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LAP Self Assessment Tool Template

Section I: Demography

1. Has your organization developed a demographic profile of the population served or likely to be served by your Federally funded programs and activities?

Yes

No

2. By primary language spoken?

Yes

No

3. If Yes, list language groups and languages spoken.

4. Is your institution working with any community-based organization(s) that is (are) familiar with the language needs of individuals participating in any of your programs and activities, or to whom you provide services or encounter?

Yes

No

5. If Yes, describe.

Section II: Frequency of Contact

6. Does your organization have a process for surveying, collecting, and/or recording primary language data for individuals that participate in your programs and activities?

Yes

No

7. If Yes, describe the categories used in the collection of data, where the data resides, and who can access the data.

Section III: Importance

8. Do you conduct compulsory activities?

Yes

No

9. Do you conduct involuntary programs or activities (like custodial interrogations, hearings, trials, evictions, etc;) or provide compulsory education or other mandatory programs or activities?

Yes

No

10. If Yes, what are they?

11. Do you conduct programs or activities that have serious consequences, either positive or negative, for a person who participates? (including, but not limited to, for example: health, safety, economic, environmental, educational, law enforcement, housing, food, shelter, protection, rehabilitation, discipline, transportation, etc;).

Yes

No

12. If Yes, what are they?

13. Have you determined the impact on actual and potential beneficiaries of delays in the provision of services or participation in your programs/activities (economic, educational, health, safety, housing, ability to assert rights, transportation costs, etc;)?

Yes

No

14. If Yes, what are they?

15. Have you identified the resources needed to provide meaningful access for LEP persons?

Yes

No

16. Are those resources currently in place?

Yes

No

17. Is there a staff member in your organization assigned to coordinate language access activities?

Yes

No

18. If Yes, please identify by name or title, etc;

19. Have you identified the points of contact where a LEP person interacts with your organization?

Yes

No

20. If Yes, please describe.

21. Given the identified points of contact, is language assistance available at those points?

Yes

No

22. If Yes, please describe.

23. By language spoken, how many employees in your organization fluently speak a language other than English?

25. Do you utilize employees in your organization as interpreters? (Interpreting is a different skill than being bilingual and able to communicate monolingually in more than one language.)

Yes

No

26. Employees within our organization provide interpreter services (check one):

Never

Some of the time

Most of the time

Always

27. What are the most common uses by your organization of other-than-employee (outside sources) language interpretation services?

28. What outside sources for interpreter services do you use? (check all that apply)

[] Contract Interpreters

[] Telephone Services

[] Community-based Organizations

[] Language Banks

[] Other

29. For what languages other than English are outside sources of language interpreters most commonly used? Please list. If so, how?

30. Although you should not plan to rely on an LEP person's friends, family members, or other informal interpreters to provide meaningful access, are there times when you appropriately allow use of such informal interpreters?

Yes

No

31. If yes, under what circumstances?

32. Are minors used as interpreters?

Yes

No

33. If Yes, under what circumstances and how are issues such as competency, appropriateness, confidentiality, and voluntariness assessed?

34. If additional resources are needed to ensure meaningful access, have you identified the cost of those resources?

Yes

No

35. Are there any limitations in resources (dollars and personnel) that could impact the provision of language assistance services?

Yes

No

36. If so, have you explored all options available to you in order to ensure the provision of language assistance services?

Yes

No

Developing a Language Assistance Plan: Planning

37. Have you developed a comprehensive language plan for language assistance to LEP persons?

Yes

No

38. Does your organization have a written policy on the provision of language interpreter and translator services?

Yes

No

39. If so, is a description of this policy available to the general public?

Yes

No

40. If Yes, please describe how and when is it available? In what languages other than English is it made available?

41. Do you inform your employees of your policies regarding LEP persons?

Yes

No

42. If Yes, how? How often?

43. Do you inform your subcontractors of their obligation to provide language assistance to LEP individuals who either participate in their programs and activities and/or to whom services are provided?

Yes

No

44. If Yes, how? How often?

45. Do your subcontractors have a written policy on the provision of language interpreter and translator services?

Yes

No

46. If so, is it distributed to the general public? If so, when and how is it made available? In what languages other than English is it made available?

47. Are beneficiaries informed that they will be provided interpreting services at no cost?

Yes

No

48. How are they informed and at what points of contact?

49. Do you ensure that your translators and/or interpreters are qualified to provide interpreting services (which is a different skill than being bilingual) and understand any confidentiality requirements?

Yes

No

50. If Yes, how?

51. Is ability to speak a language other than English a factor in hiring decisions in your organization?

Yes

No

52. If Yes, how do you identify which languages are needed?

53. Do you ensure that your bilingual staff is qualified to provide services in another language?

Yes

No

54. If Yes, how?

55. Do you provide written materials to the public in languages other than English?

Yes

No

56. Is the public notified of the availability of translated materials?

Yes

No

57. If Yes, how?

58. List all written materials provided to the public in languages other than English and the languages for which they are available:

59. Are there set criteria for deciding:

60. Are all translated materials pretested before being made final?

Yes

No

61. If No, which materials are not pretested and why?

Developing a Language Assistance Plan: LAP Evaluation

62. Do you have and use a tool for collecting data on beneficiary satisfaction with

interpreter services?

Yes

No

63. Have any grievances or complaints been filed because of language access problems?

Yes

No

64. If Yes, with whom?

65. Do you monitor the system for collecting data on the beneficiary satisfaction and/or grievance/complaint filing?

Yes

No

66. Are the data used as a part of a review by senior management of the effectiveness of your organization's language assistance program implementation?

Yes

No

67. Do you regularly update your LAP and assess for modifications given changing demographics, or changes or additions to your programs?

Yes

No

68. Do you obtain feedback from the community?

Yes

No