§ 268.01925 — Language access plan: Development and biennial revision; requirements; public comment; submission to Office for New Americans

Nevada § 268.01925

• Jurisdiction: Nevada
• Title 21: CITIES AND TOWNS
• Ch. 268: Powers

Text

1. The governing body of a city shall designate one or more employees of the city to be responsible for developing and biennially revising a language access plan for the city that meets the requirements of subsection 2.
2. A language access plan must assess existing needs of the residents of the city for language services and the degree to which the city has met those needs. The plan must include recommendations to expand language services, if needed, to improve access to the services provided by the city. The plan must:
(a) Outline the compliance of the city and any contractors, grantees, assignees, transferees or successors of the city with existing federal and state laws and regulations and any requirements associated with funding received by the city concerning the availability of language services and accessibility of the services provided by the city or any contractors, grantees, assignees, transferees or successors to residents of the city who are persons with limited English proficiency;
(b) Provide an inventory of language services currently provided by the city, including, without limitation:
(1) Procedures for designating certain information and documents as vital and providing such information and documents to residents served by the city 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 city for outreach to persons with limited English proficiency who are residents of the city, 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 city related to cultural competency;
(c) Provide an inventory of the training and resources provided to employees of the city 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 city that a resident served by the city 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 governing body concerning the needs of the residents served by and eligible to receive any services from the city for language services; and
(5) Notifying residents who are persons with limited English proficiency who are eligible for or currently receiving services from the city of the services available from the city 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 city, 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 city; and
(II) That translators and interpreters used by the city adequately represent the preferred languages spoken by residents of the city; 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 city 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. The governing body of a city 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 city as identified pursuant to paragraph (d) of subsection 2, in the proposed budget for the city.
5. On or before August 1 of each even-numbered year, the governing body of a city 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, 2944 )