Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a federal statute that prohibits recipients of Federal financial assistance from discriminating on the basis of race, color, or national origin in their programs or activities, and it obligates federal funding agencies to enforce statutory compliance. Pursuant to Executive Order 13166: Improving Access to Service for Persons with Limited English Proficiency (LEP), LEP persons are entitled to language assistance under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Federal assistance recipients shall take reasonable steps to ensure meaningful access to benefits, services, information, and other important portions of their programs and activities.
The Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) new guidelines for Caltrans, as a recipient of FTA funding assistance, require sub-recipients of Caltrans Planning Grants to submit a Title VI Plan to FTA every three years. As a Caltrans grant sub-recipient and as the Regional Transportation Planning Agency for Monterey County, the Transportation Agency is required to comply with FTA requirements associated with the use of these funds.
The Transportation Agency’s Title VI Program and Language Assistance Plan provides guidance on administration and management of Title VI related activities. The Transportation Agency’s Title VI Program and Language Assistance Plan includes the following:
- The definition and significance of Title VI and Limited English Proficiency
- The Transportation Agency’s commitment to meeting the statutory and reporting requirements of Title VI
- A public participation plan, demographic profile and a summary of outreach efforts for Monterey County
- The Language Assistance Plan, including an analysis of the potential number of Limited English Proficiency persons served by the Transportation Agency’s programs and projects, the frequency with which staff contact Limited English Proficiency persons, the significance of programs to Limited English Proficiency persons, and the services available to Limited English Proficiency persons
- Language Assistance Plan Implementation strategies
- Title VI complaint process and forms
Staff is currently updating the Agency's Title VI Plan to reflect updated demographic data and new information on the strategies for reaching Monterey County's LEP community. The updated plan details resources the Agency has access to and the outreach strategies employed to reach the LEP community.
Updated demographic data on language identifies the following safe harbor languages: Spanish, Tagalog and Korean. Safe Harbor languages are those that meet the threshold of 5% or 1,000 persons, whichever is less, of the total population eligible to be served or likely to be affected or encountered by the Agency that speak English "less than very well" according to the U.S. Census.
The Agency is required to have vital documents available in each of these languages. Vital documents are generally those that affect access to, retention in, or termination or exclusion from a program, service or benefit. Examples of vital documents include the Title VI complaint forms and written notices of rights. In addition to providing translation of vital documents in the safe harbor languages, the agency is required to provide materials in alternative languages if requested. The agency has access to an on-call interpretation service and document translation services.
As a reporting requirement, the Agency is required to include a table reflecting non-elected committee member race/ethnicity demographics. Committee members are strongly encouraged to complete a survey on race/ethnicity, which will be electronically provided during the Committee meeting and is alternatively linked to this report as a web attachment.
The updated Title VI Plan is scheduled for TAMC Board approval at their June 23, 2021 meeting.