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Civil
Rights
Dear Colleague from the Assistant Secretary for Aging transmitting
Summary of Revised HHS Policy Guidance
September 26, 2003
Dear Colleague:
I wish to inform you that on August 8, 2003 the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services (HHS) published in the Federal Register
a revised policy guidance on the prohibition against national
origin discrimination as it affects individuals with limited
English proficiency (LEP). This guidance reiterates that Executive
Order 13166 and further guidance issued do not create new obligations,
but rather clarify existing responsibilities under Title VI of
the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The guidance is effective immediately
and I am asking you to make the enclosed summary available to
providers of services who receive federal funds.
I wish to remind you that section 307(a)(14) of the Older Americans
Act as redesignated by the reauthorization of 2000 (OAA) provides
for significant plan assurances if a substantial number of older
individuals residing in any planning and service area in the
State are of limited English-speaking ability; and that OAA section
321(a)(3) authorizes the use of Title III funds for language
translation services.
The guidance in the Federal Register may be found on the AoA
Web site at http://www.aoa.gov/prof/civil_rights/LEP/lep.asp,
with links to the Web site of the HHS Office for Civil Rights
at http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/lep/, to http://www.lep.gov/, and other
resources.
I shall be most interested in your views and in your plans to
eliminate any practices that may have a disproportionate effect
on individuals with limited English proficiency and to implement
provisions to assure that these individuals will not be denied
equal access to services.
Sincerely,
Josefina G. Carbonell
Assistant Secretary for Aging
Enclosure
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