and provide bilingual staffers/dispatchers with ongoing training opportunities.

Some 911 centers that have neither bilingual staff nor a contract with a telephonic interpretation service, communicate with LEP callers by accessing a city or county-wide language bank consisting of city or county employees who are bilingual.

When bilingual operators are not available, contract with one of the several available telephonic interpretation services.

Some centers rely solely on telephonic interpretation services, while other centers use these services only when the caller's language is not recognized as one spoken by in-house staff or when sufficient in-house staff is not available.

Typically, under such systems, when a call-taker receives a call from an LEP individual and recognizes the foreign language, the call-taker places the individual on "hold" and contacts the interpretation service, usually through a speed dial button that connects the call-taker directly to the interpretation service. The call-taker asks for the appropriate language interpreter and, once the interpreter is available, the call-taker then connects the LEP individual to the call, so that there is a three-way call between the call-taker, the LEP individual, and the interpreter. 

Where the foreign language spoken is unrecognizable, the call-taker places the LEP caller on "hold," and contacts the interpretation service for help in determining the language. Generally, interpretation services employ trained professionals who have expertise in determining the language of the LEP caller. When the 911 call-taker informs the interpretation service that he or she cannot identify the caller's language, the interpretation service representative, who is trained to recognize languages, identifies the language and connects the call-taker to the proper interpreter. Once this occurs, the call-taker connects the LEP individual to the call, so that there is a three-way call between the call-taker, the LEP individual, and the interpreter.  

Assess your LEP needs by having a general understanding of the most frequently encountered languages within the call center's jurisdiction.

Because of the critical nature of 911 emergency calls, it is advisable to use a telephonic interpretation service that has trained its interpreters in the handling of 911 calls. This can be negotiated as a contract term.

Some municipalities finance telephonic interpretation contracts with an emergency service fee that all city/county residents pay towards emergency services.

See Section B in Chapter 1, General Tips and Tools, for more information on how to access language resources in your area.
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C. Working With LEP Callers

Pay careful attention to potential problems created when an LEP caller is placed on "hold," or when there is a delay in responding while the 911 call-taker quickly obtains language services.

Train employees to obtain appropriate language services swiftly. Practice doing so to keep call takers sharp, particularly when LEP call volume is low.

Make sure your call-taker knows how to say "please hold" or another appropriate phrase in the most frequently encountered languages in your service area. Some telephonic interpretation services provide material on how to say "please hold" phonetically in several different languages.

Consider using music or some other appropriate "hold" message or sound so that the LEP caller knows not to hang up.

If the caller hangs up and you have the phone number of the caller, call back with the language service provider on the line as quickly as possible.

See Section C in Chapter 1, General Tips and Tools, for more information on working with LEP individuals.

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D. Ensuring Quality Control 

Adopt and employ standards and quality control measures to assure an appropriate level of linguistic competency. 

Test bilingual job applicants on their language skills, preferably under 911 simulated conditions, which are different from ordinary conversations in content, cadence, and emotional intensity.

Test for demonstrated proficiency in English and the foreign language, the ability to convey accurate renditions back-and-forth in each language, and familiarity in both languages with specialized terms or concepts used in emergency situations.

Where feasible, evaluate bilingual competency through city-wide testing of all city employees. 

Assess the efficacy of your language services by monitoring and by obtaining feedback from the community and from dispatch units.

Randomly review non-English language calls to ensure that bilingual staff and telephonic interpreters can communicate effectively with LEP callers.

Standards for dispatching units.

Have dispatchers inform the emergency response entity (police, fire department, or emergency medical services) that the caller is LEP and specify the caller's language. The emergency responders should also have language assistance measures in place to interact effectively with the LEP individual once they arrive on the scene of the emergency.

See section featuring the Miami 911 call center at the end of this chapter.

See Section D in Chapter 1, General Tips and Tools, for more information on ensuring quality control measures and checks.
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E. Conducting Outreach

Create and distribute brochures in various languages about your services.

Brochures typically contain basic instructions for LEP individuals about what to do when making a 911 call (i.e., identifying their language, name and address, and type of emergency service required such as police, fire, or ambulance).

Make and maintain contact with various language minority communities through traditional community relations activities - reaching out to schools, attending meetings of fraternal and social organizations, having a presence at ethnic fairs and celebrations, providing information through libraries and places of worship, and identifying several individuals or organizations that serve as primary contacts and "points of entry" into the language community.

Make contacts in migrant worker communities, since such populations also include potential crime victims, litigants, and witnesses.

In order to conduct outreach to the migrant worker community, consider developing language cards with instructions on using the 911 system targeted at migrant workers and others who may not routinely call 911 in emergency situations.

Laundromats and ethnic markets can be effective locations for posting and distributing outreach information.

Partner with ethnic and other media outlets to deliver important information to LEP community members.

See the description of "Project Echo," a media campaign in Minnesota aimed at providing timely emergency information to LEP individuals, at the end of this chapter.

• See Section E in Chapter 1, General Tips and Tools, for more ideas on how to conduct effective outreach to your community and service area.

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FEATURED

The Miami, Florida 911 Call Center: Responding to Need

The City of Miami, Florida call center serves a large number of LEP individuals, and provides a good example of the types of options available to call centers.

According to Census 2000 data, 47.1% of the population of Miami speaks English less than "very well." The majority of these individuals are ish speakers, followed by Creole speakers. These demographics highlight the need for the Miami Police Department's 911 system to ensure that emergency assistance services to Miami's LEP population are meaningfully accessible.

Miami's call center employs at least 20 bilingual call-takers and dispatchers, four of whom are bilingual Creole speakers and the rest of whom are bilingual ish speakers. There are at least two bilingual ish speaking call-takers on duty 24 hours a day because of the frequency of calls by ish-speaking LEP callers. One of those call-takers screens and handles emergency calls and the other handles non-emergency calls. Miami also has a contract with a telephonic interpretation service to ensure that callers who speak languages other than ish and Creole will also have access to emergency assistance services and to handle interpretation for additional calls when volume is high.

In addition to the language assistance measures discussed above, Miami has taken steps to ensure that the continuum of language assistance does not end when the call-taker and LEP individual conclude their call. When the dispatcher contacts the first or second responders (police officers, fire department personnel, or emergency medical services technicians) to send them to the location of the emergency, the dispatcher also informs them of the language needs of the LEP individual so that the first/second responders include personnel who speak the LEP individual's language. This enables the first/second responders to assist the LEP individual more efficiently and effectively by ensuring that language will not be an impediment to receiving immediate emergency assistance.

Contact: Major Hector F. Martinez
Communications Section
City of Miami Police Department Miami, FL (305) 579-6130 hectormartinez@miami-police.org

FEATURED

Project ECHO: A Focus on Outreach and Emergency Preparedness

Emergency preparedness raises a host of challenges beyond 911 calls, and LEP communities should be taken into consideration as strategies are developed and updated. Project ECHO (Emergency and Community Health Outreach), in St. Paul, Minnesota, has done just that by creating emergency preparedness in and among the diverse language communities that comprise a large portion of St. Paul. ECHO uses emergency simulcasting on public TV and radio stations to provide timely emergency information to LEP individuals. ECHO's overall goal is to change the viewing behavior of LEP populations by getting them to turn to public television and radio for emergency information. ECHO plans to provide critical information to LEP individuals during an emergency (e.g., disease outbreak, chemical spills, weather, terrorism), and identify public television as a reliable source of emergency information.

ECHO will initiate the process with monthly broadcasts, scheduled to air on September 19, 2004. Broadcasts include an 18-minute segment in six different languages -- Hmong, Khmer, Lao, Somali, ish, and Vietnamese. Each broadcast will focus on a particular theme or issue; provide background on the issue including an interview with an expert from the particular LEP population; and will serve as an open forum, using culturally appropriate messages to reach the intended audience for each language. Subject matters scheduled for broadcast include influenza education, mental health issues, and fire and carbon monoxide safety, among others. ECHO has settled on public television as its primary outlet for community outreach because of its availability to people who don't have cable access and because it has the potential to reach a broad LEP audience. The launch date for ECHO's website is September 19, 2004.

Contact: Lillian McDonald
Public Information Officer & ECHO Chair
Saint Paul - Ramsey County Public Health
50 West Kellog Blvd., Suite 930W St. Paul, MN 55102
Phone: (651) 266-2537

Lillian.McDonald@co.ramsey.mn.us

Chapter 3: Tips and Tools Specific to Law Enforcement Agencies

Law enforcement personnel have contact with the public in a variety of ways. Officers meet members of the public when conducting routine patrol, responding to requests for services or assistance, interviewing witnesses or victims, or attending community outreach activities. While this section does not purport to address every type of law enforcement interaction, it does survey strategies used by law enforcement to communicate with LEP individuals in the most common situations.

Appendix A of the DOJ LEP Guidance for recipients discusses five areas of potential contact with LEP individuals:
A. Receiving and responding to requests for assistance;
B. Enforcement stops short of arrest and field investigations;
C. Custodial interrogations;
D. Intake/detention; and
E. Community outreach.
See 67 Fed. Reg. 41468-69, DOJ LEP Guidance .

Chapter 1 of this document, as well as the DOJ LEP Guidance (including Appendix A of that Guidance, which provides examples in the law enforcement context), should be consulted for a broader description of the ways in which meaningful language access can be assured.
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A. Assessing Need and Setting Policy

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Study your community to identify LEP populations, set policies, and implement strategies to ensure effective communication.

Always validate projections based on demographic data against program experience based on the observations of your staff and input from the community.

Want more info?

The Summit County/Lorain, Ohio Model LEP Policies and Procedures Committee, highlighted in the box at the end of this section, is an example of one group using its collective eyes and ears to assess the "real world" LEP populations encountered by law enforcement. Contact Isabel Framer, certified interpreter and one of the co-chairs of the Committee, at isainterp@aol.com.

Include all stakeholders, including community groups and staff representatives, in your planning process for language access.

Distribute your LEP plan to all staff likely to encounter LEP individuals on the job.

Include a list of resources and contact numbers for staff to easily access language services on the job, discussed in more detail in Section C of this chapter.

See Section A in Chapter 1, General Tips and Tools, for an in-depth discussion of how to assess your LEP needs and create a plan to address those needs.

B. Identifying Language Resources

Consider recruiting bilingual staff and establishing programs/training to enhance the language capabilities of existing bilingual or monolingual staff.

Attracting bilingual staff may require strategic plans and aggressive recruitment.

When hiring and training bilingual officers or other staff, account for dialects spoken, language nuances, and cultural diversity in your community.

Training in basic, everyday expressions in another language can be very helpful. For instance, simple greetings and social language skills can help enormously in setting witnesses, victims, and community groups at ease and building a bridge of trust. In addition, providing language training to officers can be a useful tool to enable them to give simple commands and respond to common inquiries. However, such basic training does not substitute for the language skills necessary to decipher and express more complicated concepts, nor does it substitute for the skills necessary to engage in important communication, especially communication with potentially serious consequences.

Various universities and other organizations have created electronic tools to supplement in-person language training. The University of Texas at Arlington, Center for Distance Education, for instance, has digitized and made "internet accessible" a state-developed course on "ish for Law Enforcement." The Center for Distance Education is developing an online program that gives audio and visual cues; gives cultural training (e.g., teaches officers about how much personal space is the norm in various cultures); and uses workplace-specific scripts and street vocabulary

Want more info?

Contact the Center for Distance Education, The University of Texas at Arlington, Box 19027, Arlington, Texas 76019-0027. Voice (817) 272-5727; Voice (Toll Free) (888) 882-3478; Fax (817) 272-5728.

Bilingual Handbooks, glossaries and dictionaries online or in hard copy, should be made available to bilingual and other staff.
Contact Virginia Benmaman, benmamanv@cofc.edu, Director of the Master of Arts Bilingual Legal Interpreting program at the College of Charleston. Dr. Benmaman is the author of a "Bilingual Handbook for Public Safety Professionals" in English and Spanish.