By: Shapleigh S.B. No. 1587

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

relating to contractors with the Health and Human Services Commission or with a health and human services agency that provide services to persons with limited English proficiency.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 531, Government Code, is amended by adding Section 531.019 to read as follows:

Sec. 531.019. SERVICES PROVIDED BY CONTRACTOR TO PERSONS WITH LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENCY. (a) Each contract with the commission or a health and human services agency that requires the provision of call center services or written communications related to call center services must include performance standards that measure the effectiveness, promptness, and accuracy of the contractor's oral and written communications with persons with limited English proficiency. Each person who seeks to enter into a contract described by this subsection shall include in the bid or other applicable expression of interest for the contract a proposal for providing call center services or written communications related to call center services to persons with limited English proficiency.

(b) The proposal required under Subsection (a) must include a language access plan that describes how the contractor will achieve any performance standards described in the request for bids, proposals, or other applicable expressions of interest. The plan must also describe how the contractor will:

(1) identify persons who need language assistance;

(2) provide language assistance measures, including the translation of forms into languages other than English and the provision of translators and interpreters;

(3) inform persons with limited English proficiency of the language services available to them and how to obtain them;

(4) develop and implement qualifications for bilingual staff; and

(5) monitor compliance with the language access plan.

(c) In determining which bid or other applicable expression of interest offers the best value, the commission or a health and human services agency, as applicable, shall evaluate the extent to which the proposal for providing call center services or written communications related to call center services in languages other than English will provide meaningful access to the services for persons with limited English proficiency.

(d) In determining the extent to which a proposal will provide meaningful access under Subsection (c), the agency shall consider:

(1) the language access plan developed under Subsection (b);

(2) the number or proportion of persons with limited English proficiency in the agency's eligible service population;

(3) the frequency with which persons with limited English proficiency seek information regarding the agency's programs;

(4) the importance of the services provided by the agency's programs; and

(5) the resources available to the agency.

(e) The agency must avoid selecting a contractor that the agency reasonably believes will:

(1) provide information in languages other than English that is limited in scope;

(2) unreasonably delay the provision of information in languages other than English; or

(3) provide program information, including forms, notices, and correspondence, in English only.

(f) This section does not apply to 2-1-1 services provided by the Texas Information and Referral Network.

SECTION 2. (a) In this section, "commission" and "health and human services agencies" have the meanings assigned by Section 531.001, Government Code.

(b) The changes in law made by this Act to the contracting procedures of the commission and health and human services agencies apply only to a contract for which the commission or a health and human services agency first advertises or otherwise solicits bids, proposals, offers, or qualifications, as applicable, on or after September 1, 2007.

(c) A contract for which the commission or a health and human services agency first advertised or otherwise solicited bids, proposals, offers, or qualifications, as applicable, before September 1, 2007, is governed by the law as it existed immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2007.