Providing meaningful language access

According to the U.S. Census, over 25 million people over the age of five living in the United States speak a language other than English, and do not speak English very well. In order to carry out enhanced safety planning, ensure meaningful access to services, and provide critical information to assist survivors in making informed choices, it is imperative to ensure meaningful access to services for ALL survivors.

This document provides recommendations for service providers for working with domestic violence survivors with limited English proficiency. Ethical and legal considerations are discussed, as well as tips for working with interpreters.

These guidelines focus on court interpretation for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault or trafficking with limited English proficiency. It is intended to inform how advocacy, interpretation, and language access can be integrated.

This tip sheet presents information on how to determine if a client needs an interpreter and provides tips on working with interpreters to communicate effectively with clients. It also provides guidelines on assessing the interpreter's knowledge of the Code of Professional Responsibility and on assessing the interpreter's skill to interpret the information accurately.

This document provides a framework to help organizations develop a Language Assistance Plan.

This resource offers guidance on communicating via an interpreter. Available in both English and Spanish.

This paper summarizes efforts undertaken by the National Latino Alliance for the Elimination of Domestic Violence to develop responses to the particular challenges and barriers faced by Spanish-speaking Latina survivors and by organizations serving them. Included here are guidelines for developing Spanish-language material.

This quiz helps service providers identify if their services are linguistically and culturally accessible to immigrant and refugee women.

This resource outlines protocol for working with LEP survivors of domestic violence. It also contains answers to frequently asked questions, and has articles that cover working well with interpreters, basic dos and don'ts of advocacy with LEP clients, and a know your rights sheet for immigrants and refugees.

This tip sheet clearly lists the steps that domestic violence programs can take to develop a language access plan for Limited English Proficiency individuals.

This guide explains the difference between interpretation and translation, and provides standards of practice and methods and modes of interpreting and translating.

This report explores police responses to immigrant victims of crime from the perspectives of various service providers, including legal services, pro bono attorneys, social service organizations, domestic violence/sexual assault programs, law enforcement and prosecutors offices.

This is a compilation of answers to frequently asked questions regarding Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which requires all programs that receive federal funds to take reasonable steps to ensure meaningful access to individuals with Limited English Proficiency.

This paper notes immigrant women's language barrier to accessing services for domestic violence. The paper provides guidance to police, prosecutors, courts, corrections centers, and shelter programs for determining their obligations toward immigrant women who experience domestic violence.