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LEP Plan

Sixth Judicial District Administration

LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENCY (LEP) PLAN

Section I.  Legal Basis and Purpose

This document serves as the plan for Sixth Judicial District Administration to provide services to LEP individuals in compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; 45 C.F.R. § 80 et seq; and 28 C.F.R. § 42 et seq.  The purpose of this plan is to provide a framework for the provision of timely and reasonable language assistance to LEP persons who come in contact with Sixth Judicial District Administration.

This LEP Plan was developed to ensure equal access to court services for persons with limited English proficiency and hearing impaired persons. Although deaf and hard of hearing individuals are covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) rather than Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, they have been included in this plan insofar as they relate to the Minnesota Judicial Branch Court Interpreter Program.

Section II.  Needs Assessment

Statewide

The State of Minnesota provides court services to a wide range of persons, including people who do not speak English or who are hearing impaired. Service providers include the Minnesota Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals and trial courts in the ten judicial districts.

According to the state’s financial management software, MAPS (Minnesota Accounting and Procurement Software), which tracks court interpreter usage, the most widely used languages for interpreters in Minnesota courts in 2002 were (in descending order of priority):

• Spanish
• Hmong
• Somali

Sixth Judicial District Administration

Sixth Judicial District Administration will make every effort to provide service to all LEP and hearing impaired persons.  However, the following list shows the most requested languages for interpreters in 2002 in this district in descending order of priority:

• Hearing Impaired
• Spanish
• Somali

The district will conduct an annual needs assessment to determine whether changes to the LEP plan are required. This assessment may be done by tracking the number of interpreters requested by language in the courts, or by other methods.

At the time of this review, no specific needs were identified because District Administration has very minimal public contact with individuals who may need interpreters.

Section III.  Language Assistance Resources

LEP individuals may come in contact with district administration personnel via the phone or in the office. To that end, district administration has the following materials and other aids to help LEP individuals:

• “I speak” cards in Spanish, Somali, Vietnamese, Russian, Lao, Hmong, Khmer, and Arabic (see attachment A)

Plan Approval

Each court’s LEP Plan shall be approved by the District Administrator or state-level office administrator as applicable, and a copy forwarded to the State Court Administrator’s Office. The plan shall be reviewed and updated as necessary annually by each court.  SCAO will initiate the review process in June of each year.  Any revisions to the plan should be approved by the District Administrator and forwarded to SCAO.

Notification of Plan

Copies of the Sixth Judicial District Administration LEP plan will be provided upon request. In addition, Sixth Judicial District Administration shall notify local LEP-related advocacy groups of the plan’s availability. The State Court Administrator’s Office shall notify statewide LEP-related advocacy groups that the plan is available.

Section IV.  Training    

Training for front line staff members, who are often the first points of contact with LEP individuals, is provided.  They are trained on ways to identify LEP people, including the use of “I speak” cards, and how to deliver services to LEP individuals.   New employees are trained on the LEP plan as part of their new employee orientation provided by district personnel.  In addition, the SCAO Education and Organizational Development Division will incorporate broader LEP training into its existing training programs, including the Judicial Branch orientation.

Any revisions made to the plan will be communicated to all court personnel, and an updated version of the plan will be posted on the court’s web site, if one exists.  Otherwise it will be posted on the Supreme Court’s public website. 

Section V.  Monitoring

Evaluation of the LEP Plan 

In June of each year the statewide Court Interpreter Program Coordinator will coordinate with the judicial district interpreter liaisons to review the effectiveness of the LEP Plan.  The evaluation will include identification of any problem areas and development of required corrective action strategies.  Elements of the evaluation will include:

·                    Number of LEP persons requesting interpreters in Sixth Judicial District Administration offices.

·                    Assessment of current language needs to determine if additional services or translated materials should be provided

·                    Assessing whether staff members adequately understand LEP policies and procedures and how to carry them out

·                    Gathering feedback from LEP communities in the service area of  Sixth Judicial District Administration.

LEP Contact Person

The effective date of this LEP plan is December 31, 2003.