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El Paso County adopts countywide limited‑English‑proficiency policy and launches iSpeak915 pilot
Summary
The Commissioners Court adopted a countywide limited English proficiency (LEP) policy June 9 to ensure Title VI compliance and rolled out an ARPA‑funded iSpeak915 pilot: 10 public‑facing departments will receive tablets and language‑line access for real‑time interpretation.
The El Paso County Commissioners Court on June 9 adopted a countywide limited English proficiency (LEP) policy to standardize language access across county departments, comply with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and support a planned pilot rollout called iSpeak915.
Irene Gutierrez of Community Services presented the policy, which the civil service commission had reviewed and approved on May 6, 2025. Gutierrez said the policy resulted from a federal monitoring review (FEMA) of migrant operations that identified the lack of a countywide LEP plan. The county hired a consultant to survey departments and identify language needs; consultants found roughly 30% of county residents are LEP, with Spanish the most common non‑English language and rising needs in Haitian Creole, Korean, German, Chinese and Tagalog in some departments.
Gutierrez told the court the policy clarifies translation and interpretation standards, tracking mechanisms and responsibilities and will guide the iSpeak915 pilot, funded with ARPA. The pilot will place tablets and interpretation capability (video and phone) in 10 public‑facing county departments for one year; staff at an Office of New Americans will monitor usage, measure outcomes, and recommend whether to scale the program after the pilot ends. iSpeak915 intends to provide immediate access to live interpreters in multiple languages for walk‑in constituents and to gather data on demand and efficacy.
Gutierrez addressed a recent federal executive order asserting English as an official federal language and said that order did not revoke Title VI obligations or the county's need to provide LEP services when receiving federal funds; she urged adoption to maintain compliance with civil‑rights obligations tied to federal grants.
The court approved the policy on a motion by Commissioner David Stout, seconded by Commissioner Tony Olguin. Commissioners praised the effort as a countywide standard that will help departments and protect federal funding streams.
What the policy does and the pilot's next steps
- Adoption creates a countywide policy for translation, interpretation and tracking of LEP services and assigns an implementation lead (Office of New Americans) to manage the iSpeak915 pilot. - iSpeak915: ARPA funds will provide tablets with video/phone interpretation and language‑line connections to ten departments for a 12‑month pilot; the Office of New Americans will evaluate results and return to the court with an outcomes report and recommendation on continuing funding. - Gutierrez said the consultant and the pilot emphasize Spanish first but will support languages that show measurable demand, including an observed uptick in French Creole services linked to Haitian migration.
