Full Text of SB0223 98th General Assembly
SB0223sam001 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY | Sen. Iris Y. Martinez Filed: 4/3/2014
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| 1 | | AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 223
| 2 | | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 223 by replacing | 3 | | everything after the enacting clause with the following:
| 4 | | "Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the | 5 | | Language Access Act. | 6 | | Section 5. Findings and purpose.
| 7 | | (a) The General Assembly finds:
| 8 | | (1) language barriers continue to impede limited | 9 | | English proficient persons in this State from fully | 10 | | participating in State programs and services; | 11 | | (2) 22.7% of the population in this State speak a | 12 | | language other than English at home;
| 13 | | (3) more than half of those who speak a language other | 14 | | than English at home are Spanish language speakers; and
| 15 | | (4) of the 22.7% of Illinoisans who reportedly speak a | 16 | | language other than English at home, 22% speak English |
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| 1 | | either "not well" or "not at all".
| 2 | | (b) It is the intent of the General Assembly to: | 3 | | (1) ensure that limited English proficient persons in | 4 | | this State are provided meaningful access to State | 5 | | programs, services, and information; | 6 | | (2) ensure that every agency and recipient of State | 7 | | funds provides linguistic access to limited English | 8 | | proficient individuals; | 9 | | (3) ensure that State-conducted and funded programs, | 10 | | services, and activities provide limited English | 11 | | proficient persons with equitable access; | 12 | | (4) increase access to State benefits and programs; | 13 | | (5) improve efficiency in the provision of benefits and | 14 | | services; | 15 | | (6) enhance and ensure appropriate resource | 16 | | utilization; and | 17 | | (7) improve access to State benefits, programs, and | 18 | | services to vulnerable populations.
| 19 | | Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act:
| 20 | | "Agency" means all State government agencies, | 21 | | constitutional offices, boards, and commissions, and all | 22 | | recipients of State general revenue funds, including, but not | 23 | | limited to, all agencies, organizations, and persons receiving | 24 | | State funding in order to provide a program or service and lead | 25 | | an activity. |
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| 1 | | "Bilingual" means a person who has some degree of | 2 | | proficiency in 2 languages. | 3 | | "Customer" or "client" means any person seeking to access | 4 | | agency programs, services, activities, or information. | 5 | | "Interpreter" means an individual who renders a message | 6 | | spoken or signed in one language into a second language and who | 7 | | abides by a code of professional ethics. "Interpreter" includes | 8 | | any of the following: | 9 | | (1) "Ad hoc interpreter" means an untrained individual | 10 | | who is called upon to interpret, such as a family member | 11 | | interpreting for his or her parents, a bilingual staff | 12 | | member pulled away from other duties to interpret, or a | 13 | | self-declared bilingual who volunteers to interpret. "Ad | 14 | | hoc interpreter" may also be referred to as a chance | 15 | | interpreter or lay interpreter. | 16 | | (2) "Bilingual worker/employee" means an employee who | 17 | | is a proficient speaker of two languages and who may | 18 | | provide direct services in both languages but who, without | 19 | | additional training, is not qualified to serve as an | 20 | | interpreter. | 21 | | (3) "Dual-role interpreter" means a bilingual employee | 22 | | who has been tested for language skills and trained as an | 23 | | interpreter and who assumes the task of part-time | 24 | | interpreting willingly. | 25 | | "Interpreting" means any of the following:
| 26 | | (1) "Community interpreting" means interpreting that |
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| 1 | | takes place in the course of communication in the local | 2 | | community among speakers of different languages. A | 3 | | "community interpreter" may or may not be a trained | 4 | | interpreter. "Community" settings include schools, social | 5 | | service agencies, clinics, legal services, and businesses | 6 | | that serve a diverse clientele. | 7 | | (2) "Face-to-face interpreting" means interpreting in | 8 | | which the interpreter is present, in person, and with both, | 9 | | or a least one, of the persons for whom interpreting is | 10 | | provided. | 11 | | (3) "Telephone interpreting" or "telephonic | 12 | | interpreting" means interpreting carried out remotely, | 13 | | with the interpreter providing the service connected by | 14 | | telephone to the principal parties, typically provided | 15 | | through a speaker phone or headsets. | 16 | | "Language" means a manner of communication utilized by one | 17 | | person to communicate with another person.
| 18 | | "Language access services" (LAS) means mechanisms used to | 19 | | facilitate communication with individuals who do not speak | 20 | | English, those who have limited English proficiency, and those | 21 | | who are deaf or hard of hearing. These services may include, | 22 | | but are not limited to, in-person interpreters, bilingual | 23 | | staff, or remote interpreting systems, such as telephone or | 24 | | video interpreting. "Language access services" also refer to | 25 | | processes in place to provide translation of written materials | 26 | | or signage, sign language, or Braille materials. |
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| 1 | | "Limited English proficient" (LEP) means a level of English | 2 | | proficiency that is insufficient to ensure equal access to | 3 | | public services without language assistance with respect to a | 4 | | particular type of service, benefit, or encounter. An LEP | 5 | | person does not speak English as his or her primary language | 6 | | and has limited ability to read, write, speak, or understand | 7 | | English. | 8 | | "Meaningful access" means when agencies and their | 9 | | contractors and subcontractors take reasonable steps to ensure | 10 | | programs and services normally provided in English are | 11 | | accessible to LEP persons and thus do not discriminate on the | 12 | | basis of national origin in violation of the prohibition | 13 | | against national origin discrimination under Title VI of the | 14 | | Civil Rights Act of 1964. Compliance involves the balancing of | 15 | | 4 factors: (1) the number and proportion of eligible LEP | 16 | | customers; (2) the frequency of contact with LEP customers; (3) | 17 | | the importance or impact of the contact upon the lives of the | 18 | | person served; and (4) the resources available to the | 19 | | organization. This 4-factor LEP analysis may be applied to the | 20 | | different types of programs or activities that each agency | 21 | | provides to determine the level of language assistance measures | 22 | | sufficient to assure full compliance or to demonstrate | 23 | | reasonable efforts. | 24 | | "Person" means any individual, corporation, partnership, | 25 | | firm, organization, or association acting individually or as a | 26 | | group.
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| 1 | | "Reasonable steps" means steps taken to provide language | 2 | | access to LEP persons in agreement with this Act and in | 3 | | compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
| 4 | | "Staff" means the group of individuals formally affiliated | 5 | | with an institution, including paid employees, contractors, | 6 | | sub-contractors, and unpaid volunteers.
| 7 | | "State" means the State of Illinois.
| 8 | | "Translation services" means the conversion of a written | 9 | | text into a corresponding written text in a different language.
| 10 | | Section 15. State-conducted programs and activities. | 11 | | (a) Each agency shall prepare an LAS Plan that shall | 12 | | improve access to its State-conducted programs and activities | 13 | | for eligible LEP persons.
| 14 | | (b) Each agency LAS Plan shall include the steps the agency | 15 | | will take to ensure eligible LEP persons can meaningfully | 16 | | access the agency's programs and activities. | 17 | | (c) Agencies shall develop and begin to implement LAS Plans | 18 | | within 120 days of the effective date of this Act and shall | 19 | | send copies of their LAS Plans to the Illinois Latino Family | 20 | | Commission, which shall serve as the central repository of the | 21 | | agencies' LAS Plans.
| 22 | | (d) Each agency that already has developed a LAS Plan shall | 23 | | examine their existing guidelines, as well as their programs | 24 | | and activities, to determine if additional guidelines are | 25 | | necessary to comply with this Act. The Illinois Latino Family |
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| 1 | | Commission shall consult with the agencies in creating their | 2 | | guidelines. Within 120 days of the effective date of this Act, | 3 | | each agency shall submit its specific guidelines to the | 4 | | Illinois Latino Family Commission for review and approval.
| 5 | | (e) Agency LAS Plans shall provide: | 6 | | (1) A 4-factor meaningful access assessment that shall | 7 | | include:
| 8 | | (A) the number or proportion of LEP persons | 9 | | eligible to be served or likely to be encountered by | 10 | | the program or agency; | 11 | | (B) the frequency with which LEP individuals come | 12 | | into contact with the program;
| 13 | | (C) the nature and importance of the program, | 14 | | activity, or service provided by the recipient to its | 15 | | beneficiaries; and
| 16 | | (D) the resources available to the agency and the | 17 | | costs of interpretation and translation services.
| 18 | | (2) A language needs assessment tool based on the | 19 | | 4-factor analysis to establish: | 20 | | (A) a systemic protocol of data collection; and | 21 | | (B) tracking of languages served and eligible to be | 22 | | served. | 23 | | (3) All print materials, Internet website language, | 24 | | and other mechanisms or forms that shall be used by the | 25 | | agency to provide notice to persons of the agency's LAS | 26 | | Plan. |
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| 1 | | (4) Agency compliance with Sections 25 and 30 of this | 2 | | Act. | 3 | | (f) Each agency shall file its LAS Plan Status Report with | 4 | | the Illinois Latino Family Commission on an annual basis. The | 5 | | first Status Report shall be filed by each agency on or before | 6 | | May 31, 2015, and on or before every May 31 thereafter. | 7 | | Section 20. State-assisted programs and activities.
| 8 | | (a) Each agency providing State financial assistance and | 9 | | each agency contracted by the State to provide services shall | 10 | | prepare an LAS Plan that shall be specifically tailored to its | 11 | | LEP clients and is consistent with the LEP Guidelines in this | 12 | | Act, as well as with rules adopted pursuant to this Act. | 13 | | (b) Each agency LAS Plan shall include the steps the agency | 14 | | will take to ensure eligible LEP persons can meaningfully | 15 | | access the agency's programs and activities. | 16 | | (c) Each agency shall develop and begin to implement their | 17 | | LAS Plans within 120 days of the effective date of this Act and | 18 | | shall send copies of their LAS Plans to the Illinois Latino | 19 | | Family Commission, which shall serve as the central repository | 20 | | of the agencies' LAS Plans. | 21 | | (d) Agency LAS Plans shall include: | 22 | | (1) the number or proportion of LEP persons eligible to | 23 | | be served or likely to be encountered by the program or | 24 | | grantee; | 25 | | (2) the frequency with which LEP persons come into |
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| 1 | | contact with the program; | 2 | | (3) the nature and importance of the program, activity, | 3 | | or service provided by the recipient to its beneficiaries; | 4 | | (4) the resources available to the grantee or recipient | 5 | | and the costs of interpretation and translation services; | 6 | | (5) a language needs assessment tool based on the | 7 | | 4-factor analysis to establish a systemic protocol of data | 8 | | collection and tracking of languages served and eligible to | 9 | | be served; and | 10 | | (6) all print materials, Internet website language, | 11 | | and other mechanisms or forms that shall be used by the | 12 | | agency to provide notice to persons of the agency's LAS | 13 | | Plan. | 14 | | (e) Each agency shall file its LAS Plan Status Report with | 15 | | the Illinois Latino Family Commission on an annual basis. The | 16 | | first Status Report shall be filed by each agency on or before | 17 | | May 31, 2015, and on or before every May 31 thereafter.
| 18 | | Section 25. Staffing of State-conducted programs.
| 19 | | (a) Agencies shall have minimum bilingual staffing levels | 20 | | and requirements. | 21 | | (1) For agency staff with a 15% or more LEP person | 22 | | caseload, the position shall be designated "bilingual". A | 23 | | position designated "bilingual" shall not be filled by a | 24 | | monolingual staff person. A reclassification of staff | 25 | | positions from "bilingual" to "monolingual" shall require |
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| 1 | | the approval of the Governor's Office of New Americans.
| 2 | | (2) Each agency shall assess language proficiency | 3 | | using a formal written and oral examination. The staff | 4 | | person's score in the examination shall determine | 5 | | qualified bilingual persons that can offer direct | 6 | | conversations to the LEP client. | 7 | | (b) State agencies shall provide interpreters who have | 8 | | received a minimum of 100 hours of interpreter training on | 9 | | techniques and professional standards of practice. Each State | 10 | | agency shall:
| 11 | | (1) create an internal pool of trained and qualified | 12 | | interpreters using a 100-hour curriculum; | 13 | | (2) develop and make accessible to all agency staff a | 14 | | complete and up-to-date directory of qualified | 15 | | interpreters utilized by the agency; and
| 16 | | (3) assess and build current LAS resources and provide | 17 | | a reliable method of communicating these resources to state | 18 | | agencies.
| 19 | | Section 30. Language Assistance Protocol. | 20 | | (a) Each agency shall conduct at least one annual staff | 21 | | training on the following:
| 22 | | (1) the agency's existing LAS Plans; | 23 | | (2) the agency's need to provide qualified | 24 | | interpreters to LEP clients; and
| 25 | | (3) interpreter use, including, but not limited to, |
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| 1 | | interpreter competencies, professional standards of | 2 | | practice, interpreter code of ethics, and quality of | 3 | | service. | 4 | | (b) Each agency shall assign a senior-level staff person to | 5 | | oversee implementation of the agency's LAS Plan and to monitor | 6 | | internal LAS initiatives, programs, filings, and | 7 | | communications.
| 8 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect January | 9 | | 1, 2015.".
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