Section I General Information | LEPSI-2001-MANUAL

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), as amended by the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability, in employment (Title I), by state and local governments (public entities) (Title II), and by places of public accommodation (Title III). See DOJ regulations at 28 C.F.R. 35 (Title II) and 28 C.F.R. 36 (Title III).

Auxiliary aids and services include, but are not limited to: qualified sign language interpreters, telephone handset amplifiers, assistive listening devices, closed caption decoders, real time captioning, TTY/TTD relay services for deaf and hard-of-hearing, screen reader software, Braille embossers, text to Braille converter, large print materials, alternative keyboards for individual who are blind and have low vision.

An employee who has demonstrated proficiency in speaking English and one other language.

A system of touch reading for the blind, which employs embossed dots evenly arranged in quadrangular letter spaces or cells.

A family member, friend, or associate of a constituent seeking access to a service, program, or activity of a public entity, who, along with such individual, is an appropriate person with whom the public entity should communicate.

All persons seeking or receiving assistance or services from DHS.

Covered entities include institutions, programs, and service providers receiving federal financial assistance from federal agencies such as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of Agriculture, public entities (i.e. state and local government human service agencies), and public accommodations that administer or deliver DHS programs, activities and services.

Monolingual communication in a language other than English between a multilingual staff and a constituent with LEP (e.g., Russian to Russian).

A physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of such individual, a record of such an impairment, or being regarded as having such an impairment (28 C.F.R. 35.108 and 28 C.F.R. 36.105).

Federal financial assistance means assistance that non-Federal entities receive or administer in the form of grants, contracts, loans, loan guarantees, property, cooperative agreements, food commodities, direct appropriations, or other assistance, but does not include a tax credit, deduction, or exemption.

The act of listening to communication in one language (source language) and orally converting it to another language (target language) while retaining the same meaning. Interpreting is the process of understanding and analyzing a spoken or signed message and re-expressing that message effectively, accurately, and impartially in another language, using any necessary specialized vocabulary, taking the social and cultural context into account.

Refers to the method by which a constituent communicates with another through speech, written communication or gestures and includes languages other than English.

Oral and written language services needed to assist constituents with LEP to communicate effectively with staff, to provide constituents with LEP with meaningful access, and an equal opportunity to participate fully in, the services, activities, or other programs administered by DHS.

A constituent who does not speak English as their primary language and has a limited ability to read, speak, write, or understand English. For example, a constituent with LEP may be competent in English for certain types of communication (e.g., speaking or understanding), but is still considered LEP for other purposes (e.g., reading or writing).

Meaningful access to programs and services is the standard of access required of federally funded entities to comply with language access requirements of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Meaningful access is accomplished by providing constituents with LEP with reasonable, timely, appropriate, accurate and effective language assistance services (qualified, competent interpreters and translated materials) at no charge when accessing DHS’ programs and activities. Language assistance services are meaningful when they are provided at a time and place that avoids the effective denial of the service, benefit, or right at issue or the imposition of an undue burden on or delay in important rights, benefits, or services to the constituent with LEP.

An employee who has demonstrated proficiency in speaking English and at least two other languages.

A contractor selected by DHS whose staff visits offices posing as a constituent with LEP who is seeking access to programs and services for the purpose of collecting information to assess compliance for civil right provisions.

A government-owned organization, facility,or business that provides services to the public; or a private entity that owns, leases (or leases to), or operates a place of public accommodation. Private entities that own, operate, lease, or lease to a place of public accommodation, such as a private hospital, doctor’s office, pharmacy, place of lodging, retail store, library, private school, or day care center.

(1) Any State or local government; (2) Any department, agency, special purpose district, or other instrumentality of a State or States or local government.

An interpreter who, via a video remote interpreting (VRI) service or an on-site appearance, is able to interpret effectively, accurately, and impartially, both receptively and expressively, using any necessary specialized vocabulary. Qualified interpreters include, for example, sign language interpreters, oral transliterators, and cued-language transliterators.

A qualified interpreter is a highly trained individual who mediates spoken communication between people speaking different languages without adding, omitting, or distorting meaning or editorializing. A qualified interpreter is competent to provide interpretation services at a level of fluency, comprehension, impartiality, and confidentiality appropriate to the specific nature, type, and purpose of the information at issue. Bilingual/Multilingual staff who serve as interpreters should also be competent in the skill of interpreting.

A person who is able to read effectively, accurately, and impartially using any necessary specialized vocabulary.

A highly trained individual who is able to render text from a source language into a target language while preserving meaning and adhering to generally accepted translator ethics and principles, including confidentiality.

The steps necessary to ensure meaningful access for constituent with LEP based on a self-assessment of four factors: (1) The number or proportion of LEP persons eligible to be served or likely to be encountered within the area serviced by the recipient; (2) The frequency with which LEP persons come in contact with the program or activity; (3)The nature and importance of the program, activity, or service to people’s lives; and (4) The resources available to the recipient and costs. The level of resources and the costs may have an impact on the type of language assistance provided. Smaller agencies with more limited budgets are not expected to provide the same level of language services as larger agencies with larger budgets. In addition, "reasonable costs" may become "unreasonable" where the costs substantially exceed the benefits. DHS and its subrecipients must take reasonable steps to ensure meaningful access to DHS programs and activities. Providing no assistance may result in discrimination on the basis of national origin violation of Title VI. See (DOJ) 28 C.F.R. 42; (USDA) 7 C.F.R. 15; and (HHS) 45 C.F.R. 80.

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, (29 U.S.C. § 794) prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability by recipients of federal financial assistance. See (DOJ) 28 C.F.R. Part 42; (USDA) 7 C.F.R. 15b; and (HHS) 45 C.F.R. Part 84.

Refers to constituents who have disabilities vision, hearing, or speech disabilities, such as deaf, deafened, hard of hearing, blind, low vision, or deaf/blind, and/or speech impairments.

Staff must receive and respond to calls made by persons with hearing or speech disabilities through the free nationwide telecommunications relay services (TRS), which can be reached by calling 7-1-1. Staff must respond to telephone calls from a TRS in the same manner that it responds to other telephone calls. Staff must be trained on how to receive all forms of TRS, including Text-to-Voice TTY-based TRS, Voice Carry Over, Hearing Carry Over, Speech-to-Speech Relay Service, Shared Non-English Language Relay Services, Captioned Telephone Service, IP Captioned Telephone Service, Internet Protocol Relay Service, and Video Relay Service (VRS).

Telecommunications Device for the Deaf or Teletypewriter is a device which allows conversation to take place over the telephone by sending typed messages through phone lines to the TDD/TTY screen.

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. §§ 2000d et seq.) prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin by recipients of federal financial assistance. See (DOJ) 28 C.F.R. § 42; (USDA) 7 C.F.R. § 15; and (HHS) 45 C.F.R. § 80).

The replacement of written text from one language (source language) into an equivalent written text in another language (target language).

Oral rendering of written text into spoken language by an interpreter without change in meaning based on a visual review of the original text or document.

A person who represents letters or words in the corresponding characters of another alphabet. The term is commonly used to designate a person who transcribes written documents into Braille (American Heritage Dictionary). A qualified speech-to-speech transliterator is a person trained to recognize unclear speech and repeat it clearly.

A free, subscriber-based service for constituents who use sign language and have videophones, smart phones, or computers with video communication capabilities. For outgoing calls, the subscriber contacts the VRS interpreter, who places the call and serves as an intermediary between the subscriber and a person who uses a standard voice telephone. The interpreter tells the telephone user what the subscriber is signing and signs to the subscriber what the telephone user is saying.

A fee-based interpreting service that uses video conference technology to access an off-site interpreter to provide real-time sign language or oral interpreting services for conversations between hearing constituents and constituents who are deaf or have hearing loss over dedicated lines or wireless technology offering high-speed, wide-bandwidth video connection that delivers high-quality video images. If VRI is chosen, all the regulatory performance standards must be met. See 28 C.F.R. 35.160(d)(1-4).

Paper or electronic written information and material that contains information that is critical for accessing a component’s program or activities or is required by law. Whether or not a document (or the information it solicits) is ‘‘vital’’ may depend upon the importance of the program or activity, information, encounter, service, or benefit involved, and the consequence to the constituent with LEP if the information in question is not provided accurately or in a timely manner.