Communicating with Persons with Limited English Skills: A "How-To" Video

Fifteen years ago, in August of 2000, President Clinton signed Executive Order 13166, “Improving Access to Services for Persons with Limited English Proficiency.”  The Executive Order made clear that federal agencies, like federally-assisted state and local governments, must ensure meaningful access for individuals with limited English proficiency (LEP).  The federal government engages with the public in a variety of ways including, but not limited to, collecting our tax returns, providing social security benefits, conducting law enforcement activities and educating the public about public health issues or how to prepare for emergencies.  We need to make sure that individuals with a limited ability to speak, read, write or understand English can communicate with federal personnel and participate in these and other federally conducted programs.  In the Civil Rights Division, we have seen first-hand, through our enforcement and litigation efforts, the severe results that can occur when LEP individuals are denied the language access services that they need.

Despite the critical need for language access, many federal agencies have faced challenges in fully implementing the mandate of Executive Order 13166.  In 2010, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report on language access efforts across the government, and highlighted the need for a more structured approach towards ensuring language access.  Following the release of the 2010 GAO report, then-Attorney General Eric Holder issued a memorandum to the heads of all federal agencies, stating, among other things: “Whether in an emergency or in the course of routine business matters, the success of government efforts to effectively communicate with members of the public depends on the widespread and nondiscriminatory availability of effective, timely, and vital information.”  The Attorney General directed agencies to “ensure that agency staff can competently identify LEP contact situations and take the necessary steps to provide meaningful access.”

Many federal agencies have heeded the Attorney General’s call to action, and in recent years, federal agencies have increased their efforts to ensure that LEP individuals have meaningful access to the services they provide.  Recently, the Civil Rights Division’s Federal Coordination and Compliance Section partnered with several other agencies and federal partners—including the Social Security Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Internal Revenue Service, the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and the Justice Department’s Community Relations Service – to create an exciting new video training series for federal employees regarding language access.  The interagency group recognized that whether we are Justice Department prosecutors, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Inspectors, FEMA field staff triaging needs after a natural disaster, SSA benefits counselors, immigration court staff or federal law enforcement, there is greater work that can be done to ensure our workforce is living up to the promise of President Clinton’s Executive Order. 

The videos consist of a series of engaging, real-life scenarios inspired by both emergency and routine events that federal government staff has faced over the years: A FEMA center in the aftermath of a disaster; a benefits counselor attempting to respond to a social security claimant’s questions; an IRS official attempting to communicate with an LEP taxpayer, and ICE agents attempting to engage with an LEP resident in a local community.  The scenarios focus on frequently asked questions:  How do you determine whether a person is LEP?  How do you identify an LEP person’s language?  What reliable language assistance options are available?  What are some dos and don’ts? 

These videos are not just useful for federal, agencies, though.  Accompanied by a series of helpful guides and resources, including demographic maps illustrating language groups across the country, tips sheets on choosing appropriate language assistance, and best practices when working with LEP individuals and interpreters, these videos are useful tools to assist us all in achieving a consistent and thoughtful language access response in the workplace.  All of these resources can be found at www.lep.gov.