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AB-1084 Bilingual-Oriented Social Equity Services Grant Program.(2023-2024)

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Date Published: 02/15/2023 09:00 PM
AB1084:v99#DOCUMENT


CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 1084

Introduced by Assembly Member Stephanie Nguyen

February 15, 2023

An act to add Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 10095.1) to Part 1 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to public social services.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 1084, as introduced, Stephanie Nguyen. Bilingual-Oriented Social Equity Services Grant Program.
The Dymally-Alatorre Bilingual Services Act requires a state agency that serves a substantial number of non-English-speaking people, as defined, and that finds other specific factors to exist, to distribute specified written materials in the appropriate non-English language through its statewide and local offices or facilities to those non-English-speaking persons. As an alternative, the act requires the state agency to furnish translation aids or guides, or to provide assistance, through use of a qualified bilingual person, in completing English forms or questionnaires and in understanding English forms, letters, or notices.
This bill would require the State Department of Social Services, commencing with the 2023–24 fiscal year, to establish and administer the Bilingual-Oriented Social Equity Services Grant Program to distribute funding to nonprofit, community-based organizations that provide social services that ensure equity in access to specified public social services. Grants awarded pursuant to the bill would be used to provide a pay differential to direct service professionals who can communicate in a language or medium other than English, as defined, as a primary part of their regular job duties. The bill would require 40% of funds appropriated for its purposes to be awarded as Multilingual Success Grants, to community-based organizations serving those non-English-speaking populations in the community that meet the threshold of “substantial number of non-English-speaking people pursuant to the Dymally-Alatorre Bilingual Services Act. The bill would require 60% of the appropriated funds to be awarded as Multilingual Access Grants, to community-based organizations serving those non-English-speaking populations in the community that do not meet that threshold. The bill would establish the Bilingual-Oriented Social Equity Services Grant Program Fund, which would consist of moneys appropriated by the Legislature for purposes of providing the grants described in the bill.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 10095.1) is added to Part 1 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:
CHAPTER  4. Community Language Access

10095.1.
 The Legislature finds and declares as follows:
(a) The provision of services that are culturally and linguistically responsive to Californians is instrumental to improving access and equity in the direct services provided by both the government and community-based infrastructure.
(b) Direct service professionals are critical to the provision of services and supports to individuals with limited English proficiency.
(c) In recognition of the value of effective communication between direct service professionals and the Californians they serve, the provision of a pay differential for bilingual and multilingual direct service professionals will increase Californians’ access to staff who speak their preferred language.
(d) The Dymally-Alatorre Bilingual Services Act (Chapter 17.5 (commencing with Section 7290) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code) establishes the intent of the Legislature to provide effective communication between all levels of government in this state and the people of this state who are precluded from utilizing public services because of language barriers.
(e) The act establishes a standard of in-language and culturally competent services for “substantial number of non-English-speaking people.” A “substantial number of non-English-speaking people” is defined as members of a group who either do not speak English, or are unable to effectively communicate in English because it is not their native language and comprise 5 percent or more of the people served by the statewide or any local office or facility of a state agency.
(f) Statewide, most households that fall within the category of “limited English proficiency” or “LEP” speak Spanish, followed by various languages from Asia and the Pacific Islands.

10095.2.
 (a) (1) Commencing with the 2023–24 fiscal year, the State Department of Social Services shall establish and administer the Bilingual-Oriented Social Equity Services Grant Program, in accordance with this chapter.
(2) The purpose of the program is to distribute funding to community-based, nonprofit organizations that provide social services that ensure equity in access to services under this division. Grants shall be used to provide a pay differential to direct service professionals who can communicate in a language or medium other than English as a primary part of their regular job duties.
(3) The Bilingual-Oriented Social Equity Services Grant Program Fund is hereby established. The fund shall consist of moneys appropriated by the Legislature for purposes of this chapter, which shall be used solely to provide the grants described in subdivision (b).
(b) The program shall award grants as follows:
(1) (A) A grant awarded pursuant to this paragraph shall be known as a Multilingual Success Grant.
(B) The department shall allocate 40 percent of the funding appropriated for purposes of this chapter to community-based, nonprofit organizations serving non-English-speaking people and people with limited English proficiency in the state that meet the threshold of a “substantial number of non-English-speaking people” for purposes of the Dymally-Alatorre Bilingual Services Act (Chapter 17.5 (commencing with Section 7290) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code).
(2) (A) A grant awarded pursuant to this paragraph shall be known as the Multilingual Access Grant.
(B) The department shall allocate 60 percent of the funding appropriated for purposes of this chapter to community-based nonprofit organizations serving non-English-speaking people and people with limited English proficiency in the state that do not meet the threshold of “substantial number of non-English-speaking people” for purposes of the Dymally-Alatorre Bilingual Services Act (Chapter 17.5 (commencing with Section 7290) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code).
(c) Notwithstanding any other law, a direct service professional described in subdivision (b) shall be eligible for bilingual or multilingual pay if both of the following conditions are met:
(1) The duties currently assigned to the direct service professional require regular communication in a language or medium other than English with individuals seeking direct services.
(2) The employing community-based organization certifies that the direct service professional has the ability to communicate in the language or medium other than English, as defined in subdivision (d).
(d)  For purposes of this section, “medium other than English” includes, but is not limited to, American Sign Language and other sign languages and augmentative and alternative communication.