8 Steps to Improve Inclusion for LEP Populations
An inclusive community is one that welcomes and embraces people from all sorts of diverse backgrounds—race, religion, age, and even language. Here in the United States, individuals with limited English proficiency (LEP) often face significant struggles to access even the most fundamental services such as government aid and medical services. This has unfortunately led many immigrants and other individuals with LEP to feel frustrated and excluded. But how can we create more inclusive communities?
At Avantpage, we’re dedicated to bridging these gaps and fostering environments in which everyone feels welcome and understood. With nearly three decades of experience providing language services to organizations looking to improve inclusivity in their community, we’ve identified eight simple steps that organizations can take to help LEP individuals feel welcome and comfortable seeking out their services.
1. Translate important documents
Inclusive communities prioritize language access plans, detailing local languages for translating vital documents. If all of your documents are written in English, individuals with LEP are bound to have trouble deciphering their meaning. Whether you’re having them fill out routine paperwork, sending out informational brochures, or mailing out health letters, it’s important to take their linguistic background into consideration when providing them with important documents, so that they’re able to easily understand your message.
Working with a translation agency to develop accurate and culturally appropriate translations of your most important documents ensures that individuals with LEP are able to access your content and fully understand your message and services. By making your written documents accessible to speakers of languages other than English, you not only enable LEP individuals to access your services and programs—you also create an environment in which they feel more welcome and included.
[You may also be interested in: How to identify vital documents for translation]
2. Work with interpreters
Written document translation is important, but it’s also important that LEP individuals are able to understand conversations with you in order to facilitate an inclusive community. Interpreters enable seamless communication between two or more parties that speak different languages. We recommend working closely with a language service provider that offers remote and in-person interpreting services so that you can contract an interpreter to provide linguistic support during meetings, focus groups, phone calls, and other instances where individuals from different linguistic backgrounds will have to communicate.
3. Train your team in cultural competency
Being able to embrace and support individuals from diverse backgrounds is a critical component of creating inclusive communities for individuals with LEP. Cultural competency training is a good way to ensure that members of your organization are able to communicate and interact effectively with individuals from different backgrounds.
By requiring your staff to attend regular cultural competence training, you ensure that they are able to work effectively with individuals from multiple different backgrounds and provide them with services in a respectful manner.
4. Use multiple, accessible communication channels
Creating more inclusive communities requires thoughtful marketing strategies. When you’re marketing your services to English speakers, you probably wouldn’t put out a commercial on TV and call it a day. Instead, you’d create Google Ads, social media campaigns, press releases, and more as part of a larger multimedia marketing campaign.
Promoting your services and programs to LEP communities shouldn’t be any different. You should utilize as many different communication channels as possible to ensure that you’re communicating your message as effectively as possible. Different communities may use different platforms—for example, WhatsApp tends to be more common among LEP individuals than it is with their English-speaking counterparts in the US—so be sure to do in-depth research into what channels work most effectively with your local LEP communities.
5. Work with community-based organizations (CBOs)
CBOs—as defined by the Carleton University’s Community First initiative are “non-profit, non-governmental, or charitable organizations that represent community needs and work to help them. CBOs may be associated with a particular area of concern or segment of the community.”
Partnering with CBOs can be a particularly good idea for those looking to improve their relationship with LEP individuals and help them be more included. CBOs that focus on the needs and interests of immigrants and other linguistically diverse communities can help you learn about and better understand the needs of the communities you’re looking to serve.
6. Conduct inclusive focus groups and surveys
Another way to better understand the needs of LEP communities is to form focus groups and conduct multilingual surveys. This will allow you to get feedback directly from the people you’re trying to serve.
CBOs can help you do this work, but you can also do it with the support of trained interpreters and translators who can make your discussions and surveys accessible to speakers of several different languages. This will give you a better sense of how LEP community members perceive your services and programs and how you can make them better and more inclusive.
7. Utilize community liaisons
Consider employing or partnering with a community liaison to help grow a more inclusive community. This individual can play a crucial role in bridging the gap between your organization and LEP communities, by ensuring that there is a direct and trusted line of communication between your organization and the community members you are trying to reach.
Community liaisons can assist in various activities, from helping to spread important information to gathering feedback and concerns from LEP individuals. They can also provide insights into cultural nuances and preferences, making your outreach efforts more effective and respectful. By utilizing community liaisons, you create a more personal and relatable connection with LEP populations, fostering a sense of trust and inclusion.
8. Foster ongoing communication
Creating inclusive communities is ongoing work—it doesn’t just end once you’ve translated all your important documents and put your employees through cultural competency training. It’s important to create an ongoing relationship with the LEP communities in your area, so that you can continue to cater your services to their needs and build trust with them. CBOs and community liaisons are excellent resources to help you maintain open communication with LEP individuals in your area.
Summary of Inclusive Communities
Having LEP can make it difficult for people to access services and programs that English speakers take for granted every day. That’s why it’s important for government organizations, healthcare providers, and other agencies that provide critical services to create more inclusive, accessible spaces for LEP individuals. Here are just eight things your organization can do today to create more inclusive communities:
- Translate important documents
- Work with interpreters
- Train your team in cultural competency
- Use multiple, accessible communication channels
- Work with community-based organizations
- Conduct inclusive focus groups and surveys
- Utilize community liaisons
- Foster ongoing communication
At Avantpage, we’re proud to use our language and consulting services to build more inclusive communities. If you’re interested in learning how your organization can contribute to more inclusive and equitable spaces for individuals with LEP, contact us today at (530) 750-2040 or [email protected] to learn more about how we can help you.
