A report of the State of Vermont Office of
Racial Equity detailing community-driven
findings and recommendations for
expanding language access across all
branches of State government
E X E C U T I V E D I R E C T O R
Xusana R. Davis, Esq.
P R I N C I P A L D R A F T E R
Jay Greene, MPH
2023
LANGUAGE
ACCESS REPORT
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The Office of Racial Equity thanks all the community members and
State colleagues who participated in the c o n v e r s a t i o n sessions and
provided feedback on the language access policy recommendations.
The Office is further grateful for the technical expertise, policy
guidance, drafting assistance, and additional consultation of State
staff and other concerned parties across all three branches of State
government and in all regions o f the state, including but not l imited t o :
Shalini Suryanarayana, Ian Louras, Geoffrey Pippenger, Meagan
Smeaton, Rebecca Turner, Erik Filkorn, Bor Yang, Laura Siegel, Megan
Tierney-Ward, Cheryle Wilcox, Tracy Dolan, Kristen Rengo, N i k k i
Fuller, Amila Merdzanovic, Sonali Samarasinghe, K i m Frampton, Thato
Ratsebe, Linda Li, Alison Segar, K i r s t e n M u r p h y , Seema Kumar, Scott
Griffith, Mike F e r r ant, Damien Leonard, a n d all the State staff w h o
assisted with data collection to develop the vital document cost
estimate.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Executive Summary ........................................................................................................ 1
Summary of Findings and Recommendations ............................................................. 3
Note on Terminology: “Limited English Proficiency” or “LEP” .................................... 15
Introduction ................................................................................................................... 16
Language Access Plan Components and federal Standards ........................................ 18
Basic Components of a Language Access Plan ........................................................ 18
Federal Requirements for the Provision of Language Access Services .................... 18
Findings and Recommendations ................................................................................... 26
How to read the findings and recommendations .................................................... 26
1. Values, Framework, and Culture ........................................................................... 26
2. Data, Evaluation, and Reporting: ........................................................................... 27
3. Operations and Staff Protocols .............................................................................. 29
4. Technology and Resources ................................................................................... 32
5. Professional Development and Qualifications ....................................................... 36
6. Recommendations for ADA Compliance for People Who Use Signed Languages
and/or People with Disabilities ................................................................................... 39
Additional Policy Recommendation: Multilingual Liaison Needs Assessment ........... 42
References: ................................................................................................................... 43
Appendix A: Glossary of Abbreviations and Terminology .......................................... 47
Appendix B: Additional Resources............................................................................. 51
Language Access Planning Resources .................................................................. 51
Resources for Facilitating Language Access & ADA accessibility compliance for
People who are Deaf, Hard-of-Hearing, DeafBlind, and DeafPlus ......................... 52
Website Accessibility Resources ............................................................................ 54
Equitable Outreach and Engagement Resources .................................................. 54
Appendix C: Population Estimates of People who Speak or Sign Languages Other
than English in Vermont ............................................................................................. 56
Vermont Agency of Human Services LEP Committee ........................................... 57
Appendix D: Recommended Model Minimum Language Access Plans .................... 59
Appendix E: Department of Labor Language Access Operations Manual ................. 69
Appendix F: April 2022 Language Access Convening Summary ............................... 72
Appendix G: Executive Branch Vital Document Translation Cost Estimate ............... 86
Appendix H: Infographic Summary of Language Access Report…………………………96
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 OF 96
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Context and purpose
This report is a comprehensive
summary of the language access policy
and procedural recommendations
generated through Office of Racial
Equity (ORE) community outreach
efforts along with guidelines for creating
language access plans and policies in
the state of Vermont.
Vermont’s demographic profile is
growing in richness and complexity. As
is true in the rest of the U.S., Vermont’s
most racially and ethnically diverse age
cohorts are the Millennial and
Generation Z cohorts. As the State
seeks to grow and diversify its
population by supporting youth and
young adults, it must couple these
efforts with initiatives that embrace,
celebrate, and support multicultural and
multilingual people who are more likely
to comprise the state’s future residents
and visitors.
One way to provide this support
is through the provision of
comprehensive language access
services that allow residents and visitors
to expect consistent, predictable access
to government services no matter the
region or agency in which they find
themselves.
Process and Methodology
In early 2020, the Executive
Director conducted a baseline survey of
State agencies and departments across
all three branches to determine the
nature and extent of language access
services. With the intervening global
pandemic, the focus of this effort shifted
to emergency communications and
ensuring that time-sensitive notices
related to public health and operational
matters were prioritized for multilingual
communities.
The introduction of S.147 in 2022
demonstrated that the State was
prepared to revisit the prospect of
comprehensive language access
planning, and the Office of Racial Equity
proceeded with a community
engagement phase that collected
feedback from concerned parties around
the state.
The Office also produced
extensive research and budget
estimates that draw from promising
practices across the country to develop
findings and recommendations that
would be successful in the Vermont-
specific context.
How to read this report
You only have a few minutes, see
Appendix H for a one-page infographic
summary of the report.
You have an hour, read through this
Executive Summary with the full list of
findings and recommendations, or read
the Plain-language summary available
here: Plain-language summary.
You have over an hour, read the full
report, which contains color-coded notes
along the way. Those notes are
described below:
NOTE: Adds information or context.
EXAMPLE: Provides a model or template.
LEARN MORE: Highlights additional
source for further exploration.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 2 OF 96
Recommendations
The summarized list of findings
and recommendations appears on the
following pages. For additional
explanation and context, each finding
and recommendation is discussed in the
section titled Findings and
Recommendations.
A path forward
The Office looks forward to
working with impacted communities and
leaders across State government to
implement the recommendations in this
report, beginning with an inclusive and
thoughtful budgeting process that
promoted communicative autonomy and
language justice for Vermont’s
increasingly multilingual residents and
visitors.
ORE estimates a one-time cost of
$3.5 million for vital document
translation across the Executive branch
(that is, not including vital documents for
the Legislative or Judiciary branches),
not including ASL translation. Separate
from this one-time cost to bring the
Executive agencies into basic federal
compliance, ORE estimates an upper
limit of $790,000 per year to maintain
up-to-date translated documents and to
provide language access services
across the agencies.
These estimates do not include
the Judicial branch because of the
substantial work the Judiciary has
completed regarding incorporating
language access into its operations and
services. These estimates also do not
include the Legislature because of the
many variables that would need to be
identified and resolved in order to know
the full scope of the Legislature’s
language access needs.
Already know what you’re
looking for? Click below to skip
to the right section:
Summary of Findings and
Recommendations
Overview
Full Findings & Recommendations
Model Minimum Language Access
Plans
Vital Document Translation Cost
Estimates
References Cited
Glossary of Terms & Acronyms
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3 OF 96
Summary of Findings and Recommendations
(NOTE: FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ARE GROUPED BY CATEGORY, NOT BY RELATIVE IMPORTANCE)
NO.
TOPIC
FINDING
RECOMMENDATION
NOTES
1.A
Values,
Framework, &
Culture
State of Vermont has
no unified values
statement regarding
language access.
Draft & publicize a Values
Statement that State government
is committed to language access.
Requires action by Vermont General
Assembly and/or Governor’s
Administration. See Appendix D:
ORE Model Minimum Recommended
Language Access Plans for
additional details.
Require State agencies to adopt
a model minimum language
access plan.
1.B
Values,
Framework, &
Culture
Language service
providers’ work is often
undervalued and
uncompensated.
Increase compensation for State-
contracted language service
providers to allow them to pay
their employees a living wage.
Requires contract renegotiation
between the State and language
access service providers and
associated funding increases.
2.A
Data,
Evaluation, &
Reporting
State agencies will
have unique needs for
implementing language
access services. The
details of each agency’s
language access plan
may vary by agency or
time period.
Require State agencies to file a
language access plan with ORE
to ensure that minimum
recommended best practices are
met statewide.
Requires action by Vermont General
Assembly and/or Governor’s
Administration.
Require agencies to review and
revise their plans on a defined
schedule. ORE suggests
reviewing once per year for the
first 5 years following
implementation, then every 5
years thereafter.
2.B
Data,
Evaluation, &
Reporting
Tracking expenditures
and evaluating
programmatic needs
related to language
access services is
extremely difficult
Train State employees on how to
use specific accounting codes to
bill for different types of language
services to aid in the tracking and
reporting of language access
service-related expenditures.
Funding vital document translation
requires action by Vermont General
Assembly and/or Governor’s
Administration.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4 OF 96
based on current billing
practices, which
frequently do not
specify the language in
which services were
provided or the type of
language assistance
that was provided.
Finalize the cost estimate for
translation of vital documents on
a programmatic level.
Track any costs relating to
updating existing vital documents
that have already been
translated, and costs related to
translating existing translated
vital documents into additional
languages.
2.C
Data,
Evaluation, &
Reporting
Limited data are
available to help
quantify the number of
people in Vermont who
speak or sign
languages other than
English.
Require all State entities to
maintain records of the type of
language service provided and
the language in which the service
was provided to facilitate
language access services
evaluation.
Ensure that personally identifiable
information of people with language
access needs are not stored in the
same data sets as the tracking of
language access services expenses
to protect the privacy of people with
language access needs.
3.A
Operations &
Staff
Protocols
Many State agencies,
departments, and
divisions do not
currently possess
adequate financial
resources or dedicated
staffing to implement
the language access
plans required by
federal regulations. The
utilization of language
access services is likely
to increase as State
agencies communicate
the availability of
language access
Evaluate whether additional staff
positions are necessary to
support equitable language
access implementation.
Requires action by Vermont General
Assembly and/or Governor’s
Administration.
Designate at least 1 primary
State employee and 1 secondary
to be a point of contact for
language access within each
department.
Permit agencies to request
additional staff positions for
language access implementation.
Permit agencies to exceed level
funding budget requests if
requests are related to vital
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 5 OF 96
services more
effectively.
document translation or other
language access services.
3.B
Operations &
Staff
Protocols
State agencies do not
uniformly distribute
information on how to
access free language
services when mailing
out notices that require
a response or contain
essential information.
Include information on how to
access free language services in
any mailed or electronic
communication.
See “Vital Documents” for additional
information on the ORE
recommended languages for
translated notices of the availability of
language services.
3.C
Operations &
Staff
Protocols
Some people who
speak or sign
languages other than
English are not aware
that the State must pay
for language services
on their behalf.
Ensure that notices of language
access services communicate
that such services are free to
access.
3.D
Operations &
Staff
Protocols
Vital documents are not
routinely translated into
languages other than
English across State
entities.
Identify all vital documents
across all 3 branches of State
government.
Periodic reviews of language access
policies should include a review of
vital documents to ensure they are up
to date.
Track expenditures related to
keeping vital documents up to
date as part of overall language
access expenditure tracking.
3.E
Operations &
Staff
Protocols
Some vital documents
may be too long or
technical for the
average reader to
understand, even after
translation.
Create a plain-language
summary of long or technical vital
documents before translation to
ensure translated information is
relevant and accessible.
See Appendix B: Additional
Resources for more information on
plain language.
3.F
State employees can
better utilize existing
Audit all State records
management software systems
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 6 OF 96
Operations &
Staff
Protocols
software systems to
alert State employees
of the need to reserve
interpretation services
when working with
people who speak or
sign languages other
than English.
for their ability to identify people
who may require language
access services.
Configure records management
software systems to alert State
employees to arrange for
interpretation services or other
language assistance services
prior to meetings with the clients
who need them.
3.G
Operations &
Staff
Protocols
Most State employees
only speak English,
which can be a barrier
to language access in
State offices where
services are regularly
provided in-person.
At all public-facing offices, utilize
“I Speak” cards with a with a
standard written list of yes/no
questions in VT’s most
commonly spoken languages,
plus an electronic device with a
video ASL version to facilitate
providing language access
services.
See Appendix B: Additional
Resources for more information on “I
Speak” cards and an example of a
CAPS online training for interacting
with people with hearing loss.
Train State employees to use “I
Speak” cards and how to access
existing state-contracted
language service providers.
3.H
Operations &
Staff
Protocols
Multilingual State
employees interpreting
for clients could create
conflicts of interest or
other ethical/privacy
concerns for the clients
and/or State
employees.
Prioritize accessing the services
of dedicated, trained interpreters
from State-contracted service
providers rather than relying on
multilingual State employees to
interpret on behalf of clients.
3.I
There is no standard
operating procedure to
Implement standards regarding
quality of service, certification,
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 7 OF 96
Operations &
Staff
Protocols
assess the sufficiency
of the language skills of
multilingual State
employees before
having them provide
interpretation services.
There is no standard
protocol for fairly
compensating
multilingual employees
who provide language
assistance services as
part of their jobs.
and conflict of interest for
multilingual State employees
before asking them to provide
interpretation services that entail
more than a casual welcoming
conversation.
Requires action by Vermont General
Assembly and/or Governor’s
Administration.
Any changes to multilingual State
employees’ compensation may
require negotiation between the
Department of Human Resources
and other entities.
Consider creating a new time
reporting code in the State
employee timekeeping portal to
pay certified multilingual
employees for providing
language services.
3.J
Operations &
Staff
Protocols
Most State staff do not
get enough practice
with language access
scenarios to confidently
utilize the language
access services
available through State
contracts.
Identify State employees to
oversee testing and training for
language access.
Regularly test language access
services with “secret shopper”
programs.
Provide additional support and
training as needed if tests reveal
deficiencies in State employees’
language service skills.
4.A
Technology &
Resources
State websites do not
provide links to
translated documents
or notices of the
availability of language
assistance in obvious,
Include notices of the availability
of language assistance on the
home page of every State
website.
See “Vital Documents” and Appendix
C for additional discussion of which
languages to translate notices of the
availability of language services into.
Make a video version of the
notice of the availability of
language assistance in ASL.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 8 OF 96
easy to access places
on the home page.
Display the website links to
notices of language services in
the language they are translated
into, not in English.
4.B
Technology &
Resources
In most cases, State
websites are only
available in English,
and are only translated
into other languages via
Google Translate.
Google Translate is an
insufficient resource for
translation due to errors
that can create safety
concerns.
Create a mechanism by which
people can request translated
versions of websites. Make sure
any link to information about
translation requests is displayed
in languages other than English.
If Google Translate is used,
ensure that there are obvious
disclaimers in multiple languages
about the limitations of Google
Translate. Ensure that any
Google Translate disclaimers are
located in an obvious place at the
top of a webpage and that the
links to the disclaimers are
displayed in languages they are
translated into.
Include information about how to
request interpretation services
within the Google Translate
disclaimers.
All notices of the availability of
language access services must
say that language access
services will be provided to the
public at no cost to the person
requesting the services.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 9 OF 96
4.C
Technology &
Resources
Complaint pages on
State websites are all in
English, which creates
a communication
barrier for people who
speak or sign
languages other than
English to make their
complaints known to
the State.
Create videos in the ORE
recommended languages for
notices of language services,
including ASL, that explain the
complaint process.
The Agency of Digital Services (ADS)
should coordinate the rollout of a
template complaint page that can be
added to all State websites in all the
recommended languages discussed
in this report.
Translate complaint pages into
more languages than English.
Use State-contracted interpreters
to facilitate communication
between the complainant and
State employees.
4.D
Technology &
Resources
State websites are
seldom formatted to be
easily accessible via
mobile phone or tablet.
Audit the mobile and tablet
versions of State websites for
usability in English and for
usability when translated into
other languages.
See Appendix B for more information
on website accessibility audits.
Complete a disability accessibility
and mobile/tablet usability audit
each time there are significant
updates made to State websites.
4.E
Technology &
Resources
Most State-authored
public service
announcements and
emergency
communications are
created only in English
without translated audio
or captions.
Create public service and
emergency communications with
manually translated captions (not
auto generated) and video or
audio readings in Vermont’s most
commonly spoken languages.
Any additional federal regulations
relating to telecommunications that
must be followed when considering
how to implement the
recommendation related to open
captions.
Produce emergency
communications and public
service announcements in video
format to improve access for
people who are not literate in
their native languages.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 10 OF 96
Use open captions in English in
addition to closed captions to
assist Hard of Hearing and late-
deafened people who are not
familiar with technology in
accessing captions.
4.F
Technology &
Resources
The three branches of
State government each
use a different
videoconferencing
platform, which creates
inconsistency in how
the public can engage
with captioning and
interpreters.
Choose one video conferencing
platform to simplify language
access protocols across all State
government branches.
OR
Publish detailed guides on how
to use in each of the video
conferencing software platforms
(Microsoft Teams,
Zoom/ZoomGov, and WebEx).
Requires action by Vermont General
Assembly and/or Governor’s
Administration.
Distribute a link to the relevant
video conferencing software
guide when setting up video
conferencing meetings with
members of the public or when
posting notices of public
meetings that will have a remote
access option.
Translate video conferencing
software guides into the most
commonly spoken languages in
Vermont and include notices of
the availability of free language
access services.
4.G
Technology &
Resources
Community feedback
and national research
indicates that
Consider purchasing a paid
ZoomGov account if a State
entity frequently interacts with
As of January 2023, Microsoft Teams
is in the process of adding specific
accessibility features for video
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 11 OF 96
Zoom/ZoomGov
currently has the best
suite of features for
video remote signed
language interpretation
and other needs of
people with hearing
loss
people who require video remote
interpreting services.
remote interpreters that will be
available to all State employees.
Refer to discussion of best
practices for using
videoconferencing software with
video remote interpreters in
Appendix B when utilizing the
services of video remote
interpreters.
5.A
Professional
Development
&
Qualifications
National vendors offer
interpreters who do not
always understand local
place names,
geographic features, or
other concepts relevant
to people in Vermont.
Implement job training programs
or other initiatives that aim to
recruit additional interpreters and
translators to Vermont to
increase the supply of locally
knowledgeable language service
providers.
Requires action by Vermont General
Assembly and/or Governor’s
Administration.
Recruiting more language service
providers to Vermont has the added
benefit of growing and retaining the
State’s multicultural population.
Increase compensation to State-
contracted language assistance
service providers.
5.B
Professional
Development
&
Qualifications
There is not enough
consistency in the
quality of language
assistance services
provided under State
contracts.
Establish statewide translation
and interpretation licensure
and/or certification programs.
Consult with all applicable
concerned parties when
designing statewide standards
for language assistance service
providers.
Requires action by Vermont General
Assembly and/or Governor’s
Administration.
Develop a complaint procedure
for when State employees
receive complaints regarding the
quality of service provided by
State-contracted language
service providers.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 12 OF 96
5.C
Professional
Development
&
Qualifications
Licensure and/or
certification programs
may create barriers to
entering the language
services profession,
which may include
financial barriers such
as tuition fees or
licensure fees.
Any licensure/certification
program should be designed to
remove barriers to the
profession, such as subsidizing
the cost of licensure/certification
so that such requirements do not
decrease the availability of
language services professionals.
People who speak languages that
are less commonly spoken in
Vermont (also called languages of
lesser diffusion) may be especially
vulnerable to economic or
educational barriers if they are
recently relocated refugees or
immigrants.
5.D
Professional
Development
&
Qualifications
Many testing and
professional exam
materials are not
translated into
languages other than
English.
Provide educational materials
and tests for jobs that require
licensing/credentialing but do not
require English language
proficiency in more languages
than just English.
Translating testing and professional
exam materials into languages other
than English for jobs where English
proficiency is not required is part of
ensuring federal compliance with
language access regulations.
6.A
ADA
Compliance
Assistive technologies
may not be able to
facilitate access to
websites if websites are
not designed to work
with assistive
technology such as
screen readers.
Audit all State websites for
accessibility to people with
disabilities who rely on assistive
technology.
6.B
ADA
Compliance
All State websites are
designed based on an
accessible template,
but the addition of
content to the template
may change whether
the website remains
truly accessible.
Perform an accessibility audit
any time a State website’s
contents are added to or
updated.
6.C
ADA
Compliance
Few State websites
have notices about the
Create a dedicated link on the
home page of every State entity
See “Vital Documents” and Appendix
C for additional discussion of which
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 13 OF 96
availability of disability
accessibility
accommodations for
needs unrelated to
language access in
obvious, easy to find
places on the website.
discussing the available
accessibility resources that
members of the public can
access if they need
accommodations.
languages to translate notices of
disability accessibility
accommodations into.
Invest the resources necessary
to ensure ADA compliance.
Translate the links to disability
accessibility resources into
languages other than English.
6.D
ADA
Compliance
Important public service
announcements and
emergency
communications are
seldom translated into
ASL or other signed
languages.
Translate all public service
announcements and emergency
communications into ASL.
6.E
ADA
Compliance
Relying on automated
captioning to provide
captions is insufficient
to ensure people with
hearing loss can
understand public
service announcements
and emergency
communications.
Use live or manually translated
captioning services for all
important public service
announcements and emergency
communications.
If relying on automated
captioning, review automated
captioning for errors and correct
them before distributing any
video materials publicly.
Add open captioning in English
addition to videos in addition to
closed captioning whenever
possible.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 14 OF 96
6.F
ADA
Compliance
Currently there are no
hearing loop systems
installed in owned or
leased State buildings,
which means State
employees and
members of the public
with hearing loss who
use hearing aids and/or
cochlear implants are
not currently able to
fully participate in
meetings and events
held in State buildings.
Create a plan for addressing
communication access within
State buildings for people with
hearing loss, such as installing
hearing loops in at least one
meeting room in each State-
owned building.
7
Additional
Policy
Recommenda
tion-
Multilingual
Liaison Needs
Assessment
English language
learner (ELL) students
have barriers to
learning because of
lack of language access
resources in Vermont
schools. The number of
ELL students is likely to
increase in the near
future due to Vermont’s
population
demographics and
international trends.
Conduct a statewide assessment
of ELL students’ needs with
regards to multilingual liaisons
who can assist ELL students and
their families in overcoming
language barriers.
Included in ORE policy proposals in
Legislative Session 2023. For further
discussion, see "Additional Policy
Recommendation: Multilingual
Liaison Needs Assessment” and
pages 11-12 of the First Report of the
Vermont Racial Equity Task Force
(Davis et. al, 2020).
1
Provide sufficient resources to
schools to remedy the current
lack of multilingual liaisons
following the statewide needs
assessment.
1
Full URL: https://racialequity.vermont.gov/document/racial-equity-task-force-report-1
ON TERMINOLOGY 15 OF 96
Note on Terminology: “Limited English Proficiency” or “LEP”
LEP or “limited English proficiency” is a term commonly used by federal
government sources and some State of Vermont sources to describe people who do not
fluently speak or read English. The Office of Racial Equity does not recommend using
“LEP” due to the biased nature of the term “limited English proficiency.” Characterizing
people solely by their lack of English proficiency is disrespectful to their other language
skills and inappropriately privileges English speakers above those who speak or sign
other languages. Community feedback to ORE consistently supports using other terms
than “LEP” to describe people with language access needs. For example, most people
in Vermont who speak Lingala, a language spoken in central Africa, also speak Swahili
and French. Labeling a trilingual person as “limited English proficient” simply because
the three languages they speak do not include English is disrespectful to their
considerable linguistic talents. Furthermore, the legal and ethical responsibility for
providing language access services falls on the State. Using the alternate phrases
“people with language access needs” or “people with communication access needs”
reminds State employees of our responsibility to provide those services.
“People who speak or sign languages other than English,” “people with
communication access needs,” and “people with language access needs” are terms
used throughout this document except when referencing materials created by other
entities that use the term “LEP.” “People who speak or sign languages other than
English” includes people who use American Sign Language (ASL) or any other signed
language. “People with communication access needs” or “people with language access
needs” may be more appropriate than “people who speak or sign languages other than
English” in situations when one is describing specific challenges faced by people who
have limited comprehension of spoken or written English and/or people who require
additional supportive technology to interact with English communications. Find more
information on specific terms for D/deaf, DeafBlind/deafblind, late deafened, DeafPlus,
DeafDisabled, and Hard of Hearing people at the Department of Disabilities, Aging &
Independent Living (DAIL) website here: Hearing Terminology
2
. (Siegel, 2022).
RECOMMENDATIONS:
Discontinue use of the terms “limited English proficient” or “LEP” whenever
possible in favor of terms that do not perpetuate bias against people who speak
or sign languages other than English.
Utilize the resources on respectful language available from DAIL and the
Vermont Department of Human Resources Center for Achievement in Public
Service (CAPS) when writing about people who are D/deaf, DeafBlind/deafblind,
late deafened, DeafPlus, DeafDisabled, or Hard of Hearing.
LEARN MORE: For resources on language and terminology, see Appendix B.
2
Full URL: https://dail.vermont.gov/sites/dail/files/documents/HearingTerminology.pdf
INTRODUCTION 16 OF 96
INTRODUCTION
Pursuant to 3 V.S.A. §5003, the Office of Racial Equity (ORE) is charged with
“identifying and remediating systemic racial bias within State government” (No. 142,
2022). The ORE’s comprehensive research into language access services as currently
provided by the State of Vermont revealed deficiencies in key areas for ensuring
communicative autonomy for all of Vermont’s residents and visitors.
Language access is regulated on the federal level as a civil rights issue. All
programs that receive federal funding must provide language access services to comply
with federal civil rights legislation and rules, including but not limited to Section 601 of
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Federal Executive Order 13166 (U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, 2003). It is imperative that the State
broaden its language access protocols from a federal compliance perspective to prevent
further expenses related to noncompliance. The federal government has taken legal
action against two entities within the Vermont State government due to noncompliance
with federal language access regulations within the past 3 years. Additional legal
expenses related to language access noncompliance will continue to compound unless
there are major policy changes and revenue allocations to support language access.
More importantly, it is imperative the State strengthen its provision of language access
services as a moral and social good.
In 2022, ORE conducted community outreach to inform best practices for
language access in Vermont. ORE used the community outreach process to gain insight
into the language access needs and barriers faced by people who speak or sign
languages other than English in the state of Vermont. ORE hosted two community
conversation sessions in 2022. The first session was a “hybrid” event with in-person and
remote participation via ZoomGov. The second session was held fully virtual via
ZoomGov to balance participant convenience and ongoing public health concerns
related to the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease identified in 2019) pandemic. The first
session held on April 13, 2022 was a brainstorming session with facilitated discussions
of current language access needs, gaps in State-provided services, and suggestions for
improvements that could be made to current language access services.
LEARN MORE: For a summary document from the April 2022 brainstorming session, see
Appendix F.
In addition to the community feedback gathered at the April 2022 brainstorming
session, ORE also collected feedback and comments through an online form for several
weeks after the convening. These two collections of feedback were used to create a list
of 26 comprehensive recommendations for improving language access services in the
State of Vermont. The ORE presented the recommendations to the community
members and State employees on August 31, 2022. ORE accepted feedback at this
second session, and also through an online form for an additional two weeks after the
second session.
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION 17 OF 96
ORE conducted a research project to calculate the expected cost of translating
all the vital documents in the Executive Branch of the Vermont state government. The
vital document research project documented significant gaps in federal compliance with
regards to the translation of vital documents and the lack of notice of the availability of
free language access services by many State entities. The details and conclusions of
the vital document cost estimate project, including the methodology for estimating the
cost of translating individual documents, can be found in Appendix G .
PLAN COMPONENTS & FEDERAL STANDARDS 18 OF 96
LANGUAGE ACCESS PLAN COMPONENTS AND FEDERAL STANDARDS
Basic Components of a Language Access Plan
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (2022) indicate that all standard,
federally compliant language access plans contain a description of five basic
components:
1. Needs assessment of the population served by a state agency,
2. Language services to be provided by the agency,
3. Plans to notify clients of the availability of language services,
4. Training plans for agency employees on its policies and procedures for providing
language access, and
5. Evaluation plans for monitoring and updating language access procedures over
time.
In addition to the five basic components, State agencies must create opportunities for
people with language access needs to provide comment on the agency’s language
access plan (Federal Coordination and Compliance Section Civil Rights Division, 2011).
LEARN MORE: For more guidance on conducting equitable outreach, see Appendix B.
LEARN MORE: For ORE’s recommended minimum standards, see Appendix D.
Federal Requirements for the Provision of Language Access Services
Four factors determine whether it is necessary for federal compliance to provide
language access services to people who speak or sign languages other than English
(U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2003).
PLAN COMPONENTS & FEDERAL STANDARDS
PLAN COMPONENTS & FEDERAL STANDARDS 19 OF 96
Figure 1. Four-factor analysis for determining language access requirements under
federal civil rights regulations
Figure 1 describes the four factors to consider when planning for language access services. The
four-factor test describes how to determine what level of language access services, if any, are
required to meet minimum non-discrimination/civil rights guidelines for recipients of federal
funding. Summarized from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services “Guidance to
Federal Financial Assistance Recipients Regarding Title VI Prohibition Against National Origin
Discrimination Affecting Limited English Proficient Persons” (U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services, 2003).
When deciding how to apply the four-factor test, it is necessary to recognize the
importance of communicative autonomy as a basic principle of human rights. The four-
factor test helps achieve compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Law of 1964 and
other applicable federal regulations. However, simply maintaining the minimum
compliance with federal requirements does not guarantee that clients are being served
equitably or with justice in mind. Community members and State employees who
participated in language access meetings with ORE expressed concern that Factor 4 (a
lack of resources) has been used as an excuse not to provide equitable language
access services in the past (Davis, 2022). When resources are limited, it is imperative
that language access services be prioritized on the principles of equity and justice. See
Appendix B: Additional Resources for further information about diversity, equity,
inclusion, and justice in language access.
01
How many people with communication access needs are served by the
program, activity, or service? What proportion of the total number of
people served is comprised of people with communication access needs?
02
How often do people with communication access needs
interact with the program, activity, or service?
04
What resources are available to the entity providing the
program, activity, or service? Would providing certain types
of language access services be prohibitively expensive?
03
What is the nature of the program, activity, or service?
How important is the program, activity, or service to the lives
of people served?
PLAN COMPONENTS & FEDERAL STANDARDS 20 OF 96
Figure 2. Four Steps to Planning for the Implementation of Language Access
Services
Figure 2. Four Steps to Planning for the Implementation of Language Access Services shows
the four preliminary steps that must be taken before implementing language access services
summarized from “Language Access Assessment and Planning Tool for Federally Conducted
and Federally Assisted Programs” (Federal Coordination and Compliance Section, 2011). A full
description of these steps, checklist, and considerations for each is available at Language
Access Assessment and Planning Tool for Federally Conducted and Federally Assisted
Programs (Federal Coordination and Compliance Section, 2011).
One resource available to State entities is the State of Vermont Chief
Performance Office
3
, whose staff can assist with questions relating to performance
measurement and results-based accountability (Chief Performance Office, 2022).
VITAL DOCUMENTS
Vital documents are public-facing, non-confidential documents of significant
importance to the clients of a program or service according to the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services (HHS) (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,
2003). Vital documents contain information that is essential for ensuring meaningful
access to the programs or services of an agency (Vermont Judiciary, 2021c). Examples
from HHS of common vital documents include:
Informed consent forms or complaint forms
Program intake forms that collect participants’ information
3
See Appendix B: Additional Resources for more information on the Chief Performance Office and
results-based accountability/continuous improvement frameworks for program evaluation.
ASSESS
Assess the number of
people with language
access needs currently
served by your agency
and which languages
are most commonly
spoken among your
clients with language
access needs.
IDENTIFY
Identify who will be
responsible for
implementing each
element of the
language access plan
within your agency.
Identify vital
documents that will
need to be translated.
DESCRIBE
Describe the
timeframe for
implementation.
Describe performance
measures that will
allow you to evaluate
the success of
language access
services in the future.
ADDRESS
Address any barriers
to implementing the
language access
services (for example,
insufficient staff
capacity, knowledge
gaps, and financial
resources needed for
implementation).
PLAN COMPONENTS & FEDERAL STANDARDS 21 OF 96
“Written notices of eligibility criteria, rights, denial, loss, or decreases in benefits
or services, actions affecting parental custody or child support, and other
hearings” (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2003)
Documents or materials which notify people who speak or sign languages other
than English of the availability of language assistance services
“Written tests that do not assess English language competency, but test
competency for a particular license, job, or skill for which knowing English is not
required” (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2003)
“Applications to participate in a recipient's program or activity or to receive
recipient benefits or services” (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,
2003)
“documents required by law” (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,
2015)
A plain-language version of a document can help to reduce translation costs by
shortening the document while preserving essential information. Plain-language
documents also assist people with cognitive or developmental disabilities in
understanding technical documents.
LEARN MORE: For more information on plain-language documents, see Appendix B.
SAFE HARBOR STANDARDS
“Safe harbor” refers to whether an entity covered by federal language access
regulations will be considered to have met the minimum requirements for compliance
when choosing which languages to translate their written materials into (U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, 2003). Note that the safe harbor
guidelines only apply to choosing which languages to translate written materials
into, not to the federal requirement for providing meaningful access to people
who speak or sign languages other than English. Individual people must be
provided with meaningful access as requested, no matter how rare the language they
speak.
The guidelines for safe harbor provided by the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services state that recipients of federal funds should provide written translation
when the recipient’s population that is eligible for services includes at least five percent
(5%) or one thousand (1,000) people who speak or sign a language other than English,
whichever is less (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2003). If there are
fewer than 50 people who speak a language, it is sufficient under safe harbor standards
to provide written notice of the right to receive spoken interpretation of the written
materials at no cost to the client (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,
2003).
It is challenging to evaluate which languages State entities must translate
documents into according to the federal safe harbor standards. According to the 2021
American Community Survey (ACS), the 5-year population estimate of the number of
PLAN COMPONENTS & FEDERAL STANDARDS 22 OF 96
Vermont residents who speak English less than
“very well” is 7,705 people, with a margin of error
of ±636 people. 7,705 people is approximately
1.3% of the total Vermont population (U.S.
Census Bureau, 2021a). Each individual
language spoken or signed may not have one
thousand speakers/signers living in Vermont.
The ACS 2021 5-year summary data does not
list the specific language spoken, only the
linguistic family (“Indo-European,” “Asian and
Pacific Islander,” or “other” languages) (U.S.
Census Bureau, 2021a).
The U.S. Census Bureau has released
detailed tables from the 2021 ACS 5-year
summary data listing the languages spoken by people in Vermont who speak a
language other than English at home, disaggregated by how many people speak
English “very well” or less than “very well” (U.S. Census Bureau, 2021b). The detailed
2021 ACS “Language Spoken at Home by Ability to Speak English for the Population 5
Years and Over” Vermont table can be found at the U.S. Census website here: 2021
ACS Languages Spoken at Home.
4
(U.S. Census Bureau, 2021b). However, ACS data
sets cannot be considered a complete population count.
5
Even the detailed 2021 ACS
“Language Spoken at Home by Ability to Speak English for the Population 5 Years and
Over” Vermont table groups all Central, Eastern, and Southern African languages into
one category, which precludes detailed analysis of the population size needed for
evaluating safe harbor provisions regarding vital document translation.
The ACS data, while readily available online, should not be the only source of
data used to evaluate the number of people who speak or sign languages other than
English in Vermont. The ACS likely undercounts the number of households where
people speak Spanish or an indigenous language of Latin America and are
undocumented. People who are undocumented may not feel comfortable responding to
4
Full URL: https://data.census.gov/table?q=B16001&g=0400000US50&tid=ACSDT5Y2021.B16001
5
ACS data are estimates based on head of household reports, not actual counts of population size (U.S.
Census Bureau, 2017). Household population sampling is conducted by asking a sample of the
householders in the State to answer questions about the demographic characteristics of all the people
living in the same housing unit. A householder is defined as, “the person (or one of the people) in whose
name the housing unit is owned or rented (maintained) or, if there is no such person, any adult member,
excluding roomers, boarders, or paid employees” (U.S. Census Bureau, 2021c). Notably, the ACS only
measures head of household’s gender by the sex labels of “male” or “female,” which is insufficient to
describe the gender diversity present in legal documents that are available to Vermonters. Vermont
residents have the option to choose X as a non-binary gender marker on their identification documents
including birth certificates and drivers’ licenses, pursuant to 18 V.S.A. §5112 and relevant Department of
Motor Vehicles rules and regulations (Vermont General Assembly, 2022). The ACS is significantly lacking
in the ability to identify family structures outside of cisgender/heteronormative and White American
nuclear family structures and has no mechanism to identify transgender/gender-diverse people.
PLAN COMPONENTS & FEDERAL STANDARDS 23 OF 96
the ACS due to their immigration status or because of a language barrier between the
person administering the survey and the potential respondent. There are approximately
1,000-1,200 people from Latin America living in Vermont who work in the agricultural
and tourism industries, some of whom are undocumented (Mares & Kolovos, 2021, p.
202). Most speak Spanish, but some speak indigenous languages of Latin America
(Mares & Kolovos, 2021). State entities should always plan to translate vital documents
and other translated materials into Spanish.
Members of the Deaf community who participated in the ORE language access
conversations gave consistent feedback that ASL is frequently neglected as a language
commonly used by many Vermonters. People who sign ASL often consider English to
be a second language and may have difficulty understanding written English compared
to their fluency in ASL. ASL has different grammatical structure and vocabulary from
spoken or written English (Siegel, n.d.). The ADA accessibility requirement to provide
effective communication assistance to people who sign languages applies regardless of
safe harbor standards regarding the number of ASL signers in Vermont. Therefore,
ORE recommends that ASL-translated versions of vital documents be created to
support language access and ADA compliance for people who sign ASL.
All State entities must evaluate which languages are spoken or signed by the
people who interact with their programs and services on a regular basis when planning
for language access implementation. The process of deciding which languages to
translate vital documents into should be based on a careful evaluation of the languages
most used on a program-by-program or department-level basis.
LEARN MORE: For further discussion of population data and resources for evaluating
population size, see Appendix C.
LEARN MORE: For further discussion of how to evaluate costs related to vital document
translation and the maintenance costs of translated vital documents, see Appendix G.
NOTICES OF THE AVAILABILITY OF LANGUAGE SERVICES NOTICES
Any entity that receives federal funding is required to send a notice of the availability
of language services with any communications that require a response (U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, 2003). ORE recommends translating
notices of the availability of language assistance into the 13 languages that comprise
the Vermont Agency of Human Services (AHS) LEP Committee language list plus the
languages likely to be needed based on recent population residency trends. The 14
languages recommended for vital document translation, listed in alphabetical order, are:
Arabic
Bosnian
Burmese
Dari
French
6
Used here, Simplified Chinese is considered the written form of Mandarin Chinese.
Kirundi
Simplified Chinese
6
Nepali
Pashto
Somali
Spanish
Swahili
Ukrainian
Vietnamese
PLAN COMPONENTS & FEDERAL STANDARDS 24 OF 96
ORE further recommends that
On all written communications, include a notice in English of the availability of
accessible telecommunications resources for people who use assistive
technology to communicate.
On all State websites and electronic communications, include a video of an ASL
signer notifying people who sign ASL of the availability of free language services.
NOTE: ORE does not recommend that State entities simply rely on the AHS LEP
Committee’s list of languages to determine which languages to translate vital
documents into.
NOTE: Program-level or department-level evaluation of the languages spoken by clients
with language access needs is necessary to decide which languages to translate vital
documents into. Demand for language services will likely increase as State entities take
responsibility for including notices of the availability of language services in mailings.
LEARN MORE: For additional discussion of the AHS LEP Committee language list, see
Appendix C.
LANGUAGE ACCESS OPERATIONS MANUALS
The second component of a language access plan is a separate language
access operations manual. The language access operations manual contains all the
details needed for State employees to understand how to provide language access
services. The language access operations manual is an essential tool for training staff
to provide access to language services in a timely, considerate, and equitable manner.
Some examples of information that could be included in the language access operations
manual include the name and phone number of contracted interpretation service
providers along with the billing codes for the department See Appendix B: Additional
Resources for a link to the Buildings and General Services (BGS) list of contracted
State language services providers and an example of a State language access
operation manual (Vermont Judiciary, 2021b).
The Vermont Department of Labor (VDOL) created its language access
operations manual in the form of a SharePoint site where VDOL employees can easily
access all information needed to obtain language services on behalf of their clients.
VDOL's SharePoint site has a link to a feedback form, so that a VDOL service provider
can share constructive critique or praise following an encounter with an interpreter.
EXAMPLE: For a deeper look at the VDOL language access operations manual website
and selected guidelines for working with interpreters, see Appendix E.
PLAN COMPONENTS & FEDERAL STANDARDS 25 OF 96
Using the SharePoint suite of tools is an excellent way to make language access
operations manuals easily accessible to any State employee with computer access.
State employees should maintain a printed copy of the language access operations
manual in case of power outages or internet service disruptions.
FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS 26 OF 96
FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The following recommendations were generated from the community language access
conversations held in April and August 2022 in combination with research conducted by
ORE staff. See Appendix F: April 2022 Brainstorming Meeting Summary Document for
the summary notes from the April 2022 brainstorming meeting and a detailed list of the
community-based organizations who were represented at the meeting. The findings and
recommendations are grouped into 6 categories:
Values, Framework, and Culture
Data, Evaluation, and Reporting
Operations and Staff Protocols
Technology and Resources
Professional Development and Qualifications
ADA Compliance for People who Sign Languages and/or People with Disabilities
HOW TO READ THE FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The findings and recommendations below are not listed in order of relative importance;
they are grouped by topic areas as identified above.
F Y.Y
Findings are numbered for easy reference.
R Z.Z.Z
Recommendations are numbered for easy reference. One finding might
have multiple recommendations associated with it.
E/L/J
Identifies which branch(es) of government are the subject of the
recommendation.
E – Executive branch L – Legislative branch J – Judiciary branch
Note that the Executive branch includes more than the agencies under the
direction of the Governor. Additionally, any State government entities that
exist outside these three branches are still strongly encouraged to
implement as many of these recommendations as feasible to ensure
adequate language access for the communities they serve.
1. Values, Framework, and Culture
FINDING 1.A:
F 1.A
The State of Vermont has no unified values statement regarding language
access.
Recommendations:
R 1.A.1
E/L/J
Draft & publicize an official values statement that State government is
committed to providing equitable language access services.
FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS
FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS 27 OF 96
R 1.A.2
E/L
Require State agencies to adopt a language access plan that is at
least as rigorous as the model minimum language access plan
provided in Appendix D of this report.
R 1.A.3
E
Determine whether to create a central point of contact for any person
who needs language services from any State agency to contact for
language assistance.
7
EXAMPLE: For a sample policy statement on language assistance, see Appendix D.
FINDING 1.B:
F 1.B
Language service work, including translation and interpretation, is often
undervalued and undercompensated. Language service providers in Vermont
frequently take on multiple employment positions to support themselves
financially. Translation and interpretation are highly skilled jobs that require
many hours of training for proficiency, in addition to the skills of acting as
cultural brokers for their clients (Flores et. al, 2012; Feng, 2021; Davis, 2022).
Recommendation:
R 1.B.1
E/L
Increase compensation for BGS-contracted language assistance
service providers to allow them to pay their employees a living wage.
8
2. Data, Evaluation, and Reporting:
FINDING 2.A:
F 2.A
State agencies will have unique needs for implementing language access
services based on their duties and the populations they interact with most. The
7
There was some discussion between community members and State employees who were present at
the ORE language access conversations about where the designated central point of contact for
language access services should be housed. Many community members expressed interest in seeing the
ORE take on responsibility for being a centralized point of contact for people with language access needs
across the entire Executive Branch. Other State employees present at the discussions noted the difficulty
of relying on ORE to serve as the central point of contact when ORE staff may not be aware of day-to-day
operations at the programmatic level in all other Executive Branch agencies, as well as the expansive
workload involved with being the central point of contact for all other agencies. Some State employees
suggested that the Agency of Human Services (AHS) be the central point of contact as AHS already
provides a great deal of language access services. Others noted the tendency for equity-related work to
be given to the ORE rather than being treated as a shared responsibility for all government entities.
8
Community feedback at the April 2022 language access brainstorming conversation indicated that
medical interpreters are undercompensated for the highly skilled and extremely important function they
serve. Commenting on ways to increase compensation for medical interpreters who are paid by health
care systems that are not State government entities is outside of the scope of this report but is an
important and closely related issue. Health care systems should examine their reimbursement policies
related to interpretation and translation, including the ways in which they advocate to state and federal
governments about the low Medicaid reimbursement rate for medical interpreter services. Additional
information on considerations for health care costs is available at
https://www.vtlegalaid.org/sites/default/files/HCA_Policy_Paper_Cost_Shift_Fact_Or_Fiction.pdf.
FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS 28 OF 96
details of each agency’s language access plan may vary by agency or time
period.
Recommendations:
R 2.A.1
E/L/J
Require that every State agency file a copy of its language access plan
with ORE to ensure that minimum recommended best practices are
met statewide.
R 2.A.2
E/L/J
Require that every State entity with a language access plan evaluate
and revise its plans on a defined schedule. ORE suggests a schedule
of once per year for the first 5 years following implementation, then at
least once every 5 years thereafter.
FINDINGS 2.B AND 2.C:
F 2.B
Tracking expenditures and evaluating programmatic needs related to language
access services is extremely difficult based on current billing practices, which
frequently do not specify the languages in which services were provided or the
type of language assistance that was provided.
F 2.C
Limited data are available to help quantify the number of people in Vermont
who speak or sign languages other than English.
LEARN MORE: For additional discussion about population estimates of people who speak
or sign languages other than English in Vermont, see “Vital Documents” and
Appendix C.
LEARN MORE: For a narrative summary of the challenges associated with tracking
language services expenses, see Appendix G.
Recommendations:
R 2.B.1
E/L/J
Train State employees on how to use specific accounting codes to bill
for different types of language services (such as interpretation and
translation) to aid in tracking language access service expenditures.
R 2.B.2
E/L/J
Determine the best way to establish a general fund allotment, internal
service fund, or other funding mechanism specifically for language
access implementation.
R 2.B.3
E/L/J
Create a finalized cost estimate for vital document translation costs on
a programmatic or department level to assist with agency-level budget
development and tracking.
R 2.B.4
E/L/J
Track any costs relating to updating existing vital documents that have
already been translated, and costs related to translating existing
translated vital documents into additional languages.
R 2.C.1
E/L/J
Require all State entities to maintain records of the type of language
service provided and the languages in which the services were
provided to facilitate evaluation of language access service. Ensure
FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS 29 OF 96
that personally identifiable information of people with language access
needs (such as name and date of birth) are not stored in the same data
sets as the tracking of language access services expenses to protect
the privacy of people with language access needs.
3. Operations and Staff Protocols
FINDING 3.A:
F 3.A
Many State agencies, departments, and divisions do not possess adequate
financial resources or dedicated staffing to implement the language access
plans required by federal regulations. Further, the utilization of language
access services is likely to increase as State agencies communicate more
effectively to inform people with language access needs of the availability of
language assistance services.
Recommendations:
R 3.A.1
E/L/J
Evaluate whether additional staff positions are necessary to support
equitable language access program implementation.
R 3.A.2
E/L/J
At a minimum, designate at least one primary State employee and a
secondary State employee to be the point of contact for language
access in each department.
R 3.A.3
E/L
Permit agencies to request additional positions to ensure sufficient staff
resources exist for a robust language access program, particularly if
agencies provide services that are important to the health and safety of
Vermont residents and visitors.
R 3.A.4
E
Permit agencies to exceed level funding budget requests if the funds
are related to vital document translation or other language access
service needs.
FINDINGS 3.B AND 3.C:
F 3.B
State agencies do not uniformly distribute information about how to access free
language access services when mailing notices that require a response from
the recipient or contain essential information. Mailing notices of the availability
of free interpretation services is necessary to ensure that people with language
access needs can respond to notices of important information related to State
services. Notices of language assistance are a key component of the
requirements for compliance with federal language access regulations (U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, 2003).
F 3.C
Some people who speak or sign languages other than English are not aware of
the federal requirement that the State pay for language access services on
their behalf. They may be hesitant to request language services because of a
lack of personal financial resources (Davis, 2022).
FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS 30 OF 96
Recommendations:
R 3.B.1
E/L/J
In all State mailings that require a response or notify the recipient of
important information, include a page with instructions in the 14
recommended languages on how to access language services.
R 3.C.1
E/L/J
Ensure all notices of language assistance services inform recipients
that the services are free of charge for the person receiving services.
EXAMPLE: See an example of a language assistance notice page at the Vermont
Department for Children and Families, Economic Services Division website here: BSC
Interpretation Line.
9
LEARN MORE: For additional discussion of the ORE-recommended languages to translate
notices of language assistance service, see “Vital Documents.”
FINDINGS 3.D AND 3.E:
F 3.D
Vital documents are not routinely translated into languages other than English
across State entities.
F 3.E
Some vital documents may be too long or too technical for the average reader
to understand, even after translation.
NOTE: Research into which Legislative branch documents constitute vital documents
suggests that notices of the availability of language assistance and any “documents
required by law” may fall within the definition of “vital document” according to HHS
guidelines (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2015). Further legal
analysis by the Office of Legislative Counsel is needed to inform the Legislature’s vital
document translation process.
Recommendations:
R 3.D.1
E/L/J
Identify all vital documents at each State agency and in the Legislative
and Judiciary branches and translate them into the most commonly
spoken languages of the people who access each entity’s services.
R 3.D.2
E/L/J
Ensure vital documents are periodically updated as the information
within them changes. Periodic reviews of language access policies and
programs should include a review of vital documents to ensure they are
up to date.
R 3.D.3
E/L/J
Designate a staff person or team of State employees to oversee
keeping vital documents up to date within each department.
R 3.D.4
E/L/J
Track expenditures related to keeping vital documents up to date as
part of overall language access expenditure tracking.
9
Full URL: https://outside.vermont.gov/dept/DCF/Shared%20Documents/ESD/Contacts/BSC-
Interpretation-Line.pdf
FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS 31 OF 96
R 3.E.1
E/L/J
Create plain-language versions of very long or technical vital
documents before translating them.
LEARN MORE: For more information on plain-language summaries, see Appendix B.
FINDING 3.F:
F 3.F
The State can better utilize existing software systems to alert State employees
of the need to arrange interpretation services when working with people who
speak or sign languages other than English.
Recommendations:
R 3.F.1
E/L/J
Audit all State records management software systems for their ability to
identify people who need language access services.
R 3.F.2
E/L/J
Configure records management software systems to alert State
employees to arrange for interpretation services or other language
assistance services prior to meetings with the clients who need them.
FINDING 3.G:
F 3.G
Most State employees only speak English, which can be a barrier to language
access in State offices where services are regularly provided in-person (Davis,
2022).
Recommendations:
R 3.G.1
E/L/J
At all public-facing offices, utilize “I Speak” cards with a standard
written list of yes/no questions in VT’s most commonly spoken
languages, plus an electronic device with a video ASL version to
facilitate providing language access services.
R 3.G.2
E/L/J
Train State employees to use "I Speak" cards and to access telephonic
interpretation services from State-contracted language service
providers when they need to serve people with language access needs.
EXAMPLE: For links to examples of “I Speak” cards, see Appendix B.
EXAMPLE: For an example of a CAPS training course on interactions with people with
hearing loss, see Appendix B.
FINDINGS 3.H AND 3.I:
F 3.H
Having multilingual State employees interpret for clients could create conflicts
of interest or other ethical or privacy concerns for clients or State employees.
F 3.I
There is no standard operating procedure to assess the sufficiency of the
language skills of multilingual State employees before having them provide
interpretation services. There is no standard protocol for fairly compensating
multilingual employees who provide language assistance services as part of
their jobs. Creating such a protocol will encourage and protect a more
linguistically diverse State employee pool.
FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS 32 OF 96
Recommendations:
R 3.H.1
E/L/J
State agencies should prioritize accessing the services of dedicated,
trained interpreters from State-contracted service providers rather than
relying on multilingual State employees to interpret on behalf of clients.
R 3.I.1
E/L/J
Implement standards regarding quality of service, certification, and
conflict of interest for multilingual State employees before asking them
to provide interpretation services that entail more than a casual
welcoming conversation, especially when specialized technical
vocabulary is needed such as in medical or legal contexts.
R 3.I.2
E/L/J
To implement these recommendations, engage DHR and any other
necessary entities to determine how to compensate multilingual State
employees appropriately for providing direct language access services.
R 3.I.3
E/L/J
Consider whether to create a new time reporting code in the State
employee timekeeping portal to pay certified multilingual State
employees for providing language access services as part of their jobs.
FINDING 3.J:
F 3.J
Most State staff do not get enough practice with language access scenarios to
confidently utilize the language access services available through State
contracts. In nearly all subject matter areas, learners are more confident and
competent when they regularly practice the material. Community feedback
indicates a “secret shopper” system as described below will assist State staff in
improving their language services skills.
Recommendations:
R 3.J.1
E/L/J
Identify who should oversee training for and testing of language access
procedures at each agency to ensure all agencies share responsibility
for improving language services.
R 3.J.2
E/L/J
Regularly test language access systems by having multilingual people
approach State staff in typical public-facing settings to request
language access services and gather feedback from them about their
experiences receiving language services. Pay multilingual people for
their time spent conducting this testing.
R 3.J.3
E/L/J
Provide additional support and training to State employees as needed
when testing reveals deficiencies in their language service skills.
4. Technology and Resources
One common theme that emerged from the community engagement sessions is
that the State of Vermont needs to make significant upgrades to its technological
infrastructure to facilitate language access. The State of Vermont relies heavily on its
websites and virtual communications platforms to communicate with the general public.
FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS 33 OF 96
However, there are significant barriers to accessing information on State
websites for people who speak or sign languages other than English or have additional
communication access needs. The following findings describe the technological barriers
to language access surfaced through the community engagement sessions and
supplemental research.
FINDING 4.A:
F 4.A
In most cases, State websites do not provide links to translated documents or
notices of the availability of language assistance in conspicuous, easy to
access places on the home page.
Recommendations:
R 4.A.1
E/L/J
Include notices of the availability of language assistance on the home
page of every State website.
R 4.A.2
E/L/J
Display links to translated documents in the languages that they are
translated into, not in English.
R 4.A.3
E/L/J
Ensure that notices of the availability of language assistance are
displayed in Vermont’s most spoken languages.
EXAMPLE: For an example of a State home page with language assistance information
clearly listed in languages other than English, see the Department of Human Services
website here.
10
NOTE: An intermediate but incomplete example of notice of Language Assistance
Services appears below. While helpful, it is not comprehensive enough in providing
language access on a State website. The links should read “language assistance
services” in each language shown, rather than listing “Language Assistance Services” in
English and then listing the languages below. Someone who does not speak English
might not know the purpose of the links below “Language Assistance Services” without
being able to understand the phrase “Language Assistance Services” written in English.
It would further be helpful to display these links at the top of a page rather than the
bottom and to display them in a font size large enough to be easily seen. ORE also
recommends including an ASL video version of the notice, which is not currently
available in the example shown.
10
Full URL: https://humanservices.vermont.gov/
FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS 34 OF 96
FINDING 4.B:
F 4.B
In most cases, State websites are only available in English and are only
translated into other languages via Google Translate. Google Translate is an
insufficient resource for translation due to errors that can create safety
concerns (Davis, 2022; Lear et al., 2016).
Recommendations:
R 4.B.1
E/L/J
Create a mechanism by which people can request translated versions
of websites. Make sure any link to information about translation
requests is displayed in the language into which it is translated. Use the
four-factor federal compliance test to decide when to translate a
requested webpage once multiple requests for translation have been
received.
R 4.B.2
E/L/J
If Google Translate is used, ensure that there are disclaimers about the
limitations of Google Translate located in obvious places at the top of
web pages and displayed in languages they are translated into, not just
English. Within the Google Translate disclaimers, include information
about how to request interpretation services to facilitate language
access. All notices of the availability of language access services must
say that language access services will be provided to the public at no
cost to the person requesting the services.
FINDING 4.C:
F 4.C
Complaint pages on State websites are all in English, which creates a
communication barrier for people who speak or sign languages other than
English to make their complaints known to the State.
Recommendations:
R 4.C.1
E/L/J
Translate complaint pages into more languages than English. The
Agency of Digital Services (ADS) should coordinate the rollout of a
template complaint page that can be added to all State websites in all
the recommended languages discussed in this report.
R 4.C.2
E/L/J
Create videos in the 14 recommended languages for notices of
language services, including ASL, that explain the complaint process
for people who speak or sign languages other than English.
R 4.C.3
E/L/J
Use interpreters to facilitate communication between the complainant
and State employees. When a State entity receives a complaint via a
translated complaint page, employees should contact a translator to
translate the complaint into a language the State employee can
understand, then contact an interpreter to facilitate communication
between the State employee and the complainant before contacting the
complainant. If the person making the complaint reports that they sign
ASL or another signed language in their complaint, conduct the call
FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS 35 OF 96
using video remote interpreting or in-person interpreting with a sign
language interpreter.
FINDING 4.D:
F 4.D
State websites are seldom formatted to be easily accessible via mobile phone
or tablet. National research indicates that people who identify as Black or
Hispanic in the U.S. are more likely to rely on mobile phones or tablets to
access the internet than people who identify as White and non-Hispanic (Atske
& Perrin, 2021).
Recommendations:
R 4.D.1
E/L/J
Audit the mobile and tablet versions of State websites for usability in
English and for usability when translated into other languages.
R 4.D.2
E/L/J
Complete a disability accessibility and mobile/tablet usability audit each
time there are significant updates made to State websites.
LEARN MORE: For more information on website accessibility audits, see Appendix B.
FINDING 4.E:
F 4.E
Most State-authored public service announcements and emergency
communications are created only in English without translated audio or
captions.
Recommendations:
R 4.E.1
E/L/J
Create public service and emergency communications with manually
translated captions (not auto generated) and video or audio readings in
Vermont’s most commonly spoken languages.
R 4.E.2
E/L/J
Produce emergency communications and public service
announcements in video format to improve access for people who are
not literate in their native languages.
R 4.E.3
E/L/J
Use open captions
11
in English in addition to closed captions to assist
English speaking Hard of Hearing and late-deafened people who are
not familiar with technology in accessing captions, also keeping in mind
any additional federal regulations relating to telecommunications that
must be followed when considering how to implement this
recommendation.
FINDINGS 4.F AND 4.G:
F 4.F
The three branches of State government each use a different
videoconferencing platform, which creates inconsistency in how the public can
11
Open captioning is automatically displayed on the bottom of the screen when a video plays as part of
the video itself. Closed captioning is separate text file that is transmitted along with the audio/video
information contained in a video (Lemar & Jayes, 2022).
FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS 36 OF 96
engage with captioning and interpreters. The Executive branch uses Microsoft
Teams, the Legislature uses Zoom, and the Judiciary uses Cisco WebEx.
F 4.G
Community feedback and national research indicate that Zoom/ZoomGov
currently has the best suite of features for video remote signed language
interpretation and other needs of people with hearing loss (National
Association of the Deaf, 2020). Notably, Microsoft Teams is in the process of
adding a sign language accessibility feature that will be distributed to all State
employees using Microsoft Teams within the next few months.
12
Recommendations:
R
4.F.1/4.G.1
E/L/J
EITHER select one video conferencing platform to be used across
all State government operations to simplify language access
protocols
OR publish detailed guides on how to use in each of the video
conferencing software platforms. If the State elects not to unify under
a single platform, Executive agencies and departments should
consider using Zoom or ZoomGov rather than Microsoft Teams
when interacting with people who require video remote interpreting
services.
R 4.F.2
E/L/J
Distribute a link to the relevant videoconferencing software guide
when arranging videoconferencing meetings with members of the
public or when posting notices of public meetings that will have a
remote access option. Video conferencing software guides must be
translated into the most commonly spoken languages in Vermont.
The software guides should include notices of the availability of
language access services free to the recipients of the services.
EXAMPLE: For an excellent example of a videoconferencing software guide, see the
Vermont Judiciary website here: Participating in Remote Hearings.
13
EXAMPLE: For a collection of best practices for using Zoom/ZoomGov with video remote
interpreters, see Appendix B.
5. Professional Development and Qualifications
The following findings and recommendations reflect interested party and
community perspectives surrounding the current economic and job conditions for
language access service providers in Vermont.
FINDING 5.A:
F 5.A
National vendors offer interpreters who do not always understand local place
names, geographic features, or other concepts relevant to people in Vermont.
12
More information about this update can be found at https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/use-sign-
language-view-in-microsoft-teams-c6c11f67-0747-4598-ac27-c90801b94434.
13
Full URL: https://www.vermontjudiciary.org/about-vermont-judiciary/participating-remote-hearings
FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS 37 OF 96
Recommendations:
R 5.A.1
E
Implement job training programs or other initiatives designed to recruit
interpreters and translators to Vermont to increase the pool of locally
knowledgeable language service providers, which has the added
benefit of growing and retaining the State’s multicultural population.
R 5.A.2
E/L/J
Increase compensation to State-contracted language assistance
service providers, which will likely make the Vermont’s language
service providers’ job postings to be more nationally competitive in
attracting candidates.
FINDINGS 5.B AND 5.C:
F 5.B
There is not enough consistency in the quality of language assistance services
provided under State contracts. Poor quality language services can have life-
altering consequences, especially in medical and legal settings (Flores, 2012;
Triano-López, 2015). Notably, the Judiciary is in the process of creating a
certification system for language services providers who work with the
Judiciary in legal settings.
F 5.C
Licensure and/or certification programs may create barriers to entering the
language services profession, which may include financial barriers such as
tuition fees or licensure fees. People who speak languages that are less
commonly spoken in Vermont (also called languages of lesser diffusion) may
be especially vulnerable to economic or educational barriers if they are recently
relocated refugees or immigrants.
NOTE: Community-based language service providers contracted by the State report
having their own internal training processes to ensure quality of service.
Recommendations:
R
5.B.1/
5.C.1
E/L/J
Establish statewide translation and interpretation licensure and/or
certification programs. The Legislature should consult further with the
Judiciary, State-contracted language services providers, the Office of
Racial Equity, and the Office of Professional Regulation to create
statewide standards for language service providers. Any
licensure/certification program should be designed to remove barriers
to the profession, such as subsidizing the cost of licensure/certification
so that such requirements do not decrease the availability of language
services professionals.
R 5.B.2
E/L/J
Develop a complaint procedure for clients and State employees to
provide feedback on language assistance service quality and a protocol
to address quality issues when complaints are received regarding
State-contracted language service providers.
FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS 38 OF 96
FINDING 5.C:
F 5.C
Many testing and professional exam materials are not translated into
languages other than English, which reduces access to job opportunities for
people who speak or sign languages other than English. Translating testing
and professional exam materials into languages other than English for jobs
where English proficiency is not required is part of ensuring federal compliance
with language access regulations (U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, 2015).
Recommendation:
R 5.C.1
E/L/J
Provide educational materials and tests for jobs that require
licensing/credentialing but do not require English language proficiency
in more languages than just English.
14
14
To learn more about the impact that language access can have on communities, see “With bus drivers
in short supply, Winooski’s immigrant parents take the wheel,” published December 29, 2022, by Auditi
Guha at https://vtdigger.org/2022/12/29/with-bus-drivers-in-short-supply-winooskis-immigrant-parents-
take-the-wheel/.
FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS 39 OF 96
6. Recommendations for ADA Compliance for People Who Use Signed
Languages and/or People with Disabilities
ORE was grateful to have members of the Deaf community and Deaf/disability
advocacy organizations at the community discussions on language access. Between
62,000 and 125,000 Vermont residents have some degree of hearing loss, and 33-50%
of Vermont residents older than 65 live with hearing loss (Siegel, n.d.). The framework of
intersectionality states that all people hold many identities simultaneously; therefore,
some people may experience oppression or discrimination along multiple identity
dimensions at the same time, with different or compounding effects (Crenshaw, 1989;
Crenshaw, 2016). Many people of color are also people with hearing loss. The history of
systemic racism in health care systems in the U.S. continues to cause disparate health
outcomes for people of color compared to White people (Yearby et. al, 2022). The Office
of Racial Equity recognizes the intersectionality of disability with race and ethnicity, and
seeks to support policies and practices that advance equity for all marginalized groups,
regardless of race or ethnicity.
The federal ADA requires that employers, government entities, and businesses
provide equal employment opportunities and equal access to services for people with
disabilities or people whom others perceive to have a disability. Not only does the ADA
assure physical access to buildings and spaces, but it also assures people can receive
and relay communication necessary to
work and access services. The
requirements for states to provide
language services for people with
hearing loss are covered by Titles II and
III of the ADA, as well as Section 504 of
the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and other
relevant guidance (National Resource
Center for Reaching Victims & Vera
Institute of Justice, 2019).
LEARN MORE: Additional information relating to ADA compliance for ensuring effective
communication is available at the ADA website here: Effective Communication. (U.S.
Department of Justice, 2014).
15
Note that under Title II of the ADA, State entities are required to give “primary
consideration” to the method of communication preferred by the person with a disability
who speaks or signs a language other than English (U.S. Department of Justice, 2014).
The following findings and recommendations are derived from the Office of
Racial Equity’s community outreach process and contributions from leadership at DAIL.
15
Full URL: https://www.ada.gov/resources/effective-communication/
FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS 40 OF 96
They are focused on improving language access and ADA compliance for Deaf,
DeafBlind, late-deafened, DeafPlus, DeafDisabled and Hard-of-Hearing community
members and/or people with disabilities.
FINDINGS 6.A AND 6.B:
F 6.A
Assistive technologies may not be able to facilitate access to websites if a
website is not designed to work with assistive technology such as screen
readers.
F 6.B
Conversations with ADS employees revealed that all State websites are
designed on an accessible website template. However, the addition of content
to the template may change whether the website remains truly accessible.
Recommendations:
R 6.A.1
E/L/J
Audit all State websites for accessibility to people with disabilities who
rely on assistive technology.
R 6.B.1
E/L/J
Perform an accessibility audit any time a State website’s content is
added to or updated.
FINDING 6.C:
F 6.C
Few State websites have notices about the availability of disability accessibility
accommodations for needs unrelated to language access in obvious, easy to
find places on the website. An example of a disability accessibility
accommodation unrelated to language access could include the provision of a
ramp for a person who uses a wheelchair to enter a building that does not have
a wheelchair-accessible entrance.
Recommendations:
R 6.C.1
E/L/J
Create a dedicated link on the home page of every State entity
discussing the available accessibility resources that members of the
public can access if they need accommodations.
R 6.C.2
E/L/J
Translate the link to disability accessibility accommodations into
languages other than English to facilitate accessibility accommodations
for people with disabilities who speak or sign languages other than
English.
FINDING 6.D:
F 6.D
Important public service announcements and emergency communications are
frequently not translated into ASL or other signed languages.
Recommendation:
R 6.D.1
E/L/J
Translate all public service announcements and emergency
communications into ASL.
FINDING 6.E:
F 6.E
Relying on automated captioning to provide captions is insufficient to ensure
people with hearing loss can understand public service announcements and
FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS 41 OF 96
emergency communications. Automatic captioning can produce dangerous or
nonsensical mistakes in the captioning. Automatic captioning is less accurate
when transcribing the speech of a person with an accent that is not currently
recognized by the transcription software or when transcribing speech from poor
quality audio files.
Recommendations:
R 6.E.1
E/L/J
Use live or manually translated captioning services for all important
public service announcements and emergency communications.
R 6.E.2
E/L/J
If relying on automatic captioning, review automated captioning for
errors and correct them before distributing any video materials publicly.
R 6.E.3
E/L/J
Add open captioning in English addition to closed captioning whenever
possible to assist people with hearing loss who may not be able to
access English captioning.
R 6.E.4
E/L/J
Include closed captioning in English and other languages so that
anyone who uses Braille displays, which rely on the presence of a
separate text file to display the captions in Braille, can also access
information in audio/visual messaging (Lemar & Jayes, 2022).
FINDING 6.F:
F 6.F
Hearing loop systems provide communication access to people who rely on
hearing aids and/or cochlear implants. When a hearing loop system is installed
into a space, it allows the person to gain meaningful access to auditory
communication and sounds occurring in that space. Currently there are no
hearing loop systems installed in owned or leased State of Vermont buildings,
which means State employees and members of the public with hearing loss
may not be able to participate fully in meetings and events held in State
buildings.
Recommendation:
R 6.F.1
E/L/J
Create a plan for addressing communication access within State
buildings for people with hearing loss, such as installing hearing loops
in at least one meeting room in each State-owned building.
16
16
Not only must State office buildings meet ADA requirements for physical accessibility, but they must
also provide accessible communication required for safe and meaningful use of the State office buildings.
For example, when a person with a disability enters a state office building, the person must be able to find
accessible meeting rooms and elevators, and must be able to know when there is an emergency and how
to proceed in case of an emergency. Currently, State office buildings do not have a standard approach to
accessibility maps, signs, and accessible emergency notifications. The lack of standardized accessibility
protocols in State office buildings and the Capitol Complex was identified as a key deficit in planning for
language accessibility for people who are DeafPlus and/or DeafDisabled by DAIL staff who contributed to
this report. The State must assess the ADA access needs of State buildings and implement an
improvement plan that addresses accessibility maps, signage, and emergency communication
notifications.
FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS 42 OF 96
Additional Policy Recommendation: Multilingual Liaison Needs
Assessment
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and the Equal Educational Opportunities Act of
1974, along with relevant case law, establish a legal mandate to provide students who
speak or sign any languages with meaningful access to education in public schools. The
legal mandate includes ensuring sufficient staffing, integrating English language learner
(ELL) students with non-ELL students, and providing language assistance at no cost to
students or their families (Feng, 2021).
According to the 2020 Vermont Early Childhood Systems Needs Assessment,
children under the age of 6 are more racially and ethnically diverse than Vermont's
population over the age of 6. Approximately 5% of Vermont's estimated 35,769 children
aged 0-5 speak a language other than English at home (Building Bright Futures, 2020).
These children will soon enter Vermont pre-kindergarten and elementary schools. It is
essential that Vermont schools are prepared to welcome and nurture them with support
staff including multilingual liaisons.
Multilingual liaisons are dedicated support staff who assist ELL students in the
classroom and facilitate communication between teachers, administrators, and parents
of ELL students with similar language access needs to their children (Davis et al.,
2020). Multilingual liaisons serve both ELL students and their families who speak or sign
languages other than English at home to help them navigate the complex bureaucracy
of modern school systems (Feng, 2021).
Trends from the 2018-2019 academic year reported by the Vermont Agency of
Education (AOE) School Snapshot Data indicate that the approximately 1,478 ELL
students in Vermont are not achieving satisfactory academic progress (Agency of
Education, 2021). Trends were not reported in the 2019-2020 academic year and the
2020-2021 academic year due to the disruption of in-person learning related to the
COVID-19 pandemic. Assessing the need for more multilingual liaisons to assist ELL
students is the first step towards ensuring that ELL students have equitable
opportunities for education in Vermont. More details on the proposal to assess the
needs of ELL students can be found on pages 11-12 of the First Report of the Vermont
Racial Equity Task Force (Davis et. al, 2020).
REFERENCES 43 OF 96
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The Most Costly Journey: Stories of Migrant Farmworkers in Vermont, Drawn by New
England Cartoonists (Vermont Reads 2022). Vermont Humanities.
National Association of the Deaf. (2020, May 1). Video Conferencing Platforms Feature Matrix.
NAD.Org. https://www.nad.org/videoconferencing-platforms-feature-matrix/
National Resource Center for Reaching Victims, & Vera Institute of Justice. (2019). Rethinking
Language Access: A Comprehensive Approach to Serving Deaf Victims and Victims with
Limited English Proficiency (LEP). http://reachingvictims.org/wp-
content/uploads/2019/09/Formatted-findings-memo-2.pdf
The National Council on Interpreting in Health Care. (2008). The Terminology of Healthcare
Interpreting: A glossary of terms.
https://www.ncihc.org/assets/documents/NCIHC%20Terms%20Final080408.pdf
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No. 142. An act relating to racial justice statistics. (2022) (testimony of Vermont House of
Representatives).
https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2022/Docs/ACTS/ACT142/ACT142%20As%2
0Enacted.pdf
Patterson, L. (2002). Model Protocol On Services for Limited English Proficient Immigrant and
Refugee Victims of Domestic Violence.
http://www.ncdsv.org/images/modelprotocolserviceslimitedenglish.pdf
Refugee Processing Center. (2022). Archives — Refugee Arrivals by State and Nationality.
Wrapsnet.Org. https://www.wrapsnet.org/archives/
Siegel, L. (2022). Hearing Terminologies.
https://dail.vermont.gov/sites/dail/files/documents/HearingTerminology.pdf
Siegel, L. (n.d.). Working with Deaf, Hard-of-Hearing, DeafBlind, DeafPlus People Transcript
and Slides. Vermont Department of Human Resources Center for Achievement in Public
Service. Retrieved December 20, 2022, from
https://vermont.csod.com/clientimg/vermont/LOResource/8395_2022012706590992_21
42183896_PDF.pdf
Title 18: Health Chapter 104: Birth Records § 5112. Issuance of new birth certificate, Pub. L.
No. 18 V.S.A. §5112, The Vermont Statutes Online (2022).
https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/18/104/05112
Triano-López, M. (2015). The Pre-trial Stages of Arrest and Police Questioning: Implications for
Interpreters and Translators in the United States. Procedia - Social and Behavioral
Sciences, 212, 256–260. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.SBSPRO.2015.11.345
U.S. Census Bureau. (2017). American Community Survey Information Guide.
https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/programs-
surveys/acs/about/ACS_Information_Guide.pdf
U.S. Census Bureau. (2021a). American Community Survey 2021 5 Year Estimates Data
Profiles: DP02: SELECTED SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS. Data.Census.Gov.
https://data.census.gov/table?g=0400000US50&tid=ACSDP5Y2021.DP02
U.S. Census Bureau. (2021b). B16001 2021 ACS Language Spoken at Home by Ability to
Speak English for the Population 5 Years and Over. Census.Gov.
https://data.census.gov/table?q=B16001&g=0400000US50&tid=ACSDT5Y2021.B16001
U.S. Census Bureau. (2021c, December 16). Subject Definitions. Census.Gov.
https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/technical-documentation/subject-
definitions.html#household
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2003, August 4). Guidance to Federal
Financial Assistance Recipients Regarding Title VI Prohibition Against National Origin
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proficiency/guidance-federal-financial-assistance-recipients-title-vi/index.html
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2015, November 19). 707-What is a vital
document?. HHS.Gov. https://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/for-individuals/faqs/what-is-a-
vital-document/707/index.html
U.S. Department of Justice. (2014, January 31). ADA Requirements - Effective Communication.
ADA.Gov. https://www.ada.gov/resources/effective-communication/
U.S. General Services Administration. (n.d.a). Checklist for Plain Language | plainlanguage.gov.
Plainlanguage.Gov. Retrieved September 14, 2022, from
https://www.plainlanguage.gov/resources/checklists/checklist/
U.S. General Services Administration. (n.d.b). What is plain language? Plainlanugage.Gov.
Retrieved December 22, 2022, from https://www.plainlanguage.gov/about/definitions/
Vermont Department for Children and Families Economic Services Division. (n.d.). Benefits
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Interpretation-Line.pdf
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Operations%20Manual%20Final%20%285-6-21%29.pdf
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Plan%20Final.pdf
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https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362653-Spotlighting-participants-videos
APPENDIX A: Glossary of Abbreviations and Terminology 47 OF 96
Appendix A: Glossary of Abbreviations and Terminology
ACS
American Community Survey
ACCD
Agency of Commerce and Community Development
ADA
Americans with Disabilities Act
ADS
Agency of Digital Services
AHS
Agency of Human Services
AOA
Agency of Administration
AOE
Agency of Education
ASL
American Sign Language
BGS
Department of Buildings and General Services
CAPS
Center for Achievement in Public Service
CMO
Chief Marketing Office
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease identified in 2019
CPO
Chief Performance Office
DAIL
Department of Disabilities, Aging & Independent Living
DCF
Vermont Department for Children and Families
DHR
Vermont Department of Human Resources
DMV
Department of Motor Vehicles
DVHA
Department of Vermont Health Access
ELL
English language learner
FY
Fiscal Year
HHS
United States Department of Health and Human Services
ID
Identification Document
LEP
Limited English Proficient
MS
Microsoft
ORE
Office of Racial Equity
RBA
Results Based Accountability
USCRI VT
United States Committee for Refugees & Immigrants Vermont
USRPC
United States Refugee Processing Center
VCDP
Vermont Community Development Program
VDH
Vermont Department of Health
VDOL
Department of Labor
V.S.A.
Vermont Statutes Annotated
WCAG
Website Content Accessibility Guidelines
APPENDICES
APPENDIX A: Glossary of Abbreviations and Terminology 48 OF 96
AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT (ADA) – The federal law that requires equal access
for people with disabilities. There are five titles within the ADA that outline rights and
responsibilities of employers, state and local government, businesses and non-profits,
architects and designers, and individuals and advocates. The different Titles of the ADA
apply in the following manner:
• Title I regulates employers and employment law.
• Title II regulates the conduct of state and local governments.
• Title III regulates the conduct of public accommodations and commercial
facilities, such as businesses and non-profit organizations.
• Title IV regulates telecommunications companies.
• Title V contains other miscellaneous requirements related to implementing
accessibility accommodations.
COMMUNICATIVE AUTONOMY - “The capacity of each party in an encounter to be
responsible for and in control of his or her own communication” (Garcia-Beyaert, 2015,
p.363). In practical terms, communicative autonomy means that each person retains the
ability to make informed decisions on their own behalf and communicate their feelings
accurately with people who do not speak the same language as them. Communicative
autonomy is only preserved when interpreters accurately communicate the feelings and
intentions behind the words used, without leaving out any uncomfortable information.
Failing to maintain communicative autonomy can have life-altering consequences,
especially in medical and legal contexts.
INTERPRETATION - the practice of communicating the meaning of different languages
between parties who do not speak and/or sign the same language. A person who
provides interpretation services is called an interpreter. For more detailed information on
different types of interpretation, see The Terminology of Healthcare Interpreting: A
glossary of terms (The National Council on Interpreting in Healthcare, 2008).
LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENCY (LEP) – term used widely in federal documentation and
some government of the State of Vermont resources to refer to people who have a
lesser ability to speak, read, write, or comprehend the English language than most
people who speak English as their first language. As discussed in “Note on Preferred
Terminology to Replace ‘Limited English Proficiency’ or ‘LEP’,” “people who speak or
sign languages other than English” or “people with communication access needs” are
both more respectful substitutes for LEP.
LANGUAGE ACCESS SERVICES/LANGUAGE ASSISTANCE SERVICES - The provision of
assistance to someone with communication access needs and notices about the
availability of such services. Some examples of language assistance services include,
but are not limited to:
• notices of the availability of interpretation services,
APPENDIX A: Glossary of Abbreviations and Terminology 49 OF 96
• use of an interpreter (which may include hearing and deaf interpreters in the
case of signed languages)
17
,
• written or audio/visual translation,
• the use of assistive hearing technology to facilitate communication between
someone who is hearing and a person with hearing loss
18
, and
• the use of “I Speak” cards to determine what language a person speaks when
requesting an interpreter. See Appendix B: Additional Resources for resources
related to “I Speak” cards.
MEANINGFUL ACCESS – language service provided in a way such that the person with
communication access needs receives the same quality service as someone who
speaks English fluently, at no cost to the person with communication access needs, and
in a timely and efficient manner. Communicative autonomy is a key component of
meaningful access. Communicative autonomy must be maintained for language
services to be considered “meaningful access.” For example, having a minor child serve
as an interpreter for their parent in a medical appointment would not constitute
meaningful access. Although the interpretation is done at no financial cost to the parent,
there is a great deal of risk that the child will not be able to translate complex medical
instructions accurately or may be uncomfortable communicating details of their parent’s
personal health to the medical provider (Flores et. al, 2012). Meaningful access would
be preserved in a medical appointment if the health care provider arranged for in-person
or video remote interpretation services prior to the appointment and the patient was able
to see the provider with the assistance of said interpreter, with another entity besides
the patient providing reimbursement to the interpreter.
PLAIN-LANGUAGE – “writing that an audience can understand easily the first time they
read or hear it” (U.S. General Services Administration, n.d.b). Plain-language uses
simple sentence structure, active rather than passive voice, and other features that
make the writing easy to understand. Plain-language is easier to read for people with
cognitive, developmental, or learning disabilities.
TRANSLATION - the conversion of written documents or other recorded media from one
language to another. Translation may take the form of a video of a signer for signed
languages like American Sign Language (ASL). Audio or video recordings of a person
reading a document can also be considered translation, since the audio or video
recording is conveying the meaning from a written document and not another speaker.
A person who prepares translations is called a translator.
17
Some people with hearing loss also require the assistance of a special support provider, who is not an
interpreter, to facilitate communication and perform other tasks. See Appendix B: Additional Resources
for resources on ADA compliance and resources with further discussion of specific terms related to
disability supports.
18
Note that such assistive technologies serve to amplify sound and only assist people with hearing loss to
perceive sounds, not necessarily to understand the meaning of English communications. See Appendix
B: Additional Resources for additional discussion of assistive hearing technologies.
APPENDIX A: Glossary of Abbreviations and Terminology 50 OF 96
VIDEO REMOTE INTERPRETATION – “A video telecommunication system that uses devices
such as tablets, computers, web cameras or videophones to provide spoken [and sign]
language through remote, off-site interpreters” (Vermont Judiciary, 2021c). Note that a
stable, reliable internet connection is a necessary condition for using video remote
interpretation as participants need to see the hands and facial expressions of all signers
and speakers.
VITAL DOCUMENTS – Vital documents are public-facing, non-confidential documents of
significant importance to the clients of a program or service (U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services, 2003). For more information, see “Vital Documents” and
Appendix G: Summary of Executive Branch Agencies’ Vital Document Translation Cost
Estimate.
APPENDIX B: Additional Resources 51 OF 96
Appendix B: Additional Resources
LANGUAGE ACCESS PLANNING RESOURCES
American Community Survey Information Guide: Important information on the limitations
of the ACS population data. See “Vital Documents” and Appendix C: Population
Estimates of People who Speak or Sign Languages Other than English in Vermont for
additional discussion of the limitations of ACS data.
Census Bureau Data: resource to help find population size estimates for people who
speak or sign languages other than English and may speak English less than “very
well.” See Appendix C: Population Estimates of People who Speak or Sign Languages
Other than English in Vermont for additional details on the number of people with
communication access needs in Vermont. See also https://www.census.gov/programs-
surveys/cps/technical-documentation/subject-definitions.html for the definition of each
characteristic (U.S. Census Bureau, 2021).
Chief Performance Office: “The vision of the Chief Performance Office (CPO) is a
modern Vermont State Government that fully leverages its resources to meet the needs
of all Vermonters. The CPO's mission is to provide information, tools, expertise, and
services that strengthen the state's ability to effectively solve problems, manage
operations, and improve results” (Chief Performance Office, 2022).
Current Statewide Contracts-Buildings and General Services: This website link contains
a current list of language access service providers contracted with the State of Vermont
from the Department of Buildings and General Services (BGS), as well as links to view
their contracts. Please note that the BGS website does not list the specific
department/division level billing codes needed to appropriately bill a specific
department/division for language services. Contact the accounting or financial services
personnel of your department/division for more information on department/division-
specific billing codes.
LEP.gov: LEP.gov is a website published by the U.S. Department of Justice. The
website contains additional resources describing the federal regulations relating to
language access, guidance for entities interested in expanding the language access
services, resources for facilitating language access, and more.
Model Protocol on Services for Limited English Proficient Immigrant and Refugee
Victims of Domestic Violence: specific guidelines for serving survivors of domestic
violence who speak or sign languages other than English from the Washington State
Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
PlainLanguage.Gov Checklist for Plain Language: website with resources from the U.S.
General Services Administration about how to write plain-language documents.
APPENDIX B: Additional Resources 52 OF 96
Results-Based Accountability | Agency of Human Services (vermont.gov): Overview of
results-based accountability and continuous improvement.
Translation: Language Identification and I Speak Cards, LEP.gov: contains examples of
“I Speak” cards, translated taglines for notifying people of the availability of language
services, and more.
Vermont Judiciary Language Access Operations Manual: an example of a thorough,
detailed language access operations manual from a State of Vermont source.
RESOURCES FOR FACILITATING LANGUAGE ACCESS & ADA ACCESSIBILITY
COMPLIANCE FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE DEAF, HARD-OF-HEARING, DEAFBLIND, AND
DEAFPLUS
ADA Requirements - Effective Communication: website from the U.S. Department of
Justice Civil Rights Division that details the requirements for effective communication
services under Title II and Title III of the ADA. ADA.gov contains a plethora of guidance
and resources on communication accessibility and physical accessibility.
Anti-Ableist Glossary of Disability Terms: Additional resource from the National
Resource Center for Reaching Victims on terminology to use when discussing
disabilities. Includes discussions of disability justice and cultural frameworks for
disability as well as cultural considerations for disability justice in Latin American and
Spanish-speaking cultures. Also available in Spanish at
https://www.reachingvictims.org/resource/anti-ableist-glossary-of-disability-terms/.
Designing Accessible Events for People with Disabilities and Deaf Individuals: website
from the Vera Institute of Justice Center on Victimization and Safety with checklists,
toolkits, and planning advice for designing accessible events. Topics include event
registration, budgeting, meetings, venues, and working with sign language interpreters.
Hearing Terminology: Resource developed by Director of Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and
DeafBlind Services Laura Siegel to inform people of the preferred terminology for
describing people living with hearing loss. Includes a glossary of specific terminology
related to assistive hearing technology.
Just Ask: A Toolkit to Help Advocates, Attorneys, and Law Enforcement Meet the
Needs of Crime Victims with Disabilities: comprehensive toolkit from the Vera Institute
and the National Resource Center for Reaching Victims for making crime victims
services more inclusive, including resources on language access. Includes an advocate
toolkit, attorney and prosecutor toolkit, and a law enforcement toolkit.
APPENDIX B: Additional Resources 53 OF 96
Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf: website for the national Registry of Interpreters for
the Deaf, Inc. Includes information on sign language interpreter codes of conduct,
certification programs for sign language interpreters, professional development
resources for sign language interpreters, and more.
Telecommunications Relay Service-Department of Public Service: “Vermont Relay is a
free service that enables people who are Deaf, Hard of Hearing, DeafBlind, or those
with Speech Disability to place and receive phone calls. The service is provided to
Vermonters in accordance with 30 V.S.A. § 7512. Access to Telecommunications Relay
Service is provided through a contractor. The State of Vermont pays for Vermonters'
access to Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) and Captioned Telephone
(CapTel) on a charge-per-minute basis (no charge to users)” (Department of Public
Service, 2022a). Additional assistance and information available at
https://vermontrelay.com.
Vermont Community Development Program (VCDP) Resources: website with list of
links to information, programs, and opportunities for modifying buildings for physical
accessibility from the Agency of Commerce and Community Development (ACCD).
Vermont Universal Service Fund-Department of Public Service: “The Vermont Universal
Service Fund (VUSF) was established by Vermont law in 1994 through the enactment
of 30 V.S.A. § 7501 for the purpose of creating a financial structure that will allow every
Vermont household to obtain basic telecommunications service at an affordable price,
and to finance that structure with a proportional charge on all telecommunications
transactions that interact with the public switched network” (Department of Public
Service, 2022b).
Working with Deaf, Hard-of-Hearing, DeafBlind, and DeafPlus People: Training
available to State employees via DHR CAPS to help employees understand how to
work with individuals with hearing loss. Includes sections on how to request an
interpreter through Vancro Integrated Interpreting Services, the State contractor for ASL
interpretation, and links to many other resources to support people with hearing loss.
This resource also contains a glossary of specific terminology related to assistive
hearing technology and best practices for assisting people with hearing loss. The
training also discusses ADA job accommodations for people with hearing loss and
contains links to the relevant ADA websites. A transcript of the training and slides with
links to the AHS Accessibility Intranet Resources Page is available at Working with
Deaf, Hard-of-Hearing, DeafBlind, DeafPlus People Transcript and Slides. You may be
prompted to submit a request to a website administrator to gain access to the AHS
Intranet Resources Page if you are not an employee of AHS.
APPENDIX B: Additional Resources 54 OF 96
WEBSITE ACCESSIBILITY RESOURCES
Accessible Communications-State of Vermont Chief Marketing Office: Website with
guidelines specifically for State employees on best practices for making websites and
communications accessible to people who use assistive technologies.
Accessible Web - WCAG & ADA Audits, Certifications, & Accessibility Tools: Additional
free website accessibility checker tool.
WAVE Web Accessibility Evaluation Tools: Tools developed by WebAIM allow you to
test whether a website follows Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and
whether a website has other design features that may cause problems for people using
assistive technology to access the website.
EQUITABLE OUTREACH AND ENGAGEMENT RESOURCES
Changing Power Dynamics among Researchers, Local Governments, and Community
Members: A Community Engagement and Racial Equity Guidebook: guidelines from the
Urban Institute discussing best practices for community engagement and outreach with
a racial equity lens.
Community-Engaged Methods Guidebook: additional resources from the Urban Institute
on conducting equitable outreach.
National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services in Health and
Health Care: A Blueprint for Advancing and Sustaining CLAS Policy and Practice:
Document from the federal Office of Minority Health with guidelines for health care
systems on incorporating cultural considerations into health care services to improve
health equity. For more information, visit https://thinkculturalhealth.hhs.gov.
Office of Racial Equity Reports and Documents: Office of Racial Equity website listing
reports and resources prepared by Office of Racial Equity personnel and associated
workgroups on racial equity in Vermont.
The Spectrum of Community Engagement to Ownership: Guide that explains the
International Association for Public Participation “Public Participation Spectrum” and
lists activities and tools that government entities can use to empower communities to
make decisions on policy changes that impact their lives.
Vermont Department of Libraries Inclusive Services: website developed by the Vermont
Department of Libraries with information on diversity, equity, inclusion and justice,
APPENDIX B: Additional Resources 55 OF 96
including translated versions of their “What Is a Public Library?” resource guide in 16
written non-English languages.
BEST PRACTICES FOR USING ZOOM/ZOOMGOV WITH VIDEO REMOTE
INTERPRETERS
The following are recommended best practices for using Zoom/ZoomGov with video
remote interpreters using signed languages:
Spotlight all interpreters and participants who are signing or speaking so they are
easily visible. “Spotlighting” is a feature of Zoom/ZoomGov that allows the
meeting host to keep the interpreter(s)’ video visible to all participants regardless
of the viewing option they are using. For more information, see
https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362653-Spotlighting-participants-
videos (Zoom Support, 2022).
Ask all non-speaking/signing participants to turn their video off to preserve
bandwidth for the video remote interpreter and the participant who is currently
speaking/signing. Preserving bandwidth increases the video resolution, which
makes it easier to see the hands and facial expressions of the speakers and
signers.
APPENDIX C: Population Estimates 56 OF 96
Appendix C: Population Estimates of People who Speak or Sign
Languages Other than English in Vermont
Table 1. 10 Year Refugee Resettlement Data from U.S. Refugee Processing Center
(Refugee Processing Center, 2022)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:
TOTAL NUMBER OF
RESETTLED PEOPLE,
FY2012-FY2021:
LANGUAGE(S) SPOKEN IN COUNTRY OF
ORIGIN THAT CORRESPOND WITH AHS
LEP COMMITTEE LANGUAGE LIST:
Bhutan
1270
Nepali
Burma
123
Burmese
Burundi
25
Kirundi, French
Congo
1
French
19
Dem. Rep. Congo
380
Swahili, French
Eritrea
2
Arabic
Ethiopia
2
Somali
Iran
3
Iraq
119
Arabic
Nepal
13
Nepali
Rwanda
1
Swahili, French
Somalia
272
Somali, Arabic
Sudan
14
Arabic
Syria
14
Arabic
TOTAL
2239
Table 1. The number of refugees admitted to the United States by the federal U.S. Refugee
Processing Center (USRPC) in Fiscal Year (FY) 2012-2021 who relocated to Vermont. Note
that these data do not include refugees who moved to Vermont before 2012, people who
have since moved out of Vermont, or people born outside the U.S. who immigrated to
Vermont voluntarily rather than being assigned to resettle in Vermont by the USRPC.
19
Lingala is commonly spoken in Congo (also known as Republic of the Congo) and the Democratic
Republic of the Congo but is not included in the AHS LEP Committee list of commonly spoken languages
among people served by AHS. According to Vermont community-based language service providers,
people who speak Lingala also commonly speak French and/or Swahili, and it is easier to find language
service professionals who are skilled in French and/or Swahili than Lingala.
APPENDIX C: Population Estimates 57 OF 96
Table 2. Additional Refugee Populations Resettled in Vermont in 2022:
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN
ESTIMATED TOTAL NUMBER
OF RESETTLED PEOPLE,
CALENDAR YEAR 2022:
LANGUAGES SPOKEN
IN COUNTRY OF ORIGIN
Afghanistan
260
Pashto, Dari
Ukraine
Unknown
Ukrainian, Russian
Table 2. The approximate number of people from Afghanistan who have resettled in Vermont in
calendar year 2022 according to the Vermont State Refugee Office. There is currently
increasing demand for language access service providers who speak Ukrainian and Russian.
Current ACS 2021 5-year population estimates of the number of people who speak English less
than “very well” do not reflect the resettlement of refugees from Afghanistan or Ukraine that has
occurred in calendar year 2022.
20
VERMONT AGENCY OF HUMAN SERVICES LEP COMMITTEE
The information below is intended to inform readers of the ongoing work to
promote language access within the State of Vermont Executive Branch. ORE does not
recommend that all State entities simply rely on the AHS LEP Committee’s list of
languages when determining which languages to translate vital documents into.
The Vermont Agency of Human Service (AHS) has a working group called the
AHS LEP Committee, made up of State employees who provide services to people who
speak or sign languages other than English from within AHS and other State Executive
branch agencies, such as the Vermont Department of Labor (VDOL). The AHS LEP
Committee meets regularly to discuss language access services across the Executive
agencies that regularly provide services to people with language access needs. The
committee is chaired by the State Refugee Office Director.
The AHS LEP Committee maintains a list of the languages that members report
are most used by clients of AHS programs who speak or sign languages other than
English. As of Summer 2022, the languages selected by the AHS LEP Committee that
AHS documents must be translated into (Tier 1) include:
• Arabic
• Burmese
• French
• Kirundi
• Nepali
• Somali
• Spanish
According to the State Refugee Office Director, the following languages may also be
appropriate for translation of vital documents based on the recent increase in people
from Afghanistan resettling in Vermont (also Tier 1):
20
Visit https://data.census.gov/table?q=B16001&g=0400000US50&tid=ACSDT5Y2021.B16001 to see the
2021 ACS detailed table for language spoken at home for the population 5 years and over, disaggregated
by whether the person speaks English “very well” or less than “very well” (U.S. Census Bureau, 2020).
See “Vital Documents” for a detailed discussion of the limitations of ACS data.
APPENDIX C: Population Estimates 58 OF 96
• Pashto
• Dari
According to the AHS LEP Committee, AHS Departments, Divisions, and program
stewards can choose whether to translate vital documents and other translated
materials into the following other languages based on demand (Tier 2):
• Bosnian
• Swahili
• Vietnamese
Community-based language service provider Association of Africans Living in
Vermont, Inc. added that Mandarin Chinese is also frequently requested for translation
purposes.
APPENDIX D: Model Minimum Language Access Plans 59 OF 96
Appendix D: Recommended Model Minimum Language Access Plans
The Office of Racial Equity (ORE) is situated within the Vermont Agency of
Administration (AOA). The following model minimum language access plan is designed
to incorporate the findings and recommendations from the preceding report, which is the
result of extensive community outreach and research by ORE staff and statewide
colleagues.
The model minimum plan for AOA is intended to serve as the model minimum
language access plan that would be acceptable for State agencies that do not provide
walk-in services to clients. As used here, walk-in services are those where any person
may enter the office of a State agency and request services related to government
functions. An example of a State agency that commonly provides walk-in service is the
Department of Motor Vehicles. One notable exception to the general rule that AOA does
not provide walk-in service is the Department of Libraries. Librarians serve an essential
function as communicators of information between the government and the general
public.
21
The Department of Libraries, despite being located within AOA, should create a
separate language access plan that builds on the minimum AOA plan to account for the
need for walk-in services.
The following model minimum plan is subject to change if the Vermont General
Assembly or Governor’s administration takes regulatory action on the findings and
recommendations in the 2023 ORE Language Access Report. Although AOA is used as
the model, other agencies, departments, and divisions are encouraged to adapt this
plan to their needs. Additional optional elements that will assist State entities with higher
levels of walk-in service are listed after the model minimum plan. Agencies may wish to
include a glossary of terms such as “vital document” and “meaningful access” with their
Language Access Plan. A glossary of relevant terms is available in Appendix A of the
2023 ORE Language Access Report.
Plan last updated: Tuesday, January 23, 2023
1. VALUES STATEMENT
The Vermont Agency of Administration (AOA) is tasked with overseeing the
functions of the state government and includes several departments and divisions
involved in administering statewide government functions, including management of
State office buildings and facilities, taxation, financial management, and human
resources for State of Vermont government employees. The mission of AOA is “[t]o
provide responsive and centralized support services to the employees of all agencies
and departments of state government so they may deliver services to Vermonters in an
efficient, effective and fiscally prudent manner.” (Agency of Administration, n.d.) The
Department of Buildings and General Services, Department of Finance and
Management, Department of Human Resources, Department of Taxes, Office of Racial
21
ORE commends the Vermont Department of Libraries for already taking steps to translate its
information pamphlet, “What is a Public Library?” into 16 non-English languages and to provide resources
on equity and inclusion via its website https://libraries.vermont.gov/services/inclusive_services.
APPENDIX D: Model Minimum Language Access Plans 60 OF 96
Equity, Department of Libraries, Chief Performance Office, Financial Services Division,
and Office of Risk Management reside within AOA (Agency of Administration, n.d.).
22
Given the wide breadth of responsibilities encompassed by AOA departments,
the purview of AOA includes all residents and visitors to Vermont. As such, the AOA
commits to providing meaningful language access and effective communication to all
persons requiring language assistance services throughout the state of Vermont who
interact with AOA departments. AOA commits to providing language services with
respect to cultural differences that exist among people of different ethnicities, national
origins, and other social identity dimensions and proactively training the employees of
AOA to be cognizant of the cultural dimensions of communication. These strategies
support AOA’s intent to respect communicative autonomy and collective liberation for all
of Vermont’s residents and visitors.
2. NEEDS ASSESSMENT/OUTREACH PLANS
AOA faces several challenges to identifying the size of the population of people
with language access needs in Vermont, including lack of current population data
disaggregated by language spoken as of January 2023. Therefore, AOA commits to
recording the language spoken and type of service needed (for example, interpretation
versus translation) when interacting with people who speak or sign languages other
than English starting immediately, to establish baseline data on service needs. AOA will
instruct employees not to record personally identifiable information of people who speak
or sign languages other than English (such as name or date of birth) in the same data
sets as the records of language used and type of language assistance given to protect
the privacy of people who speak or sign languages other than English.
AOA will use those data on the type of language services needed and the language in
which services were provided to inform the implementation of comprehensive language
assistance services throughout the agency. AOA will reassess the data collected on
language assistance service utilization yearly for the first 5 fiscal years that language
access is implemented, then once every 5 years thereafter.
23
As required by Presidential Executive Order 13166 of 2000, AOA will conduct proactive
outreach to include people who speak or sign languages other than English during the
language access planning and implementation process starting in FY’24 (Clinton, 2000).
Such proactive outreach may include, but is not limited to:
hosting public in-person meetings around the state with an online video
conferencing participation option to discuss community members’ needs for
language access;
22
This paragraph may be replaced with the relevant description of the State agency for which the model
minimum language access plan is adapted.
23
This paragraph applies specifically to AOA, which does not currently (as of January 2023) have
frequent contacts with people who speak or sign languages other than English. Other State entities that
do currently serve clients of their programs with language access needs should evaluate the languages
spoken by their client population and immediately begin the process of translating vital documents into
the most frequently used languages. See Appendix G: Summary of Executive Branch Agencies’ Vital
Document Cost Estimate for additional discussion of methods for evaluating languages spoken by clients
of a State entity.
APPENDIX D: Model Minimum Language Access Plans 61 OF 96
providing interpretation services as requested by participants who speak or sign
languages other than English at public comment meetings on language access;
providing notice of said public meetings to discuss language access on the AOA
website in the 14 languages identified by the 2023 ORE Language Access
Report, plus a video version in American Sign Language (ASL);
conducting proactive outreach to community organizations who serve people with
language access needs in Vermont to inform people who speak or sign
languages other than English of the public meetings and comment periods;
providing opportunities to give comments on AOA language access plans online
through translated web pages and feedback forms, translated into the 14 most
commonly spoken languages identified in the ORE Language Access Report,
plus a video ASL version, along with information on how to file a comment; and
keeping active comment and complaint pages related to language access on the
AOA website even after the language access planning phase has passed to
serve as continuous improvement tools in the future.
3. NOTIFICATION OF SERVICES
Given that AOA does not have current data on languages spoken by people who
interact with AOA and speak or sign languages other than English, AOA will begin in its
first year of language access planning in FY’24 by translating all notices of language
assistance into the 14 recommended most commonly spoken languages identified in
the 2023 ORE Language Access Report plus a video version in ASL that can be added
to AOA websites and electronic communications.
The 14 written languages identified in the 2023 ORE Language Access Report
include:
Arabic
Bosnian
Burmese
Dari
French
Kirundi
Simplified Chinese
Nepali
Pashto
Somali
Spanish
Swahili
Ukrainian
Vietnamese
AOA will also upload a video version in ASL of the notice of language assistance
services to its website. The notices of language assistance on the AOA website will be
written on the AOA homepage in large, easy to read font, at the top of the page, in the
language into which the notice is translated.
In addition, any written communication sent out from a department or division
within AOA that requires a response or notifies the recipient of important information
related to AOA programs and policies will include a page notifying the recipient of the
availability of language assistance services at no cost to the recipient. The written notice
will also inform people who have additional communication access needs in English of
the availability of accessible telecommunications resources.
APPENDIX D: Model Minimum Language Access Plans 62 OF 96
4. LANGUAGE ASSISTANCE SERVICES
AOA will consider four factors when assessing which language services to provide,
including which vital documents to proactively translate:
1. How many people with communication access needs are served by the program,
activity, or service? What proportion of the total number of people served is
comprised of people with communication access needs?
2. How often do people with communication access needs interact with the
program, activity, or service?
3. What is the nature of the program, activity, or service? How important is the
program, activity, or service to the lives of people served?
4. What resources are available to the entity providing the program, activity, or
service? Would providing certain types of language access services be
prohibitively expensive?
However, AOA will not disregard the individual needs of a person who speaks or
signs a language other than English who requests language assistance when
communicating with AOA personnel based on Factor 4 (resources available). AOA
employees will access the services of language assistance service companies
contracted through Buildings and General Services (BGS) to communicate with any
person who contacts the AOA and needs language assistance.
Each Department or Office within AOA will designate at least one primary
employee and one secondary employee to be the point of contact to coordinate
language access needs within its Department or Office. If existing employees do not
have capacity to handle the additional responsibilities of coordinating language access
services, AOA will permit each Department or Office to hire additional employees as
needed to allow for meaningful language access as required by federal regulations.
AOA will instruct its employees to prioritize the use of trained language access
service providers available through State-contracted language services rather than
relying on multilingual employees unless and until appropriate standard operating
procedures are implemented by the Department of Human Resources to evaluate
multilingual employees for their language skills and compensate fairly them for providing
additional language access services in the course of their normal duties. Multilingual
State employees will not be required to provide language access services if doing so
would violate the Vermont State Employees’ Code of Ethics as developed pursuant to 3
V.S.A. §1202.
When AOA personnel use videoconferencing software to conduct meetings, AOA
personnel will provide a link to a guide on how to use that videoconferencing software
with the announcement of the meeting. The guides on videoconferencing software will
be translated into the 14 languages other than English identified in the 2023 ORE
Language Access Report plus an ASL video version. In written communications and on
the AOA website, the links to the videoconferencing software guides will be displayed in
the languages into which they are translated.
APPENDIX D: Model Minimum Language Access Plans 63 OF 96
Vital Documents
AOA will immediately begin to evaluate which of its documents may be
considered vital documents. Vital documents will automatically be translated into
languages other than English if the number of people in Vermont who speak or sign that
language is at least one thousand (1,000) people or five percent (5%) of Vermont’s
population, whichever is fewer, in accordance with federal safe harbor provisions (U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, 2003). AOA will translate other documents
into languages other than English upon request from members of the public who speak
or sign languages other than English.
AOA will translate very long, technical documents such as Administrative
Bulletins on grantmaking into plain language before translating them into languages
other than English.
24
AOA commits to appointing at least one employee in each AOA department or
office, or a team of employees, if necessary, to be responsible for reviewing and
updating vital documents. Vital documents will be reviewed to ensure the translations
are up to date at least once per year or each time the document is updated, whichever
is sooner.
When vital documents are translated and uploaded to the relevant department or
office’s website, the website links to the titles of the vital documents will be written in the
language into which they are translated to ensure that people who speak languages
other than English can understand how to access the documents.
Website and Electronic Communications
AOA and all its departments/offices will update their websites to include a
welcome message on the home page notifying people of the availability of language
assistance services at no cost to the recipient. The links to the notices of language
assistance services will be displayed in the languages into which they are translated.
AOA recognizes that Google Translate can produce potentially harmful errors in
translation when used on the AOA website. Therefore, AOA and all its departments or
offices will upload disclaimers on the limitations of Google Translate wherever the
Google Translate option is included on an AOA website. The Google Translate
disclaimers will be translated into the 14 written languages listed in the 2023 ORE
Language Access Report plus an ASL video version. The disclaimers on the limitations
of Google Translate will include a notice of the availability of language assistance
services free of charge to the recipient of those services. The links to the disclaimers
will appear on the website in the languages into which the disclaimer is translated. The
24
Other State entities not responsible for Administrative Bulletins on grantmaking should retain the text
relating to plain-language versions of long or technical documents but remove the reference to AOA
documents.
APPENDIX D: Model Minimum Language Access Plans 64 OF 96
links will be in a location that is easy to see when interacting with the Google Translate
feature.
AOA and its departments and offices will audit their websites for accessibility for
people with low vision or other disabilities and will audit the mobile and tablet versions
of its websites whenever a major change to the content or structure of a website is
made.
AOA will upload links to a version of the public comment website translated into
the 14 languages recommended by the 2023 ORE Language Access Report. A video
version in ASL will be posted on the English language public comment website.
5. EMPLOYEE TRAINING ON LANGUAGE ACCESS SERVICES
In addition to the language access plan, each department or office within AOA will
maintain its own language access operations manual detailing the specific information
necessary for employees to provide language assistance to people who speak or sign
languages other than English.
25
That information will include, but is not limited to:
details of the relevant billing procedure to pay the language service provider for
services, including the specific account codes for the office or department;
contact information, such as e-mail address or phone number, for a point of
contact for each State-contracted language service provider;
guidelines on working with interpreters and other language service providers;
mechanisms for State employees to provide feedback or complaints about the
language service providers they interact with for the purpose of quality
improvement; and
a list of the relevant billing codes for different languages and different forms of
language assistance services.
AOA departments and offices will print out a physical copy of the information
contained within the language access operations manual in case of power outages or
internet service interruptions.
AOA will require all its employees to complete yearly refresher training on how to
provide language access services to people who speak or sign languages other than
English. The training will include:
understanding the importance of cultural competence and intercultural adaptation
in interactions with people of different national origins, ethnicities, or other social
dimensions of identity from the employee;
how to work with interpreters and other language service providers; and
25
In the recent language access report, ORE recommends using the same SharePoint website model as
the Vermont Department of Labor to develop language access operations manuals that all employees in
a department or office can easily access from their computer.
APPENDIX D: Model Minimum Language Access Plans 65 OF 96
how to request language assistance services through State-contracted service
providers.
All AOA employees will be required to participate in language services training
when they begin employment with AOA if they have not taken a State language
services training before, then once per year thereafter. Each AOA department or office
will designate employees in leadership positions to be accountable for overseeing the
training of their employees in language access procedures found in the department or
office’s language access operations manual.
As needed, AOA employees with billing/invoicing duties will receive training on how
to correctly create invoices for language access services in order to track the overall
cost of providing language assistance, including:
language the vital document is translated into or language in which interpretation
services are provided;
vendor used for language assistance services;
total costs for translating each document into another language or costs for
providing interpretation services;
whether a plain-language summary of a vital document or another document is
needed, and how much producing the plain-language summary costs; and
best practices for maintaining the privacy of people who request language
assistance services, including maintaining clients’ personally identifiable
information separately from billing records related to the provision of language
services in order to preserve clients’ privacy.
6. LANGUAGE ACCESS PROGRAM EVALUATION
The State relies on a Results Based Accountability (RBA) framework for
determining the effectiveness of its programs. RBA asks three questions:
How many people have been served by this program/service?
How well were they served?
Is anyone better off because of the service received?
AOA will develop a comprehensive evaluation framework to determine whether
language access programs at AOA have successfully ensured meaningful access to
AOA’s programs and services for people who speak or sign languages other than
English. Each department or office within AOA will report on the data required to
evaluate the RBA metrics. Example RBA metrics for language access may include:
How many people requested language access services through the department
or office?
When language assistance services were provided, was the department or office
employee able to accomplish the goals of meeting with the person with language
assistance needs?
What was the average time between the request for language assistance and the
employee being able to provide language assistance services?
APPENDIX D: Model Minimum Language Access Plans 66 OF 96
REFERENCES:
Agency of Administration. About the Agency of Administration (AoA). Accessed January 12,
2023. https://aoa.vermont.gov/About-AoA
President William J Clinton. (2000, August 16). Executive Order 13166—Improving Access to
Services for Persons With Limited English Proficiency. Federal Register.
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2000-08-16/pdf/00-20938.pdf
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2003, August 4). Guidance to Federal
Financial Assistance Recipients Regarding Title VI Prohibition Against National Origin
Discrimination Affecting Limited English Proficient Persons. HHS.Gov.
https://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/for-individuals/special-topics/limited-english-
proficiency/guidance-federal-financial-assistance-recipients-title-vi/index.html
ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS: COUNTER SERVICE/“I SPEAK” CARDS
Some State Agencies, such as the Department of Motor Vehicles, have office
locations where they provide services to members of the public. The following additional
elements are recommended to be added to language access plans for State agencies
that have direct client-facing office locations or programs. “[State Agency]” indicates the
location where one can substitute the name of one’s own agency, department, office, or
division when modeling language assistance plans using this sample plan.
[Optional Addition] 4. Language Assistance Services (Counter Service/“I Speak”
Cards)
[State Agency] employees will use “I Speak” cards to interact with people who
speak or sign languages other than English when they request counter service at a
[State Agency] office in-person or via phone. An electronic device such as a tablet or
laptop computer with a video version of the “I Speak” card in ASL will also be made
available in case a person who signs ASL requests counter services.
[Optional Addition] 5. Training on Language Access Plans (Counter Service/“I Speak”
Cards)
[State Agency] will train employees who work in public-facing positions where
they need to provide counter service to use “I Speak” cards when they begin their
position at [State Agency] and yearly thereafter.
Additionally, [State Agency] will employ multilingual people to test its employees
on their skill in providing language assistance services at least once per quarter per
office. The multilingual person will be paid to call or walk in to a/an [State Agency] office
to ask for counter service on a regularly requested topic for the [State Agency] in a
language other than English. After the encounter, the multilingual person will submit an
evaluation of the service they received at the office location and submit it anonymously
to the supervisory employees of the [State Agency] office location to assist with
improving language assistance services. If a/an [State Agency] employee who is
APPENDIX D: Model Minimum Language Access Plans 67 OF 96
providing counter service receives an unsatisfactory evaluation of their language
assistance skills, they will receive additional coaching and training on language access
procedures.
[Optional Addition] 6. Language Access Program Evaluation (Counter Service/“I
Speak” Cards)
[State Agency] will include RBA metrics for evaluating the success of its
language access program, including metrics for evaluating counter services and the use
of “I Speak” cards. The RBA metrics for evaluating the success of counter service and “I
Speak” cards include:
[list of RBA metrics for how much language access service is being provided,
how well language access services are being provided, and whether people who speak
or sign languages other than English are better off because of the language access
services that are being provided by the State agency. The Chief Performance Office can
assist with developing RBA metrics.]
ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS: EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
Some State entities such as the Department of Public Safety and the Department
of Health communicate with members of the public on topics related to public safety,
health, or emergency management. Such entities should refer to findings and
recommendations 4.E, 6.D, and 6.E in the 2023 ORE Language Access Report to
develop communications plans that consider the needs of people who speak or sign
languages other than English when developing public health, safety, or emergency
communications messaging.
Example language appears below for State entities that create public service
announcements, emergency communications, or emergency management:
[Optional Addition] 3. Notification of Language Assistance Services (Emergency
Communications)
When posting written content to a/an [State Agency] website or creating press
releases related to emergency communications, [State Agency] will include notices of
language services available at no cost to the recipient within all emergency
communications. At a minimum, the notices language services availability will be written
in the 14 languages recommended by the 2023 ORE Language Access Report, plus a
video version in ASL.
[Optional Addition] 4. Language Assistance Services (Emergency Communications)
[State Agency] commits to translating the written copies of emergency notices
into the 14 languages recommended by the 2023 ORE Language Access Report and
producing a video version in ASL. [State Agency] commits to providing language
APPENDIX D: Model Minimum Language Access Plans 68 OF 96
assistance services as requested to make sure that all people in Vermont can receive
and understand important information related to protecting their health or safety.
[State Agency] recognizes that video versions of emergency communications are
far more accessible to people who have difficulty reading in their primary language and
people with low vision than written announcements of emergency communications
alone. Therefore, [State Agency] will prioritize producing video versions of emergency
communications. In cases where emergency communications are time-sensitive, [State
Agency] will release written transcripts of the emergency communications in addition to
the video if adding closed captions to the emergency communications would slow down
the video production process past the timeframe during which the emergency
communications are needed.
ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS: JOB EDUCATION AND TRAINING MATERIALS
Some State entities are responsible for administering certification or licensure
tests for jobs that do not require English language proficiency. The educational
materials and exams for these jobs should be translated into languages other than
English to remain in compliance with federal regulations on language access. More
importantly, doing so will provide job opportunities for people who speak or sign
languages other than English in Vermont.
[Optional Addition] 4. Language Assistance Services (Educational Materials and
Exams for Jobs that Do Not Require English Proficiency)
[State Agency] commits to translating the educational materials and exams
related to jobs that do not require English language proficiency into the languages
identified as commonly spoken by the populations who interact with [State Agency]’s
programs and services during the evaluation process.
[State Agency] will by default translate educational materials and exams into
languages spoken or signed by at least one thousand (1,000) people or five percent
(5%) of Vermont’s population, whichever is fewer, in accordance with federal safe
harbor provisions (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2003). [State
Agency] will also examine which other languages should be prioritized for the translation
of educational materials and exams even if the number of speakers or signers of that
language is less than one thousand (1,000) people based on the community outreach
conducted by [State Agency] during the language access planning process.
APPENDIX E: VDOL Language Access Operations Manual 69 OF 96
Appendix E: Department of Labor SharePoint Language Access
Operations Manual
The screen captures below appear courtesy of the Vermont Department of Labor
(VDOL), and show VDOL’s SharePoint website containing language access operations
protocols and informational resources.
APPENDIX E: VDOL Language Access Operations Manual 70 OF 96
The following guidelines for working with interpreters were developed by the
VDOL Workforce Development Division State Monitor Advocate & Foreign Labor
Certification Program Administrator and shared in an August 26, 2022 presentation.
They are reproduced here with permission from the author.
APPENDIX E: VDOL Language Access Operations Manual 71 OF 96
Figure 4. Evolving Practices for Working with Interpreters
Figure 4 shows the evolving recommended practices for working with interpreters.
Figure 5. “Script for Breaking Old Habits” when Working with People Who Speak
or Sign Languages Other than English
Figure 5 emphasizes
the importance of
relying on qualified
interpreters who will
maintain
communicative
autonomy for all
participants, no
matter what topic is
being discussed (as
opposed to friends
or family, who may
have conflicts of
interest or feel
embarrassed to talk
about some
subjects.)
APPENDIX F: April 2022 Brainstorm Session Summary 72 OF 96
Appendix F: April 2022 Language Access Brainstorm Session
Summary Document
APPENDIX F: April 2022 Brainstorm Session Summary 73 OF 96
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APPENDIX G: Vital Document Translation Cost Estimate 86 OF 96
Appendix G: Summary of Executive Branch Agencies’ Vital Document
Translation Cost Estimate
RESEARCH PROCESS
In 2022 the Office of Racial Equity developed a cost estimate for translating the
vital documents from all Vermont Executive Branch government bodies. The research
team, led by the Racial Equity Policy & Research Analyst, began by developing a web
survey, hereafter referred to as the “vital documents survey,” to collect a list of potential
vital documents from as many Executive branch agencies/departments/divisions as
possible. The Office provided guidance and meetings as needed to assist statewide
staff with identifying which documents constituted vital documents.
Simultaneously, the research team interviewed staff from State-contracted
language access services providers to determine how to calculate the cost of translating
documents. By cross-checking calculations with historical invoices from previous
agency translation projects, the research team developed the following method for
estimating the cost of translating a single document.
DOCUMENT STANDARDIZATION AND TRANSLATION COST ESTIMATION PROCESS
1. Standardize the document according to the following procedure:
26
2. Determine if the original document is sufficiently complex in its formatting to require
additional “desktop publishing” time, or additional translator time to re-format after
translation is complete. Complex formatting includes the addition of elements such as
pictures, columns, bulleted lists, and different text colors. An example of a document
that would require additional desktop publishing time after translation is the Buildings
and General Services (BGS) Building Communities Grants Program flyer:
26
Some documents are sufficiently close to the standardized format that they did not require additional
standardization before estimating their translation cost. For example, see
https://bgs.vermont.gov/sites/bgs/files/files/property-management/BGS-Facilities-StateHouse-Lawn-
Rules.pdf.
COPY
•Copy text and paste into Word document
SET
•Set margins to “normal” (1” top, 1” bottom, and 1” sides); set font to Times New
Roman; resize to 12-point font; set spacing to single space
CLEAN
•Clean up formatting so that it is legible (e.g., each sentence after a bullet point of a
bulleted list is on its own line without overlapping other bullet points)
COUNT
•Count resulting number of pages, rounding up to the nearest half page no matter
how little text is on the final page
APPENDIX G: Vital Document Translation Cost Estimate 87 OF 96
Figure 6. BGS Building Communities Grants Program flyer
Figure 6 shows the Buildings and General Services Building Communities Grants
Program flyer before standardization.
Figure 7. Buildings and General Services Building Communities Grants Program
flyer after standardization using the research team’s method
Figure 7 shows the
Building
Communities Grant
Program flyer after
standardization.
The Building
Communities
Grants Program
flyer comprises 2
standardized
pages.
APPENDIX G: Vital Document Translation Cost Estimate 88 OF 96
3. Community language service providers confirmed that each page of standardized text
takes approximately one hour for a translator to translate from one written language to
another. The State-contracted rate for translators employed by community language
service providers is $55 per hour of work. Therefore, one standardized page is
calculated to cost $55 to translate into one other written language.
27
SPECIAL CASE: FILLABLE FORMS
Figure 8. VL-017 Application for Non-Driver ID, Pages 1-2
Figure 8 shows the first two pages of the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles VL-
017 Application for Non-Driver ID.
During the standardization process, the copy-and-paste method described above
will not yield the correct results due to incompatibility in the formatting between fillable
PDF documents and MS Word documents. Instead, a more successful approach is to
count the number of pages of the fillable form. This method accounts for the time
needed to reformat the document without requiring conversion to a standardized format.
Figure 9 below shows the third page of the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles VL-
017 Application for Non-Driver ID before and after standardization. A document like VL-
017 Application for Non-Driver ID which contains both fillable forms and complex
27
This translation cost estimate method cannot be applied to calculating ASL translation, which requires
producing a video of a signer.
APPENDIX G: Vital Document Translation Cost Estimate 89 OF 96
formatting as shown in Figure 9 will then be multiplied by a special formatting modifier of
2 to find the total number of standardized pages for the purposes of cost estimation.
VL-017 Application for Non-Driver ID: (2 pages fillable forms + 2.5 standardized pages)
x 2 special formatting modifier = 9 total page-hours of work for cost estimation purposes
Figure 9. VL-017 Application for Non-Driver ID, Page 3, Pre- and Post-
Standardization
Figure 9. The third page of VL-017 comprises 2.5 standardized pages total.
4. If the document is sufficiently complex to require additional desktop publishing time,
multiply the number of standardized pages by a special formatting modifier of 2. For
example, the page count for the Building Communities Grants Program would be:
2 standardized pages x 2 special formatting modifier
= 4 total page-hours for cost estimation purposes.
5. Multiply the number of page-hours by $55 to return the cost of translating the
document into one other language.
Building Communities Grants Program flyer:
4 page-hours x $55 per hour per page = $220
6. Multiply the cost for translating the document into one language by the number of
languages into which the document needs to be translated. For the example above,
assume using the AHS LEP Committee’s list of nine “Tier 1” languages and three “Tier
2” languages plus Simplified Chinese for a total of four “Tier 2” languages to create a
final Tier 1 and Tier 2 estimate. Then combine the Tier 1 and Tier 2 estimates for a total
cost estimate.
APPENDIX G: Vital Document Translation Cost Estimate 90 OF 96
$220 x 9 total languages in Tier 1 list = $1,980
$220 x 4 total languages in Tier 2 = $880
$1,980 + $880 = $2,860
Total for translating the Buildings and General Services Building Communities Grants
Program flyer from English into 13 other languages = $,2860
Using the methods described, the total cost to translate the BGS Building
Communities Grant Program flyer into 13 written languages is approximately $2,860.
This method does not account for the costs of producing an ASL translation of an
English written document, which requires video of the signer.
FINAL EXECUTIVE BRANCH VITAL DOCUMENT TRANSLATION COST ESTIMATE
Table 3. Total Estimated Vital Document Translation Costs, Department of
Buildings and General Services (BGS)
Table 3 shows the total vital document costs estimated for BGS.
The total for the 10 documents identified as potential vital documents for BGS
alone was $28,600. A table similar to Table 3 was created for each response to the vital
document survey. The cost estimates for respondents were used to extrapolate cost
estimates for non-respondents. The Office notes that despite the statutory provisions in
3 V.S.A. §5003 and 3 V.S.A. § 2102 granting the Director access to information and
cross-departmental cooperation to carry out the Director’s mandate, the refusal of some
departments to respond to the vital documents survey made the research team’s work
slower, more difficult, and potentially less accurate than it could have been. At least one
of the replies the Office received from non-respondents was akin to “sorry, but our
General Counsel said we shouldn’t answer these questions.” Making best efforts to
estimate the costs for the missing departments, the research team developed the
following table reflecting estimated costs for each Executive branch agency.
Table 4. State Executive Branch Vital Document Translation Cost Estimate
APPENDIX G: Vital Document Translation Cost Estimate 91 OF 96
APPENDIX G: Vital Document Translation Cost Estimate 92 OF 96
LIMITATIONS OF VITAL DOCUMENT TRANSLATION COST ESTIMATE PROJECT
Table 4 is only intended to encompass the total cost of the initial translation of
the vital documents that were identified at each Executive branch
agency/department/division listed in this document and the public-facing
boards/commissions that they support, if any. ORE cannot guarantee the accuracy of
extrapolated estimates due to non-response to the vital document survey.
These estimates are intended to be used in the aggregate to establish a total
budget for the vital document translation process for the entirety of Executive branch
entities and the public-facing boards/commissions they support. Costs for community-
based nonprofit partners of State agencies are not included. However, any entity that
receives federal funding is already individually subject to language access regulations
including, but not limited to, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services, 2003).
The cost of vital document translation for the Judicial and Legislative branches
are not included, except as noted by the ^ symbol. The final cost of vital document
translation at each State entity listed will need to be determined in consultation with
legal experts and program stewards using the 4-factor test.
Before a final individualized vital document translation budget estimate can be
reached, additional information to be determined by each Executive branch entity may
include:
Which documents are truly vital documents for the purposes of compliance with
applicable federal regulations;
Whether to translate other documents that may be useful or aid in public
transparency efforts, but do not rise to the level of vital document;
The cost of translating documents which may need a plain-language summary
before translation due to the complex or technical nature of the contents; and
Which languages to translate vital documents into based on the languages most
frequently spoken by the populations served by each entity.
Other limitations of this estimate include:
the estimate does not account for interpretation needs or translation needs
related to non-vital documents or individual client-specific documents.
the cost of American Sign Language (ASL) translation of vital documents is not
included in this budget, as ASL translation requires video production.
the cost of implementing website accessibility modifications or website
translations is not included in this estimate.
the cost of producing video/audio versions of a translator reading the translated
documents is not included in this estimate.
The languages chosen for Tier 1 and Tier 2 priority are based on the AHS LEP
Committee language list and the feedback from State-contracted language assistance
service providers. The language list may not reflect actual needs of people who speak
APPENDIX G: Vital Document Translation Cost Estimate 93 OF 96
languages other than English, depending on the specific populations served and the
services provided by each program.
Some people who speak languages other than English cannot read in their primary
language and may thus require extra language access supports, such as an audio or
video recording of a translator reading a document in the individual’s primary language.
This estimate does not account for the additional language assistance supports that
some individuals may need.
VITAL DOCUMENT MAINTENANCE COSTS
The research team did not generate an estimate for the ongoing costs of keeping
vital documents up to date. It is not possible to generate one estimate for the cost of
vital document translation maintenance that would apply to every State Executive
branch entity because there are too many factors to consider that differ from department
to department.
Information content
A key consideration is how often each vital document is updated with new
information that would require a review of the translation. For example, the Vermont
Department of Health (VDH) frequently needed to update emergency health information
related to the COVID-19 pandemic as new guidelines were created. VDH would have
far higher costs for vital document upkeep compared to the Vermont Department of
Motor Vehicles (DMV), which has not updated its Driver's License application form since
the form was translated in 2019.
Number of documents
An additional factor to consider is the number of vital documents. VDH will
probably have a higher cost of keeping its vital documents up to date than DMV
because there are more vital documents at VDH, which is responsible for many public-
facing programs related to population health. DMV has fewer public-serving programs,
has fewer emergency communications bulletins which would be considered vital
documents, and undergoes less change in its programs and regulations year-to-year
than VDH.
Factors to consider when estimating the cost of keeping vital documents up to date
the number of and length of vital documents;
whether the information in the documents is final or whether it is subject to
change;
the frequency with which changes occur that would require the vital documents to
be updated (quarterly, yearly, once a decade, only when rules and regulations
change); and
the number of languages into which the vital documents are translated, as the
more languages a document is translated into, the higher the cost of maintaining
all of the translated versions will be.
APPENDIX G: Vital Document Translation Cost Estimate 94 OF 96
COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE PROVISION OF INTERPRETATION AND
TRANSLATION SERVICES
As part of this project, the research team also reviewed several State
departments’ costs associated with language services in previous fiscal years. Fiscal
analysts in willing departments identified all costs associated with interpretation and
translation services by querying the billing codes paid to State-contracted language
service providers. Representatives from the Office of the Defender General (DGO),
DMV, Department for Children and Families (DCF), Legislative Branch, and Judiciary
Branch all contributed to this data set.
The language in which services were provided usually could not be identified by
looking up the billing code alone, as invoices did not list the language in which services
were provided. A notable exception was that ASL interpretation services could
sometimes be identified by counting invoices paid to Vancro Integrated Interpreting
Services (IIS), the sole ASL interpretation service provider contracted by the State.
However, this was complicated by the fact that invoices were sometimes listed as paid
to an individual directly under their first and last name rather than to the language
services provider. The discrepancies in billing practices likely led to undercounting the
number of times that ASL interpretation was used. The undercounting of ASL
interpretation invoices would also decrease the estimated cost of ASL interpretation
services as compared to services in other languages. This portion of the research
project led directly to the inclusion of findings 2.B and 2.C of this report. Table 5 below
summarizes the results of this portion of the research project.
APPENDIX G: Vital Document Translation Cost Estimate 95 OF 96
Table 5. Historical data on individual agency yearly spending on interpretation
and/or translation services
Table 5 shows the results of the research into calculating the average cost of
providing interpretation and/or translation services from a variety of State sources. The
mean cost in cell C19 is highlighted in light green. The formula bar at the top of the
image shows the equation used to calculate the mean cost across the available data
sources. The mean should be considered with caution because of the small sample size
and vastly different levels of interaction with clients who speak or sign languages other
than English found in each entity included in the calculation of the mean.
Several of the contributors noted that a significant decrease in requests for
language assistance occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic while State offices were
temporarily closed or limited to remote services only. Future attempts to estimate the
yearly cost of language assistance services should rely on data collected before or
after, not during, the fiscal years during which services were disrupted by the COVID-19
pandemic.
N E L S O N M A N D E L A
“If you talk to a man in a
language he understands, that
goes to his head. If you talk to
him in his own language,
that goes to his heart.”
“The difference between the
right word and the almost right
word is really a large matter—it’s
the difference between lightning
and a lightning bug.”
“With languages, you are at
home anywhere.”
M A R K T W A I N
E D M U N D D E W A A L
