[Adopted by the Town Meeting of the Town of Brookline 11-16-2021 STM by Art. 15. Amendments noted where applicable.]
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
AUXILIARY AIDS AND SERVICES
Items, equipment or services that assist effective communication between a deaf or hard-of-hearing individual and an individual who is not deaf or hard-of-hearing.
DEPARTMENT
Any department, commission, office, agency or other division of the Town of Brookline.
DIRECT PUBLIC CONTACT
A. 
Services administered by a Town department directly to program beneficiaries and/or participants; or
B. 
Interactions in person, over the telephone, or electronically with members of the public.
LANGUAGE ACCESS SERVICES
Oral interpretation services, written translation services, and auxiliary aids and services.
LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENT OR LEP INDIVIDUALS
Individuals who do not speak English as their primary language and have a limited ability to speak, read, write, or understand English.
ORAL INTERPRETATION
The act of listening to something in one language (source language) and orally translating it into another (target language).
WRITTEN TRANSLATION
The replacement of a written text from one language (source language) into an equivalent written text into another language (the target language).
A. 
The Town of Brookline shall develop and implement a language access plan by which the Town will provide language access services to LEP residents and members of the public. The plan shall include detailed steps and specific actions that the Town will take to ensure language access, establish deadlines by which actions will be taken, identify responsible personnel assigned to implement the plan, and establish priorities relative to the implementation of these plans. The plan shall also include guidelines regarding which Town and departmental documents must be subject to written translation in specific languages.
B. 
The language access plan shall be developed simultaneously while undertaking an analysis of the following four factors: (1) the number or proportion of LEP persons served or encountered by each department, while recognizing that such numbers may be artificially depressed due to lack of language access; (2) the frequency with which LEP persons come into direct public contact with each department; (3) the nature and importance of the program, activity, or service provided by the department; and (4) the resources available and costs to each department, as well as the resources that the Town can make available to each department to serve LEP individuals. The plan shall designate those languages for which the Town must provide language access services, which shall be reevaluated every 10 years.
There shall be a Language Access Coordinator (hereinafter "Coordinator"), which shall be a full-time position within the Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Community Relations as established in Section 3.14.2 and report to the Director of that Office. The role of the Coordinator is to: (a) focus upon language access needs of LEP residents, the Town's compliance with this chapter, and ensuring the ability for full, meaningful participation by LEP residents in Town benefits, services, and activities; (b) along with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Coordinator, develop and implement the language access plan described in Section 3.26.2 on a Town-wide basis; and (c) along with the ADA Coordinator, oversee the implementation of the language access plan by individual departments and provide departments with technical assistance and consultation.
A. 
Each department that engages in direct public contact shall designate a language access liaison. Such liaison shall be charged with implementation of the language access plan described in Section 3.26.2 with respect to that department.
B. 
Each department that engages in direct public contact shall have included in its budget an amount set aside for language services. Such amount shall be used to pay for translation of written materials; in-person, telephonic, or online oral interpretation services; auxiliary aids and services, and such other expenses related to providing language access services.
C. 
When hiring new staff members, each department that has direct public contact is encouraged to consider recruiting applicants who are proficient in a language other than English.
Within 180 days of the passage of this chapter, the Director of Human Resources or the Director's designee shall conduct a survey of the language abilities of all Town employees. The Director shall publish a directory of employees who indicate they are proficient in a language other than English and are willing to provide informal oral or ASL interpretation or written translation services voluntarily.