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                              HHS Takes Action to Break Language Barriers
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**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 6, 2022**

        **Contact: 
                                    HHS Press Office**
          202-205-0143media@hhs.gov

          HHS Takes Action to Break Language Barriers
    
    

      *In addition to updating language access plans across the Department, HHS is**awarding $4 Million for a new language access initiative.*

Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is announcing a number of steps to improve language access through HHS programs and advance the Biden-Harris Administration’s goal of overcoming barriers to equity in health care and human services.

HHS is taking steps to improve meaningful communication with limited English proficient (LEP) individuals by relaunching its Language Access Steering Committee (Steering Committee) to support HHS’s implementation of language access obligations under President Joe Biden’s recent Executive Orders (EOs), as well as similar obligations under the HHS Equity Action Plan. As part of this Steering Committee, all HHS agencies will reassess and update their language access plans to ensure that LEP persons have meaningful access to HHS-administered health and human services programs and activities.

Simultaneously, the HHS Office of Minority Health (OMH) is announcing more than $4 million in grants to 11 organizations for an initiative called Promoting Equitable Access to Language Services in Health and Human Services. This three-year initiative covers developing and testing methods of informing individuals with LEP about the availability of language access services in health care-related settings.

“We know that people with limited English proficiency too often face discrimination when seeking health care and human services,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. “The risk of misinformation, the wrong type of care, or foregoing care altogether is high when language barriers persist. We’re putting policy into action to eliminate barriers to equitable care and leave no one behind.”

It is a violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for recipients of federal financial assistance to fail to take reasonable steps to provide meaningful access to people whose primary language is not English. In addition, Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act requires recipients of federal financial assistance to take reasonable steps to provide meaningful access to health programs and activities to persons with limited English proficiency.

“Ensuring appropriate communication with patients who have limited English proficiency is critical to providing high-quality care. Reliance on unqualified individuals to interpret medical information can lead to misunderstandings, devastating outcomes, or even death,” said HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) Director, Melanie Fontes Rainer. “OCR is proud to lead the HHS Language Access Steering Committee and the Department’s work to exemplify ways that organizations can assess their programs and develop language access plans to ensure persons with LEP have meaningful access to their programs, free of barriers or discrimination.”

“With more than 26 million people in the United States who do not speak English as their primary language and who have a limited ability to read, speak, write, or understand English, people with limited English proficiency have a higher risk for experiencing health care disparities,” said Rear Admiral Felicia Collins, M.D., Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority Health. “By identifying innovative strategies to enhance access to language services in health care, our new initiative will further support OMH’s efforts to advance health equity for all.”

Through the new OMH initiative, recipients will implement and evaluate strategies to enhance language access services through policy development and implementation, technology utilization, education for individuals with LEP, and education for providers, including medical support staff.  Awardees are expected to address health disparities among individuals with LEP and demonstrate the impact of those efforts on outcomes and the overarching goal of advancing health equity.

The recipients of OMH’s Promoting Equitable Access to Language Services in Health and Human Services initiative are:

Award Recipient
			City
			State
			Award AmountAsian Resources, Inc.
			Sacramento
			CA
			$375,000Georgia State University Research Foundation, Inc.
			Atlanta
			GA
			$310,076Asian Health Coalition
			Chicago
			IL
			$370,000Wichita State University
			Wichita
			KS
			$375,000Centro de los Derechos del Migrante, Inc.
			Baltimore
			MD
			$375,000Tufts University
			Boston
			MA
			$374,929Family Voices Inc.
			Lexington
			MA
			$375,000New York University Grossman School of Medicine
			New York
			NY
			$374,998Western Carolina Medical Society Foundation
			Asheville
			NC
			$375,000Thomas Jefferson University
			Philadelphia
			PA
			$375,000Bexar County Hospital District DBA University Health
			San Antonio
			TX
			$375,000**Total: $4,055,003**Today’s actions help fulfill obligations under the following EOs: EO 13985, Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government; EO 13166, Improving Access to Services for Persons With Limited English Proficiency; EO 14031, Advancing Equity, Justice, and Opportunity for Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders; EO 13995, Ensuring an Equitable Pandemic Response and Recovery; as well as the 2022-2026 HHS Strategic Plan; and the 2013 HHS Language Access Plan.

###

The **HHS Office of Minority Health** (OMH) is dedicated to improving the health of racial and ethnic minority populations through the development of health policies and programs that will help eliminate health disparities. Through its demonstration projects, OMH supports the identification of effective approaches for improving health outcomes and promotes the dissemination and sustainability of these approaches. For more information about OMH, visit www.minorityhealth.hhs.gov.

If you believe that you have been discriminated against in programs or activities that HHS directly operates or to which HHS provides federal financial assistance, you may file a complaintfor yourself or someone else at:  https://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/filing-a-complaint/index.html.
  

    ###
    Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other news materials are available at https://www.hhs.gov/news.Like HHS on Facebook, follow HHS on Twitter @HHSgov, and sign up for HHS Email Updates.Last revised: October 6, 2022

  
  
  







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  Content created by Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH) Content last reviewed October 6, 2022 Back to top
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