EQUAL OPPORTUNITY AND LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENCY SERVICES

Midstate Independent Living Consultants (MILC) is committed to serving all constituents in our service area and therefore we practice the following policies:

Equal Opportunity Policy
No otherwise qualified applicant for services or service participant shall be excluded from participation, be denied benefits, or otherwise be subject to discrimination in any manner on the basis of race, color, national origin or ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, religion, age, political belief or affiliation, disability or association with a person with a disability. This policy covers eligibility for and access to service delivery, and treatment in all of programs and activities at MILC.

Limited English Proficiency
MILC is committed to providing equal opportunity in all programs and services to ensure full compliance with all civil right laws, including Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act which requires non-discrimination on the basis of national origin. Equal opportunity include physical and program access for persons with disabilities and program access for persons with Limited English Proficiency (LEP).

It is the policy of this agency to provide language access services to populations of persons with Limited English Proficiency (LEP) who are eligible to be served or likely to be directly affected by our programs. Such services will be focused on providing meaningful access to our programs, services and/or benefits.

Meeting the Need
In order to ensure we have the ability to implement these policies, MILC has taken the following steps:

  -We provide annual training to staff on diversity issues; 
  -We developed and utilize recruiting procedures to ensure that employment opportunities at  

    MILC are advertised and known about throughout various communities; 

  -We collaborate with organizations that enrich our cultural diversity;
  -We ensure that all contracts are open to minority vendors;
  -We strive to maintain a diverse staff and Board of Directors;
  -We support and have a presence at diverse events and performances to reflect our

    commitment to inclusion and diversity in our business practices;
  -We exhibit and outreach at diverse community events;
  -We contract with the AT&T Language Line, allowing our staff access to interpreters of almost

    a language via telephone within mere minutes in order to talk to LEP consumers contacting our

    agency.
  -We contract with, and provide oral language interpreters/translators to assist LEP consumer

    to understand the services they are receiving;
  -We have translated many of our forms and materials into Spanish and Hmong.