The COVID pandemic should be a COLOSSAL wake-up call regarding the extreme salience of language access and being prepared in emergencies to provide information that is understandable to people who are Limited English Proficient (LEP) or deaf and hard of hearing.
The United States Department of Justice has been unequivocally clear about the imperative to provide fulsome language assistance in emergencies. Indeed, such assistance can be life preserving and lifesaving, as we saw repeatedly during the COVID crisis.
As DOJ explains:
“Recipients of federal financial assistance that provide information or services in connection with disasters must also comply with all other federal anti-discrimination provisions, including prohibitions against discrimination and specific affirmative obligations for all federally assisted activities based on disability, sex, religion, age, economic status, or familial status…
[Civil Rights Act of 1964] Title VI’s plain text and agency regulations clarify that discrimination based on race, color, or national origin (including limited English proficiency) is prohibited. Recipients of federal financial assistance are also prohibited from implementing facially-neutral policies and practices that have a disproportionate impact on protected groups. Additionally, Title VI requires recipients to ensure that LEP persons have meaningful access to programs or activities, benefits, services, and vital information. To avoid violations of federal law, recipients must ensure that their actions do not exclude individuals because of their race, color, or national origin, including limited English proficiency.
The prohibition against discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin can never be waived. Recipients of federal financial assistance engaged in emergency management activities, as well as recipients that provide emergency-related services, such as health providers and law enforcement agencies, must comply with Title VI at all times. In fact, complying with these requirements becomes even more important during emergencies and disasters in order to ensure that no one is unjustly denied the services and support they need during times of crisis, when their physical safety or well-being are often at greatest risk, and when many of the resources they might otherwise have drawn upon for support may not be available. Proper planning to comply with Title VI requirements avoids complications imposed by the exigencies of emergencies and disasters.
Emergency or disaster-related documents issued by [federally funding] recipients, including those made available on websites, are most effective when written in plain and simple English that can be translated into languages spoken by LEP individuals in the areas the recipient serves. Recipients will also find it helpful to consider the literacy levels of the populations they intend to reach and consider other communication formats such as oral and universal design graphics.”
Case in point, Seattle, Washington. According to the Seattle Medium:
“In a world rocked by a pandemic, non-English speaking immigrants came to Seattle, on work visas and to follow family already here. But life in an inflationary Seattle is not easy and language barriers and immigration status are two significant obstacles for recent arrivals trying to access social services as they establish their lives.”
Asian Counseling and Referral Services (ACRS) works to fill language assistance gaps in services provided by the State of Washington, and local governments. ACRS promotes social justice and the well-being and empowerment of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and other underserved communities – including immigrants, refugees, and American-born – by developing, providing and advocating for innovative, effective and efficient community-based multilingual and multicultural services.
Legally speaking, there should be no such gaps since state and local governments in Washington are federally funded. As a result, language and disability communication access are required by multiple federal laws, such as Title VI, Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and for health care elated services, the Affordable Care Act.
ACRS believes that the current system does not provide the legally required and socially imperative language access. As the Seattle Medium reports:
“The system provided for non-English speaking immigrants is inconsistent, which is another challenge. According to [ACRS Yong Lim] Oshie, [the program supervisor of the department of employment] many of her clients don’t get the resources they need when applying for welfare from larger social service organizations, such as the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services and the Employment and Security Department in Seattle…
Missing information is another big problem for Chinese immigrants trying to access social services in Seattle. In an informal survey of non-English speaking workers … conducted over five days, four out of five food deliverers said they didn’t know about ACRS and what it provides.
‘We should think about how to connect people to resources,’ said Peggy Liao, the language access program and policy specialist at the City of Seattle. “Many people don’t have time to really sit down and search for more information. Some of them don’t even know which keyword to put in their search engine.” Liao suggests that creating supportive communities composed only of immigrants with similar backgrounds would establish a strong bond among them, enabling them to offer mutual support and exchange information with one another.”
It is essential to learn from the pandemic and address the “gaps” in information delivery and communications so that ALL people can access correct, vital and life-saving information during natural disasters and pandemics.
DOJ provides helpful best practices and related information about how state and local governments can serve all their communities when lives are threatened.
“DOJ has developed the Tips & Tools for Reaching LEP Communities in Emergency and Disaster Preparedness, Response, and Recovery. This document is directed to state and local decision-makers, planners, and language access coordinators responsible for emergency preparedness, response, and recovery. It provides strategies for incorporating language access considerations into emergency and disaster management plans. It serves as a basic guideline for recipients to improve access for LEP communities and highlights innovative practices.
[U.S. Department of Health and Human Services] HHS has created a Checklist for Recipients of Federal Financial Assistance, which provides steps that recipients can take to address the needs of the whole community, including those who are protected from discrimination under federal civil rights laws, including Title VI. It is a brief and effective reminder of the essential steps needed to integrate these populations into emergency and disaster management programs and activities.
Recipients should assess the language needs of the service community and develop a language access plan, which is a management tool that provides an administrative blueprint for bringing the agency into compliance with language access requirements.
Such plans outline the recipient’s policies and standards for delivering services to LEP individuals and describe how the agency will implement those policies and standards, including explaining how the agency will increase its capacity to address the language service and resource needs identified in the self- assessment.
Recipients should periodically review their plans to evaluate whether changes need to be made, including addressing changing demographics of their service populations.”
© Bruce L. Adelson 2023. All Rights Reserved The material herein is educational and informational only. No legal advice is intended or conveyed.
Bruce L. Adelson, Esq., is nationally recognized for his compliance expertise. Mr. Adelson is a former U.S Department of Justice Civil Rights Division Senior Trial Attorney. Mr. Adelson is a faculty member at the Georgetown University School of Medicine and University of Pittsburgh School of Law where he teaches organizational culture, implicit bias, cultural and civil rights awareness.
Mr. Adelson’s blogs are a Bromberg exclusive.