Monday, May 12, 2003
Is Klingon Translation Really Required By Law?
Yes. Title VI Prohibition Against National Origin Discrimination As It Affects Persons With Limited English Proficiency (Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights, August 30, 2000) states:
In the course of its enforcement activities, [HHS] OCR has found that persons who lack proficiency in English frequently are unable to obtain basic knowledge of how to access various benefits and services for which they are eligible, such as the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), Medicare, Medicaid or Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) benefits, clinical research programs, or basic health care and social services. . . .
In order to ensure compliance with Title VI, recipient/covered entities must take steps to ensure that LEP persons who are eligible for their programs or services have meaningful access to the health and social service benefits that they provide. The most important step in meeting this obligation is for recipients of Federal financial assistance such as grants, contracts, and subcontracts to provide the language assistance necessary to ensure such access, at no cost to the LEP person (emphasis added).
The way this policy guidance, as well as other E.O. 13166 documents, are written, necessity is determined by the patient, who is infinitely free to complain about inadequate language services no matter what costly translation is done on his behalf. Language was not part of the 1964 Civil Rights Act but is now, thanks to E.O. 13166. Congressman Peter King (R-NY) has introduced legislation (H.R. 300) to repeal E.O. 13166, which you can support here.
|posted by Jim on 11:09 AM|
Link
. . .
|
. . .
|
