Limited English Proficient Individuals in the United States: Linguistic Diversity at the County and State Level
These data tables show estimates of the number and share of LEP individuals - and the main languages or language groups they speak - across counties in the United States and Puerto Rico. The data, taken from the US Census Bureau’s pooled 2007-2011 American Community Survey and organized by state, show these groups as a percentage of the total population of the state and county as well as by absolute number.
Download Data

Limited English Proficient Individuals in the United States: Number, Share, Growth, and Linguistic Diversity
By Chhandasi Pandya, Margie McHugh, and Jeanne Batalova
The number of US residents who are deemed to be Limited English Proficient (LEP) has increased substantially in recent decades, consistent with the growth of the US foreign-born population. Sustained high rates of immigration and the dispersion of LEP individuals to new immigrant destination states has meant that an increasing number of states and localities must grapple with issues of communication and English language learning. To assist the wide array of stakeholders working with LEP populations, MPI’s National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy has compiled the most up-to-date analysis on the number, share, growth, and linguistic diversity of LEP individuals in the United States from 1990 to 2010 at the national, state and metropolitan levels.
Download Data Brief | State-level Data on LEP Number, Share, and Growth | State-level Data on Linguistic Diversity

Practitioner’s Corner: Testing and Training Volunteer Translators and Interpreters
By Amina Huda
Many municipalities have a volunteer language bank made up of bilingual staff who are called upon to provide translation and interpretation services. While it is cost effective to use in-house volunteers compared to a paid vendor service, it may be more challenging to ensure the quality of the language services provided. In response, New York City created a program called NYCertified that tests and trains bilingual employees in providing interpretation and translation services.
Click here to read full article.

Practitioner's Corner: Top 10 Best Practices for Multilingual Websites
The ability to communicate effectively with Limited English Proficient (LEP) audiences depends in part on having an effective web presence, whether through a website or social media platform. Ensuring quality of translation, ease of use, and accessibility to diverse populations requires a considered approach. These 10 Best Practices have been developed by GobiernoUSA.gov and the Government Multilingual Websites Group to help language access program managers build more effective multilingual websites.
Click here to read full article.

Practitioners’ Corner Archive:

• How to Assess the Effectiveness of Language Access Programs
• Drafting RFP and Contracts for Language Access Services
• Tips for Cost-Effective Language Access Planning
• Tips for Testing and Certifying Multilingual Employees
• Tips for Ensuring Translation Quality
• A Guide to the Language Portal

In September 2011, NCIIP and the Annie E. Casey Foundation hosted a unique, one-day convening on language access to assist federal agencies in the development and implementation of language access plans. The convening brought together over 150 federal agency officials, as well as language access managers from community organizations and state and local government to discuss promising approaches to devising, implementing, and monitoring language access services. Resources from the convening include:

• NEW: MPI's federal government language access resource guide, which includes information for filing complaints of potential civil rights violations
• Evaluation results from the “Implementing Language Access Plans: What Works, What Counts?” convening
• Annie E. Casey Foundation presentation of how federal agencies communicate with multilingual audiences
• US Department of Justice Checklist for Creating Language Access Plans
• New York City Department of Education’s Five-Factor Analysis for Identifying Translation Needs
• Other resources presented at the convening are available through the Language Portal’s online database by searching under “national resource.”

The phrase "language access services" describes services that agencies use to bridge the communication barrier with individuals who cannot speak, understand, read, or write English fluently. Both Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and President Clinton's 2000 LEP Executive Order (Executive Order 13166) mandate compliance for any agency receiving federal funds.

Click here for more information about the legal requirements to provide language access and access MPI's non-governmental language access resource guide, which contains information on state and local language access coalitions and other advocate networks working with limited English proficient communities to improve language access.

Examples of agency-wide initiatives that make services accessible to LEP clients include the following:

• Recruiting, employing and retaining bilingual employees (For example, Oklahoma Department of Human Services Interpreter/Translator Job Description)
• Contracting with translation/interpretation companies (For example, State of Washington's Request For Proposal (RFP) for Translation Services)
• Creating comprehensive plans to serve Limited English Proficient populations (For example, Hennepin County Limited English Proficiency Plan – Health and Human Services Departments)
• Translating key documents (For example, Florida Department of Children & Families' application for benefits)
• Establishing offices dedicated to Language Access Service (For example, Oakland, California's Equal Access Office)
  

We would like to thank the Annie E. Casey Foundation and its Language Access Practitioner's Network for their assistance and support in the development of our digital library.

The quality and scope of our digital library relies upon the contributions of publicly available state and local government documents. If you would like to recommend a document for inclusion or if you have found an error in our digital libary, please email us.

Health

Language Services for Patients with Limited English Proficiency: Results of a National Survey of Internal Medicine Physicians
By Jack A. Ginsburg, MPE
American College of Physicians, April 15, 2007

Effect of Awareness of Language Law on Language Access in the Health Care Setting
By Vanessa Grubbs MD, MPH, et. al.
Journal of General Internal Medicine, 21 (7), 683–688, July 2006

The Impact of Interpreters on Parents' Experiences with Ambulatory Care for Their Children
By Leo S. Morales, Marc Elliott, et. al.
Medical Care Research and Review, Vol. 63, No. 1, 2006

For the Benefit of All: Ensuring Immigrant Health and Well-Being
By Grantmakers in Health
November 2005

Pay Now Or Pay Later: Providing Interpreter Services In Health Care
By Leighton Ku and Glenn Flores
Health Affairs, 2005

A Patient-Centered Guide to Implementing Language Access Services in Healthcare Organizations
Project Officer: Guadalupe Pacheco
Contract No. 282–98–0029, Task Order No. 48, 2005

Overcoming Language Barriers in Health Care: Costs and Benefits of Interpreter Services
By Elizabeth A. Jacobs, MD, MPP, et. al.
American Journal of Public Health 866-869, May 2004

Immigrants, Persons with Limited Proficiency in English, and the TANF Program: What Do We Know?
By Shawn Fremstad
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, March 2003

Congressional Briefing: The Growing Need for Language Services
By National Health Law Program
December 2004

What a Difference an Interpreter Can Make: Health Care Experiences of Uninsured with Limited English Proficiency
The Access Project from the Center for Community Health Research and Action of the Heller School for Social Policy and Management
Brandeis University, April 2002

Education

Educating Parents in the Spanish-Speaking Community: A Look at Translated Educational Materials
By Sonia Colina and Julie Sykes
Bilingual Research Journal, 28: 3, Fall 2004

Legal/Criminal Justice

Interpreting Communities: Lawyering Across Language Difference
By Muneer I. Ahmad
U.C.L.A. Law Review, 2007

If Parents Don't Speak English Well, Will Their Kids Get Locked Up? Language Barriers and Disproportionate Minority Contact in the Juvenile Justice System
By Susan Shah
Vera Institute of Justice, October 2007

Overcoming Language Barriers in the Criminal Justice System: Can Language Assistance Technology Help?
By Insha Rahman, Joe Hirsch and Susan Shah
Vera Institute of Justice, September 2007

Increasing Access to Justice for Limited English Proficient Asian Pacific Americans
The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association
May 2007

Opening Our Doors to Language-Minority Clients
By Paul Uyehara
Journal of Poverty Law and Policy, March – April 2003

Public Safety

Overcoming Language Barriers: Solutions for Law Enforcement
By Susan Shah, Insha Rahman and Anita Khashu
Vera Institute of Justice, September 2007

Lost in Translation: Limited English Proficient Populations and the Police
By Bharathi A.Venkatraman
Police Chief, Vol. 73, No. 4, 2006

Social Services

Increasing Access to Services for Limited English Proficient Persons
By Lessard J. D. Gabrielle
International Journal of Public Administration, Volume 27, Issue 1 & 2, January 2005

The Application Process for TANF, Food Stamps, Medicaid and SCHIP: Issues for Agencies and Applicants Including Immigrants and Limited English Speakers
By Pamela Holcomb, et al.
The Urban Institute, January 2003

Language Access: Helping Non-English Speakers Navigate Health and Human Services
By Ann Morse
National Conference ofState Legislatures, January 2003

Increasing Access to Services for Limited English Proficient Persons
National Immigration Law Clinic
August 2003

How to Choose and Use a Language Agency: A Guide for Health and Social Service Providers Who Wish to Contract with Language Agencies
By Cynthia E. Roat
California Endowment, 2003

Other

Language Rights: An Integration Agenda for Immigrant Communities
By Sam Jammal and Tuyet Duong
Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) & the Asian American Justice Center (AAJC), November 2007

Avoiding Burnout of Bilingual Employees
By Anne Sturby
The Race Equity Project, September 2007

Report To Congress: Assessment of the Total Benefits and Costs of Implementing Executive
Order No. 13166: Improving Access to Services for Persons with Limited English Proficiency
Office of Management and Budget, March 14, 2002

Communicating More for Less: Using Translation and Interpretation Technology to Serve Limited English Proficient Individuals
By Jessica Sperling
Advances in translation and interpretation technology have given language access professionals a multitude of options for breaking down language barriers. However, with different and seemingly complex types of technologies now available, selecting the right technology system can be a challenge. And because language access needs vary immensely, rarely do agencies or service organizations have translation and interpretation needs that can be met the same way. This report by MPI's National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy provides an overview of available technologies, discussing their purposes, costs, and benefits. We invite vendors of translation and interpretation technology to fill out a survey detailing their products, and will periodically provide an update with new technologies. The survey can be completed here.
Download Report | Vendor Survey

• A Follow-Up Conversation on Evaluation and Assessment
• Resources to Strengthen Emergency Preparedness and Response in Limited English Proficient (LEP) Communities.
• Is This Working? Assessment and Evaluation Methods Used to Build and Assess Language Access Services in Social Services Agencies
• Language Access Policies at the State and Local Level
• Pay Differentials for Bilingual Employees
• Pricing Schedules
• Translation
• Interpretation

Told through the voices of youth who interpret for their families, Childhood in Translation is a documentary from filmmaker Robert Winn that recounts how language barriers pose risks to the well-being of immigrants and their children.

For more information, please click here.