Existing law, the Dymally-Alatorre Bilingual Services Act, requires every state agency directly involved in the furnishing of information or the rendering of services to the public where contact is made with a substantial number of non-English-speaking people to employ a sufficient number of qualified bilingual persons in public contact positions to ensure provision of information and services to the public in the language of the non-English-speaking person, except as specified. The act requires every state agency that serves a substantial number of non-English-speaking people and provides materials in English explaining services to also provide the same type of materials in any non-English language spoken by a substantial number of the public served by the agency, as specified. The act also requires a state agency to distribute certain written materials in the appropriate non-English language or provide other specified translation assistance at its statewide and local offices and facilities if the state agency finds, among other things, that the statewide or local office or facility serves a substantial number of non-English-speaking persons. The act defines “substantial number of non-English-speaking people” to mean members of a group who either do not speak English or who are unable to effectively communicate in English because it is not their native language and who comprise 5% or more of the people served by the state agency, as specified.

This bill would revise the definition of “substantial number of non-English-speaking people” to include the higher of either the people served by or eligible to be served by the state agency and would make related conforming changes to the act.

The act requires each state agency to conduct a language survey of each of its statewide and local offices every 2 years to determine and provide, among other things, the number and percentage of non-English-speaking people served by each statewide and local office, broken down by native language. The act requires each state agency to develop and update an implementation plan that provides a detailed description of how the agency plans to address any deficiencies in meeting the requirements of the act, as specified. The act authorizes a state agency to rely upon data gathered from its most recent language survey in developing its implementation plan.

This bill would revise and recast the above-described language survey requirements to instead require each state agency to conduct an assessment and survey of the language needs of non-English-speaking and limited-English-speaking people, as specified. The bill would require a state agency to utilize specified information in conducting the assessment and survey and in developing and updating the above-described implementation plan, including, among other things, the most recent census data from the United States Census Bureau. The bill would authorize a state agency to rely on its most recent survey and assessment in developing its implementation plan.

The act requires each state agency to report to the Department of Human Resources the language survey results, its implementation plan, and any additional information requested by the department, as specified. The act requires the department to review the results of the surveys and implementation plans, compile that data, and provide a report to the Legislature every 2 years that identifies significant problems or deficiencies and propose solutions where warranted.

This bill would include each state agency’s most recent language assessment in the materials required to be reported to and reviewed by the department and would require the department’s report to the Legislature to include each state agency’s language assessment, survey results, and implementation plan.

This bill would also require the California Health and Human Services Agency to designate a Language Access Director to ensure individuals with limited English proficiency and individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing have meaningful access to government programs and services. This bill would require the Language Access Director to, among other things, lead the implementation, monitoring, and periodic updating of every Language Access Plan within the agency and coordinate with language access coordinators throughout the agency to implement each Language Access Plan. The bill would require the Language Access Director, commencing no later than January 1, 2027, to engage communities with limited English proficiency and deaf and hard of hearing communities to assist in expanding access to the programs and services provided by the California Health and Human Services Agency and the various departments and offices within the agency.

This bill would require the Language Access Director to develop a Language Access Plan Guidance Document to support its various departments and offices in the development of their Language Access Plans. The bill would require each department and office within the agency to develop a Language Access Plan, as specified. The bill would require the California Health and Human Services Agency to allocate, from a specified appropriation, sufficient funds to implement and carry out the provisions relating to the Language Access Director and Language Access Plans.