About LEP.gov
Mission: LEP.gov promotes a positive and cooperative understanding of the importance of language access to federal programs and federally assisted programs. This website supports fair, reasoned and consistent implementation of Executive Order 13166, Title VI, and the Title VI regulations regarding language access. This site also acts as a clearinghouse, providing and linking to information, tools, and technical assistance regarding Limited English Proficiency and language services for federal agencies, recipients of federal funds, users of federal programs and federally assisted programs, and other stakeholders. Español
LEP.gov is created by the Federal Interagency Working Group on Limited English Proficiency. That Working Group was created at the request of the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. The Working Group includes members representing more than 35 federal agencies. This website is maintained by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Description of the INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP ON LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENCY FULL WORKING GROUP
Mission: To build awareness of the need and methods to ensure that limited English proficient persons have meaningful access to important federal and federally assisted programs, and to ensure implementation of language access requirements under Title VI, the Title VI regulations, and Executive Order 13166 in a consistent and effective manner across agencies.
Overall Strategies:
Create an active group representative of government employees striving to ensure that LEP persons have meaningful access to federally conducted and assisted programs. The group will consist of federal employees from the civil rights, program implementation, budgeting and procurement, and other fields so that the issues addressed and strategies utilized reflect the best thinking from all of these areas.
Bi-monthly working meetings highlighting particular areas of common concern/focus, as raised by subcommittees and the Steering Committee.
Subcommittees meeting monthly and working on priority areas selected by participants.
Share, create, and help to implement tools, promising practices, technical assistance, and ideas, including high quality, cost-effective means of providing language services.
STEERING COMMITTEE
The Steering Committee plans the direction of the Working Group, plans the bi-monthly meetings, and attends to other Working Group business.
SUBCOMMITTEES STRUCTURE
- Three subcommittees convened by an agency representative.
- Monthly meetings (at the bi-monthly Working Group meeting and in "off months").
- Program staff, as well as civil rights staff, are encouraged to participate actively.
Clearinghouse/Dissemination Subcommittee:
This subcommittee focuses on, for example:
- Tracking and collecting existing and new tools, examples of promising practices, model plans, the status of technological solutions, and other practical tools.
- Implementing strategies for disseminating these to other federal agencies, recipients of federal funds, and stakeholders to assist in ensuring meaningful access for LEP persons.
- Creation of LEP.gov and working with the Department of Justice to make LEP.gov a useful, one-stop-shop, on language access resources.
Competent, Consistent, and Cost Effective Federal Language Services (The Three C's Subcommittee)
This subcommittee focuses on, for example:
- Working with the General Services Administration and others to ensure that high quality, accurate, and cost-effective translation and interpretation services are available and economies of scale used, as needed by the agencies, etc. (Competency and Cost Effectiveness);
- Working to ensure that federal agencies in the regions are aware of and implementing the LEP initiative.
Outreach, Training, and Uniform Standards Subcommittee Targeted to Recipients of Federal Financial Assistance and Beneficiaries:
This subcommittee focuses on, for example:
- Creating and sharing user-friendly outreach material on LEP for beneficiaries and recipients;
- Developing training materials and modules on LEP;
- Uniform self-assessment tools.
News from the Working Group
Interagency Working Group on Limited English Proficiency December 2003 Meeting1/13/2004
Page last updated January 13, 2004