Orange County Title VI Nondiscrimination Policy And Plan

needs and resources available to provide meaningful access to programs, activities, and servicesand notes the County’s current efforts to provide meaningful access.It is the policy of the Orange County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) that the County shall“protect and safeguard the right and opportunity of all individuals to be free from all forms ofdiscrimination, including discrimination based on national origin.” It is also BCC policy to ensurethat persons with limited English proficiency are not discriminated against or denied theopportunity for meaningful access to and participation in County programs, services, and activities.ScopeOrange County’s Limited English Proficiency Plan shall specifically apply to Limited EnglishProficiency Persons as defined below.Definitions Bilingual Staff: Persons who are fluent in two languages, including those who are fluent inagency terminology and therefore able to conduct the business of their workplace in bothlanguages. Competent Translators: Persons who possess competence in providing for the linguistic,cultural, factual and technical information in the replacement of written text from onelanguage (source language) into an equivalent or best matching written text in anotherlanguage (target language). Interpretation: The act of listening to something in one language (source language) andorally translating it into another language (target language). Limited English Proficient Persons: Individuals who do not speak English as their primarylanguage and who have a limited ability to read, write, speak, or understand English andwho are entitled to language assistance with respect to a particular type of service, benefit,or encounter.1Department of Justice, “Guidance to Federal Financial Assistance Recipients Regarding Title VI Prohibition AgainstNational Origin Discrimination Affecting Limited English Proficient Persons,” Federal Register, Vol. 67, No. 117, June 18,2002, (DOJ Guidance) p. 41459.1

Recipient: Entities, including local governments, that receive federal financial assistance,including grants, training, use of equipment, donations of surplus property, and otherassistance, are considered recipients.2 Subrecipient: Entities that receive federal funds from a recipient and that are subject to therequirements of Title VI. Translation: The replacement of a written text from one language (source language) intoan equivalent or best matching written text in another language (target language). 3 Vital Documents: Examples of vital documents include consent and complaint forms;notices of rights and disciplinary action; notices advising LEP persons of the availability offree language assistance; written tests that assess competency for a particular license, job,or skill for which English competency is not required; and applications to participate in aprogram or activity or to receive benefits or services.4 US DOJ also provides that vitaldocuments must be translated when a significant number or percentage of the populationeligible to be served, or likely to be directly affected by the program/activity, needs servicesor information in a language other than English to communicate effectively. Competent Interpreters: Persons who possess competence in listening with understandingof the linguistic, cultural, factual and technical information in one language (sourcelanguage) and orally translating such information into another language (target language)with competence in conveying the linguistic, cultural, factual and technical information intothe target language.Designation of Staff CoordinatorOrange County has designated Ricardo Daye, Director of County’s Human ResourcesDepartment, as Title VI/Nondiscrimination Coordinator and as the individual responsible foroversight and implementation of the Limited English Proficiency Plan; the current information forthis individual is noted immediately below. Responsibilities include coordinating and facilitating2DOJ Guidance, p. 41459.DOJ Guidance, p. 41463.4 DOJ Guidance, p. 41463.3

delivery of related services, staff training on the Plan’s policies and procedures, and ongoingmonitoring and assessment of the Plan’s effectiveness.Ricardo Daye, Director, Human Resources DepartmentTitle VI/Nondiscrimination CoordinatorOrange County Government450 E. South StreetOrlando, Florida 32801(407) 836-5825Access@ocfl.netComplaint ProceduresThe County has established a nondiscrimination procedure and will take prompt and reasonableaction to investigate and eliminate discrimination when found. Any person who believes that heor she has been subjected to discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, age,disability, religion, income or familial status in any of the County’s programs, services, oractivities may file a complaint with the County Title VI/Nondiscrimination Coordinator in writingat Orange County Human Resources, 450 E. South Street, Orlando, FL 32801, in person, orvia US mail.The written complaint should contain the identity of the complainant, the basis for theallegations, and a description of the alleged discrimination with the date of the occurrence.Based on the Self-Assessment, Orange County’s Title VI complaint forms shall be provided inEnglish, Haitian Creole, and Spanish.The Title VI/Nondiscrimination Coordinator will respond to the complaint within thirty (30) daysand will take reasonable steps to resolve the matter. Should the County be unable tosatisfactorily resolve the complaint, the Title VI/Nondiscrimination Coordinator will forward thecomplaint, along with the record of its disposition, to the appropriate federal and/or stateauthority for further processing.For persons included in a regularly encountered Limited English Proficiency group, based onthe Self-Assessment in Part A, the County shall provide written notification of the opportunity tofile a discrimination complaint in accordance with federal regulations at www.ocfl.net.For infrequently encountered groups, LEP persons may be advised orally of the opportunity tofile a discrimination complaint pursuant to federal regulations.

Part A: Self-AssessmentPursuant to Executive Order 13166 and implementing guidance, Orange County is required totake reasonable steps to ensure meaningful access to programs and activities by LEP persons.DOJ Guidance provides four (4) factors that recipient agencies should consider and balance todetermine the extent of their obligations to provide LEP services.5This section describes the results of an assessment of how Orange County is identifying andaddressing requirements for LEP populations based on the U.S. DOJ’s four factors, illustrated inFigure 1.Figure 1. DOJ Four Factors for Self-Assessment(Factor 1)Number/Proportion ofLEP PersonsServed(Factor 2)Frequency ofLEP Interaction(Factor 3)Nature andImportance ofProgram(Factor er/Proportion of LEP Persons ServedLEP populations within the County were identified using U.S. Census data. For purposes of theanalysis, a “Limited English Proficient” person is the Census category of “Speaks English less thanvery well.” As shown in Table 1 and Table 2, LEP persons make up 13.0 percent of the Countypopulation, with the highest proportion speaking Spanish or Spanish-Creole (9.4 percent of thetotal County population). Other LEP populations of note speak Haitian Creole, other IndoEuropean Languages (including Portuguese), Vietnamese, Chinese, and Tagalog.5DOJ Guidance, p. 41459 - 41461.

Table 1. Limited English Proficiency Populations in Orange CountyTotal County Population(5 Years and Older)Limited English ProficiencyPopulationPercent of Limited EnglishProficiency Population1,349,746175,84913.0%Source: 2015 -2019 5-Year American Community Survey (Table C16001).Table 2. Limited English Proficiency by Language SpokenLanguage SpokenPersons SpeakingEnglish Less thanVery WellPercent of PersonsSpeaking EnglishLess than Very Well(Compared with TotalLEP Population)Percent of PersonsSpeaking EnglishLess than Very Well(Compared with TotalCounty Population)Spanish or Spanish Creole126,84772.1%9.4%French, Haitian, or Cajun Creole17,0799.7%1.3%Other Indo-European nese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese)5,3313.0%0.4%Tagalog (incl. Filipino)2,4321.4%0.2%Other e: 2015 -2019 5-Year American Community Survey (Table C16001).*According to the 2019 1-Year American Community Survey (Table B16001), 6,764 persons speak Portuguese at home and speak English“less than very well (n 1,309,758), or 0.5% when compared with the Total County Population. This language category was not availabledisaggregated in the 5-year estimates.The locations of LEP populations in Orange County at the Census tract level are shown in Figure2.

Figure 3 and Figure 4 show Spanish-speaking and Haitian Creole-speaking LEP populations,respectively.The highest proportion of LEP Spanish speakers, over 20 percent, is located to the west and northof the Orlando International Airport and southwest of downtown Orlando near the Florida Turnpike.Additional Spanish-speaking LEP populations are located east of downtown Orlando, Ocoee,Winter Garden, and Apopka. While areas at the County boundary, such as Apopka and thesoutheast corner of the County, have Spanish speaking populations, it should be noted that theseareas are sparsely populated. Identification of Spanish speaking LEP populations for outreach andengagement should focus on residential areas within sparsely populated communities like Apopkaand Lake Mary Jane.The highest proportion of LEP Haitian-Creole speakers (over 2.0 percent) is located northwest ofOrlando in Pine Hills, Clarcona, and East Ocoee. Additional Haitian-Creole-speaking LEPpopulations are in southwest Orlando and communities in proximity, such as Oak Ridge, Sky Lake,Pine Castle, Taft, and Southchase.Federal guidance defines a “safe harbor” for compliance with guidelines regarding provision ofwritten translations as “providing written translations for each eligible LEP language group thatconstitutes five percent or 1,000, whichever is less, of the population of persons eligible to beserved or likely to be affected or encountered.”6 Because the County’s Spanish or Spanish-CreoleLEP population exceeds five percent of the total County population, the County has the option totranslate all vital documents into Spanish as a “safe harbor” to comply with translation obligationsunder Title VI. Other LEP populations should be considered for this standard if the Countyprogram, activity, or service is likely to serve, affect, or encounter them. According to U.S.Department of Transportation guidance, “A ‘safe harbor’ means that if a recipient provides writtentranslations under these circumstances, such action will be considered strong evidence ofcompliance with the recipient's written-translation obligations under Title VI.”7Frequency of Contact with LEP PersonsAn internal vital communications survey circulated to County Divisions in November 2021 collectedinformation on the frequency of contact with LEP persons. This survey identified the County’s6DOJ Guidance, p. 41464.Department of Transportation, “Policy Guidance Concerning Recipients’ Responsibilities to Limited English ProficiencyPersons,” Federal Register, Vol. 70, No. 239, Dec 14, 2005, tml/05-23972.htm.7

frequency of contact with LEP persons; vital documents that are or should be translated; and typesof activities, services, or programs where interaction with LEP persons occurs or is anticipated.County Divisions that provide more public-facing services reported higher frequency of contactwith LEP populations.For example, divisions such as Housing, Youth and Family Services, and Code Enforcementreported frequent/daily interactions with LEP persons, while the Stormwater Management, theMedical Examiner’s Office, and Low-Income Energy Services Divisions reported one or fewerinteractions annually. Many Divisions reported that they direct residents to the County’s third-partyLanguage Line (through 311 or 911) when there is a language barrier or that they request internalbilingual staff to interpret when needed.Emergency and Non-Emergency Interpretation RequestsBetween 2019 and October 2021, the Language Line fielded 196 requests for verbal and virtual

Figure 2. Percent of Population with Limited English Proficiency by Census Tract

Figure 3. Percent of Spanish Population with Limited English Proficiency, Speaking Spanish or Spanish Creole by Census Tract

Figure 4. Percent of French, Haitian and Creole Population with Limited English Proficiency, Speaking French, Haitian and Creole byCensus Tract

interpretation services. Languages requested were Spanish, Haitian Creole, Portuguese, Arabic,and Vietnamese. Between January 2019 and mid-December 2021, the Fire Rescue Departmentfielded 634,365 inbound calls (emergency and non-emergency) to the communications center, ofwhich 6,690 calls, or 1.05 percent, required interpretation assistance. The volume of interpretationassistance slightly increased from the previous reporting period of 2016 to 2019, during which 0.84percent of calls required language assistance.The Spanish-speaking LEP population is likely to be the most frequent LEP populationencountered, but all County Divisions and staff must do appropriate review of programs, services,and activities to identify other LEP language populations where language assistance is needed.For example, Haitian Creole LEP populations are concentrated in certain parts of the County andmay require language assistance for projects or programs in those areas.Title VI WebsiteIn 2021, there was a total of 17,624 clicks of the County’s Title VI webpage, and 7 clicks of theSpanish version of the webpage. The Title VI Policy, Plan, and Resolution document was opened442 times.Project, Service- or Activity-Specific GuidanceFor a specific project, service, or activity conducted by the County, the County has supportdocuments and training for staff to help identify LEP populations and ensure appropriatetranslations and services, including support via County translation and interpretation professionalservices contracts. For most projects, services, and activities, identification of LEP populationsoccurs during the stakeholder identification process, and the frequency of contact should bedocumented.Nature or Importance of the ProgramFor a specific project or activity, project managers must determine the nature and importance ofthe program to LEP populations to determine which language assistance services may be needed.According to DOJ Guidance, this criterion should be used to determine whether denial or delay ofaccess to services or information could have serious or even life-threatening implications for theLEP person. DOJ Guidance notes the example of the difference in consequences betweencommunicating rights to a person who is arrested versus providing recreational programming.88DOJ Guidance, p. 41460.

An internal vital communications survey circulated to County Divisions in May 2021 and November2021 requested information on division programming and services related to LEP populations.County Divisions with the most public-facing work and most frequent encounters with LEPpopulations indicated the most need for vital documents in additiona

activities, and services. Orange County has conducted a Self-Assessment and developed a Limited English Proficiency Plan based on applicable federal guidance. Consistent with this guidance, Orange County's Self-Assessment in Part A of this Plan includes a "four factor" evaluation of: Relevant demographic information for Orange County,