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Observatory Record Profile

DC Language Access Program FY24 Annual Compliance Review

Annual citywide compliance review with agency scorecards, performance indicators, and reporting across covered DC entities.

Report/evaluation United States District of Columbia Washington 2024

Record Overview

Profile Type City
Institution DC Office of Human Rights
Country United States
State / Region District of Columbia
City Washington
Slug dc-language-access-program-fy24-annual-compliance-review

Tags

annual review accountability compliance monitoring performance scorecard reporting cycle language data complaint process corrective action training requirement

Capacity Domains

Data and Monitoring

Reporting Requirements

Major public-contact agencies must designate a Language Access Coordinator, collect LEP/NEP interaction data, provide interpretation, translate vital documents, train staff, maintain an internal policy, develop a Biennial Language Access Plan, and report implementation progress to OHR quarterly. Non-major public-contact agencies must submit a yearly implementation report. OHR conducts an annual compliance assessment across covered entities.

Training Requirements

Staff language access compliance training required; agencies report training activity to OHR; FY24 included 483 trainings for 14,592 employees, contractors, and grantees; OHR expanded online training through Articulate module across 66 covered entities.

Complaint Mechanism

Individuals or organizations may file a language-access complaint with the DC Office of Human Rights. The Language Access Program Director oversees the complaint process, issues final findings, and works with non-compliant covered entities on corrective actions.

Service and Operational Features

Citywide compliance scorecards; agency performance indicators; field testing; quarterly and annual reporting; Language Access Coordinators; Biennial Language Access Plans; training; vital-document translation; telephonic interpretation; multilingual phone trees; community outreach; complaint enforcement.

Languages Covered

DC uses agency-specific language thresholds. Vital documents must be translated when a language group reaches 3% of the agency population served or 500 individuals, whichever is less. FY24 reporting references interpretation across 77 languages and highlights population language groups including Spanish, Amharic/Somali/Other Afro-Asiatic, French, Chinese, Korean, and Persian/Farsi/Dari.