§ 244.184 — Language access plan: Development and biennial revision; requirements; public comment; inclusion of necessary funding in proposed budget of county; submission to Office for New Americans

Nevada § 244.184

• Jurisdiction: Nevada
• Title 20: COUNTIES AND TOWNSHIPS: FORMATION, GOVERNMENT
• Ch. 244: Counties:

Text

1. Each board of county commissioners shall designate one or more employees of the county to be responsible for developing and biennially revising a language access plan for the county that meets the requirements of subsection 2.
2. A language access plan must assess existing needs of the residents of the county for language services and the degree to which the county has met those needs. The plan must include recommendations to expand language services, if needed, to improve access to the services provided by the county. The plan must:
(a) Outline the compliance of the county and any contractors, grantees, assignees, transferees or successors of the county with existing federal and state laws and regulations and any requirements associated with funding received by the county concerning the availability of language services and accessibility of the services provided by the county or any contractors, grantees, assignees, transferees or successors to residents of the county who are persons with limited English proficiency;
(b) Provide an inventory of language services currently provided by the county, including, without limitation:
(1) Procedures for designating certain information and documents as vital and providing such information and documents to residents served by the county in the preferred language of such persons, in aggregate and disaggregated by language and type of service to which the information and documents relate;
(2) Oral language services offered by language and type;
(3) Procedures and resources used by the county for outreach to persons with limited English proficiency who are residents of the county, including, without limitation, procedures for building relationships with community-based organizations that serve such persons; and
(4) Any resources made available to employees of the county related to cultural competency;
(c) Provide an inventory of the training and resources provided to employees of the county who serve residents who are persons with limited English proficiency, including, without limitation, training and resources regarding:
(1) Obtaining language services internally or from a contractor;
(2) Responding to persons with limited English proficiency over the telephone, in writing or in person;
(3) Recording in the electronic records of the county that a resident served by the county is a person with limited English proficiency, the preferred language of the person and his or her literacy level in English and in his or her preferred language;
(4) Communicating with the board concerning the needs of the residents served by and eligible to receive any services from the county for language services; and
(5) Notifying residents who are persons with limited English proficiency who are eligible for or currently receiving services from the county of the services available from the county in the preferred language of those residents at a literacy level and in a format that is likely to be understood by those residents; and
(d) Identify areas in which the services described in paragraph (b) and the training and resources described in paragraph (c) do not meet the needs of residents who are persons with limited English proficiency in the county, including, without limitation:
(1) Estimates of additional funding required to meet those needs;
(2) Targets for employing persons who are fluent in more than one language;
(3) Additional requirements necessary to ensure:
(I) Adequate credentialing and oversight of translators and interpreters employed by or serving as independent contractors for the county; and
(II) That translators and interpreters used by the county adequately represent the preferred languages spoken by residents of the county; and
(4) Additional requirements, trainings, incentives and recruiting initiatives to employ or contract with interpreters who speak the preferred language of residents who are persons with limited English proficiency who are eligible for or currently receiving services from the county and ways to partner with entities involved in workforce development in imposing those requirements, offering those trainings and incentives and carrying out those recruiting initiatives.
3. If there is insufficient information available to develop or update the language access plan in accordance with the requirements of this section, the employee or employees designated pursuant to subsection 1 shall develop procedures to obtain that information and include the information in any revision to the language access plan.
4. Each board of county commissioners shall:
(a) Solicit public comment concerning the language access plan developed pursuant to this section and each revision thereof; and
(b) Include any funding necessary to carry out a language access plan, including, without limitation, any additional funding necessary to meet the needs of residents who are persons with limited English proficiency served by the county as identified pursuant to paragraph (d) of subsection 2, in the proposed budget for the county.
5. On or before August 1 of each even-numbered year, each board of county commissioners shall submit the language access plan developed and revised pursuant to subsection 1 to the Office for New Americans created in the Office of the Governor pursuant to NRS 223.910 .
6. As used in this section:
(a) “Language services” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 232.0081 .
(b) “Oral language services” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 232.0081 .
(c) “Person with limited English proficiency” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 232.0081 .
(d) “Translation services” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 232.0081 .

Legislative History

(Added to NRS by 2023, 2940 )