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Program Description

  Equity and Language Access

Limited English Proficiency (LEP) is a barrier between customers, colleagues, and the community and equitable access to services designed to promote their health, safety, and self-sufficiency. The focus of the Equity and Language Access Program is to use principles of equitable access to guide how staff plans, implements, and evaluates activities that provide access to language. This program is charged with delivering an LEP Policy and Implementation Plan, Department-wide, to fulfill an essential systemic strategy to create equitable access to services by mitigating language barriers and to comply with a Federal mandate for language access.

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Program Contacts

Contact Mark Hodge of the HHS - Administration and Support at 240.777.1568 or Deborah Lambert of the Office of Management and Budget at 240.777.2794 for more information regarding this department's operating budget.

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Program Performance Measures

Program Performance MeasuresActual FY22Actual FY23Estimated FY24Target FY25Target FY26
Number of referrals made for Multilingual Health Navigation Line/Interpretation Services 135,89533,36230,50030,50030,500
Total number of interpretations provided over the phone by our phone interpretation vendor to DHHS staff in order to serve LEP clients 223,40028,23928,50029,00029,500
Percent of clients satisfied with services for Multilingual Health Navigation Line/interpretation services 398%99%98%99%99%
Percent of clients able to access services upon referral 494%87%90%90%90%
Percent of participants of Equity Workshop who will be able to apply behaviors learned 597%98%98%98%98%
1  The decrease in the numbers from FY22 to FY23 may be related to the reduction in the number of calls on referrals to Covid-19 related services.
2  The fluctuation in use of telephonic interpretation over the past few years was affected by the pandemic: In FY21, at the height of Covid, these services were in high use. In FY22, with many Covid programs no longer funded, there was a decrease in usage. In FY23, utilization increased due to greater familiarity with accessing language resources, increased staffing across DHHS, and more frequent use of virtual communication. We expect usage in the coming years to be on par with FY23, with a slight increase each year.
3  Metric reflects satisfaction with services provided by CASA (contract with Latino Health Initiative) and Cross Cultural Infotech (contract with Asian American Health Initiative.) In FY23, there were 978 survey respondents across both programs. FY24-FY26 projections are based on percentages of satisfied clients from FY21-FY23.
4  There was a decline in this measure due to the complex nature of the needs presented by clients and a lack of programs that could satisfy those needs. For example, this year, the Asian language navigation line started serving Afghani clients, who had urgent needs for housing or immediate cash assistance. Due to service limitations or client ineligibility, some clients were not able to access the service they were seeking. FY24-FY26 projections are based on percentages of satisfied clients from FY21-FY23.
5  In FY23, the survey was distributed to 201 workshop participants and received 139 responses. FY23 performance likely increased due to the return of in-person workshops, where participants seem to be more engaged in the content than in virtual sessions.
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Program Budget Changes

FY25 Approved ChangesExpendituresFTEs
FY24 Approved12603022.00
Increase Cost: Language Assistance Services Due to Increased Demand2526900.00
Multi-program adjustments, including negotiated compensation changes, employee benefit changes, changes due to staff turnover, reorganizations, and other budget changes affecting multiple programs.44913995.00
FY25 Approved60043917.00