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Approved December 11, 2001  <br />(D) Departments whose mission or focus is to serve the legal, investigative, and policy needs <br />of County Government in a manner that involves (and in some cases is dependent upon) <br />interactions with the public, including predictable and periodic interactions with identifiable <br />LEP. <br />(E) Departments whose mission or primary function is to exercise supervision and control over <br />special populations known to contain significant numbers of LEP individuals. <br /> <br />Criteria: <br /> <br />To determine what reasonable steps were necessary to develop a policy that provides LEP <br />persons with “meaningful access” to County programs and services a number of factors should <br />be reviewed: <br /> <br />(1) The number of or proportion of LEP persons in Orange County - Departments should look <br />at the number or proportion of LEP persons eligible to be served or encountered by the <br />recipient in carrying out its operation. The greater the number or proportion of LEP <br />persons, the more likely language services are needed; <br />(2) The frequency with which LEP individuals come in contact with the program – Departments <br />should assess, as accurately as possible, the frequency of contact with eligible LEP <br />persons. The more frequent the contact, the more need for the language service. <br />Departments should consider if with appropriate outreach to LEP persons, the frequency <br />of contacts will increase usage by the LEP group; <br />(3) The importance of the service provided by the program – Departments should consider <br />the importance of the activity, service, or program and whether the denial or delay of <br />access to service or information will have serious implication for the LEP individuals; and <br />(4) The resources available to the recipient – Department’s level of resources can impact the <br />nature of the steps it should take. Smaller departments with fewer resources are not <br />required to provide the same level of resources as the larger departments. Smaller <br />departments should combine their resources to provide meaningful access to LEP <br />populations. <br /> <br />1. Language Assistance Principle <br /> <br />Assisting LEP individual seeking direct County services or benefits, or where there is potential for <br />the direct imposition of a burden onto the individual by the County: <br /> <br /> LEP persons should be advised that they may choose either to secure the assistance of <br />an interpreter of their own choosing, at their own expense, or a County interpreter <br />provided by the relevant Department.2 Documentation that the service was offered and <br />the LEP person’s election should be documented in any written record generated with <br />respect to the LEP person. <br /> Departments should take reasonable steps to ensure that the interpreter services <br />provided are only through individuals who are competent to provide interpretive services <br />                                                             <br />2 A LEP person may often look to a bilingual family member or friend or other person they are comfortable with for <br />language assistance, there may also be situation in which a LEP person may want to rely on County-supplied <br />interpretive services. (Some examples where use of an individual’s own interpreter may be justified is when an <br />individual has to reveal or describe information of a sensitive, confidential, or potentially embarrassing nature. <br />Similarly, instances where a Department’s interest may justify the use of a County-supplied interpreter is where <br />precise, complete or accurate translation or information is needed.) <br /> <br />9