Limited English Proficiency (LEP): Best Practices & More

According to a study based on recent U.S. Census Bureau data, 8.6% of the people in the country reported they speak English less than “very well.”

Moreover, over 51% of the immigrants in the country seemed to speak English less than “very well” and are referred to as limited English proficiency (LEP) individuals.

The trouble is that understanding and implementing the LEP requirement for federal agencies can be challenging.

In this guide, we’ll explore LEP in greater detail and help you discover how you can serve LEP populations better at your agency.

Using service delivery tools is one way to achieve this, and Qminder stands out with its multilingual support that allows customers to select their preferred language to enhance inclusivity.

What is Limited English Proficiency (LEP)?

Limited English proficiency or LEP refers to the limited ability of an individual who doesn’t speak English as their primary language to read, write, speak, or comprehend the English language.

Contrary to popular understanding, the limited English proficiency meaning extends to not just speaking English but also writing, reading, or understanding it.

Consequently, an LEP individual is a person who doesn’t speak English as their primary language. They also have limited ability to speak, write, understand, or read the language.

The term is used to describe people or populations who, because of their culture or place of birth:

• Do not speak English as their primary language,
• Speak, read, or write in a language other than English,
• Have a limited ability to speak, read, write, or understand English or
• Prefer to speak, read, or write in a language other than English.

To ensure inclusivity, the U.S. government established the LEP system through various relevant laws, such as the 2000 Executive Order 13166 to federal agencies and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

As per the Executive Order 13166 entitled Improving Access to Services for Persons with Limited English Proficiency, the LEP requirements include:

• Federal agencies must review their services and develop and implement a system that allows LEP individuals to meaningfully access those services.
• Federal agencies must develop a plan to enhance how eligible LEP persons access the activities and programs conducted and funded by that federal agency (which basically means everything the agency does).
• Federal agencies must ensure that recipients of federal funding provide meaningful access to LEP applicants and beneficiaries.
• Federal agencies must provide guidance to recipients of federal assistance concerning their mandate to ensure that people with LEP have meaningful access to that agency’s services and programs.

Federal financial assistance refers to training, grants, donations of surplus property, use of equipment, and any other assistance. A recipient of federal funds or assistance refers to any state agency, local agency, nonprofit, and other organizations that receive such assistance.

Challenges Faced by Individuals with Limited English Proficiency

People with limited English proficiency usually face challenges such as:

• National Origin Discrimination: In some instances, an agency’s activities and programs that are normally provided in English cannot be accessible to LEP people. The government sees this inaccessibility as discrimination based on national origin. The LEP individual doesn’t have to know they are experiencing this discrimination.
• Poor Language Assistance Services: Despite hard efforts, providing the best language assistance services to LEP persons can be elusive. For example, the communication disfavors the LEP individual if you don’t pause between sentences to allow for interpretation in an interaction.
• Psychological Issues: Discrimination, lack of a sense of belonging, and self-isolation can cause LEP people to develop psychological problems like stress and depression.
• Culture Shock: When there’s a significant difference between how public services are offered in the U.S. and the LEP individual’s country of origin, the individual can suffer culture shock.

How to Identify LEP

The government provides two key steps for identifying LEP individuals:

Step 1: Determine if the Individual is Limited English Proficient

You are required to handle an individual as LEP if:

• They identify themselves or are identified by a companion as LEP,
• They request an interpreter,
• They have aids or documents that show their lack of English proficiency, and/or
• If a bilingual staff member or professional interpreter verifies the person as LEP. For example, if they interact with the person and realize that they don’t understand or speak English well enough to fully understand and answer questions without difficulty.

Step 2: Determine the Primary Language Spoken by the Person

The second step complements and is fairly similar to the first one. Here’s what to consider:

• The individual self-identifies their primary language,
• The individual’s companion indicates the primary language,
• The individual’s available documentation indicates the primary language,
• A professional interpreter or bilingual employee verifies the primary language, and/or
• You can identify the primary language using job aids like the Habla? indigenous language identification poster.

Impact of Limited English Proficiency

Limited English proficiency usually has negative impacts across different fields, not only on the individual’s life but also on other people’s lives.

Let’s look at the areas that experience the highest impact:

LEP in Education

LEP usually affects the academic performance and effective communication of the individual in education settings.

According to a study published in the National Library of Medicine, 71% of youth with LEP scores register lower scores in standardized reading and math tests than their non-Latino counterparts who were proficient in English.

LEP persons can have academic challenges such as participating well in class, understanding educational content, and completing assignments.

LEP in Healthcare

Unwanted outcomes are a common issue for LEP individuals. They usually experience issues like medical services, medical errors, incorrect treatment, or misdiagnosis.

LEP persons can also experience limited or zero access to medical services because of the inability to identify the services they need, secure appointments, or engage service providers effectively.

Healthcare personnel and hospitals often face the brunt of litigations following unwanted outcomes for LEP people.

LEP in Business

For businesses and organizations that employ people with LEP, impacts can include lost business, poor innovation, and customer dissatisfaction.

You can lose business because poor communication leads to the loss of opportunities.

Language issues can limit the exchange of ideas, collaboration, and decision-making that lead to better innovation.

Language barriers between your employees and LEP customers can hinder effective communication.

If customers’ problems are not resolved, the chances of widespread dissatisfaction can increase. You can use simple strategies to increase customer satisfaction.

Best Practices for Serving LEP Populations

As a government facility, you can serve LEP populations better using the following practices:

1. Translating Written Materials

You’ll want to ensure all your paper and electronic written materials, usually provided in English, are also offered regularly in other languages besides English that you encounter often. You can hire translators to help you.

Some vital materials to consider translating include:

• Applications
• Complaint and consent forms
• Notices of rights or disciplinary action
• Letters or notices that require the LEP customer to respond
• Written tests that do not assess proficiency or competence in the English language
• Notices showing LEP customers that free language assistance services are available.

2. Hiring Bilingual or Multilingual Staff and Interpreters

You can hire bilingual or multilingual staff who can carry out the business of your agency or facility in several languages, especially when they are fluent in the common LEP population’s languages.

3. Recording, Tracking, and Analyzing LEP Customers’ Data

Customer service analytics can help improve service. You can record data such as the number of LEP persons served, their primary language, and the type of language assistance services they required, if any.

Analyze the instances where you offered language assistance to see if you need to change the quality or type of language assistance services. For example, you can see if you need to hire more bilingual staff.

You can also estimate the annual cost of interpretation and translation services and bilingual staff so you can assign resources to the most critical programs, languages, or locations.

4. Training Staff on Language Access Issues

Your staff will be able to provide meaningful access to LEP persons if you train them on language access procedures and policies.

Key training areas include:

• Making procedures clear to all involved parties to ensure language assistance services are seamless
• Providing language assistance services to LEP persons
• Identifying language access needs and LEP persons
• Training employees on customer service
• Content of the language access policy.

Your training can include the following groups of people:

• Managers
• Interpreters and translators
• Staff who plan language support services
• Bilingual or multilingual staff members who serve LEP populations
• Staff who interact or communicate with LEP individuals.

5. Develop a Process for LEP Feedback

A transparent and accessible system for LEP individuals to provide feedback can be a game-changer in helping you see where to improve. Ensure the system is easy for the individuals to use and understand.

6. Embrace Service Delivery Tools

You can use third-party customer service management tools to enhance your service not only to LEP persons but also to English-proficient populations.

The features available differ from one tool to another, but you’ll want to consider service intelligence, appointment scheduling, queue management, and multilingual support.

Qminder’s Solution to Improve Communication

Speaking of third-party customer service delivery tools, our Qminder platform comes in handy when you need language support to serve your customers better. Here’s what to expect from Qminder:

• Multilingual Support: We have a multilingual support feature that allows customers to choose the language they prefer from multiple options to make the experience more inclusive.
• Multilingual Flow: The Multilingual Flow feature helps businesses, organizations, government agencies, and other key users communicate with visitors in their native languages.
• Language and Translation Customizability: The Multilingual Flow feature also offers support for over 75 languages and automatic AI-based translations so that you can translate custom input fields and service names at the click of a button. You can even add more languages and customize translations!

Book a demo now to see how Qminder helps ensure visitors feel understood and appreciated regardless of their primary language.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Here are answers to questions regarding LEP persons and language assistance services: Most people usually assume that the LEP status applies to reading, writing, understanding, and speaking altogether.

The truth is that some LEP persons can speak English fluently but cannot write and read at the same level. Some can opt not to communicate in English.

Most people also assume that LEP people are not English-proficient just based on their country of origin. Some weren’t born in the U.S. but grew up in situations where they didn't interact well or at all with the English language. Here's how you can support your LEP employees better:

• Teaching them English to achieve proficiency.
• Providing translated materials.
• Providing interpreters where necessary.
• Hiring multilingual and bilingual staff for extra support.
• Implementing effective communication systems, such as demonstrating tasks rather than just explaining them.
• Building a positive workplace culture that shuns discrimination based on race, language, or national origin.

A study published in the National Library of Medicine acknowledges that limited English proficiency can cause psychological distress directly or indirectly.

If an individual cannot comprehend or understand English, they may feel a “cultural distance" from English-speaking individuals and isolate themselves socially.

Negative emotions like low self-esteem, anxiety, frustration, a sense of insecurity, loneliness, and sadness can lead to high psychological distress and disastrous mental health issues. You can expect three key costs associated with language assistance services. You can hire translators, interpreters, and bilingual or multilingual staff.

If you are using agencies to hire translators and interpreters, expect agency markup costs besides the translator or interpreter fees.

Service delivery tools and other GovTech solutions are another money outlet.

In some cases, you can face resource-draining litigations from LEP customers who sue your agency for reasons such as discrimination in service provision.

Conclusion

Navigating limited English proficiency legislation can be challenging. You’ll want to ensure all the staff who regularly interact with LEP individuals are well-prepared to handle their unique language assistance needs.

Besides hiring bilingual staff and interpreters or translators, you can use the Qminder customer service delivery tool to transform your citizen service delivery.

Qminder is a holistic solution that lets you manage queues to reduce wait times by up to 50%, collect and analyze customer service data for easier decision-making, and serve customers in their preferred language.

See Qminder in action at your agency — sign up for a free trial today.