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D.C. Municipal Regulations (Last Updated: September 13, 2017) |
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Title 4. HUMAN RIGHTS AND RELATIONS |
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Chapter 4-12. LANGUAGE ACCESS ACT |
Section 4-1299. DEFINITIONS
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1299.1When used in this chapter, the following terms and phrases shall have the meanings ascribed:
Act – the Language Access Act of 2004, effective June 19, 2004 (D.C. Law 15-167; D.C. Official Code §§ 2-1931 et seq. (2012 Repl.)).
Administrative hearing – a hearing before a government agency or before an administrative law judge.
Biennial Language Access Plan (“BLAP”) – a two (2)-year mandatory compliance plan for each covered entity with major public contact that is to be revised and published in the D.C. Register biennially by the covered entity.
Bilingual employee – an employee who is certified as proficient in both the English language and a language other than English by the personnel authority of the covered entity in which the employee is employed.
Complainant – an individual, group of individuals, or organization(s) who files a public complaint alleging a violation of the Language Access Act against an agency.
Consultative Agencies – a collective term used to refer to the Office on African Affairs, Office on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs, and Office of Latino Affairs. These agencies are referred to in Section 5(a)(2) of the Act (D.C. Official Code § 2-1934(a)(2)) as government offices that conduct outreach to communities with LEP/NEP populations.
Covered entity – a District government agency, department, or program that furnishes information or renders services, programs, or activities directly to the public or contracts with other entities, either directly or indirectly, to conduct such programs, services, or activities. The term “covered entity” does not include Advisory Neighborhood Commissions.
D.C. Language Access Coalition – the established alliance of diverse community-based organizations in the District that work with the District government to foster and promote the civil rights of immigrant and LEP/NEP communities by advocating for meaningful language access within the District.
Interpretation – oral/verbal conversion of the meaning of a dialogue from one language to another language and vice versa. There are three (3) types of interpretation:
(a) Sight translation, in which an interpreter reads a document written in one language and translates it orally into another language;
(b) Consecutive interpretation, in which an interpreter translates a speaker’s words orally after the speaker has stopped speaking; and
(c) Simultaneous interpretation, in which an interpreter speaks simultaneously with the source language speaker.
Limited English Proficient (LEP) individual – an individual who does not speak English as his or her primary language and who has a limited ability to read, speak, write, or understand English.
Linguistic and cultural competency training – training that educates, informs, instructs, or provides guidance on how to provide readily available, culturally appropriate oral and written language services to LEP/NEP individuals through such means as bilingual/bicultural staff, trained interpreters, and qualified translators.
Non-English Proficient (NEP) individual – an individual who cannot speak or understand the English language at any meaningful level.
Oral language services – language translation or assistance services provided to enable LEP/NEP individuals to access or participate in programs or services offered by a covered entity. Oral language services include:
(a) Commercial interpretation services, which are oral interpretation services provided by professional businesses;
(b) Interpreters made available through community service organizations that are publicly funded for that purpose;
(c) Multilingual telephonic interpretation services, which are over-the-phone oral interpretation services that provide professionally trained and qualified interpreters in various languages;
(d) Staff interpreter services, in which an employee who has been proven competent in oral interpretation through certification, training, or assessments offers oral interpretation; and
(e) Employment of bilingual or multi-lingual employees.
Personnel authority – the District of Columbia Department of Human Resources or, for covered entities with independent hiring authority, the individual or department responsible for hiring by the covered entity.
Public complaint – an administrative complaint filed with OHR or a covered entity alleging violation of the Act by a covered entity.
Public contact position – an employment position in a covered entity for which the primary responsibilities include greeting, meeting, serving, or providing information or services to the public. Public contact positions are positions that require personal contacts with the public.
Respondent – the agency against which a public complaint has been filed.
Translation – the written conversion of texts in the source language into texts written in another language, retaining the meaning and intent of the original source text and producing a culturally competent product.
Vital documents – applications and their instructions, notices, complaint forms, legal contracts, correspondence, and outreach materials published by a covered entity in a paper or electronic format including but not limited to those which inform individuals about their rights and responsibilities or eligibility requirements for benefits and participation, as well as documents that pertain to the health and safety of the public. The term “vital documents” shall include tax-related educational and outreach materials produced by the Office of Tax and Revenue, but shall not include tax forms and instructions.