§ 7296

(a) As used in this chapter, a “qualified bilingual person,” “qualified bilingual employee,” or “qualified interpreter” is a person who is proficient in both the English language and the non-English language to be used. For any state agency, “qualified” means one of the following:

(1) A bilingual person or employee who the Department of Human Resources has tested and certified as proficient in the ability to understand and convey in English and a non-English language commonly used terms and ideas, including terms and ideas regularly used in state government.

(2) A bilingual employee who was tested and certified by a state agency or other approved testing authority as proficient in the ability to understand and convey in English and a non-English language commonly used terms and ideas, including terms and ideas regularly used in state government.

(3) An interpreter who has met the testing or certification standards for outside or contract interpreters, as proficient in the ability to communicate commonly used terms and ideas between the English language and the non-English language to be used and has knowledge of basic interpreter practices, including, but not limited to, confidentiality, neutrality, accuracy, completeness, and transparency.

(b) The determination of what constitutes “qualified” for local agencies, shall be left to the discretion of the local agency.

(Amended by Stats. 2012, Ch. 360, Sec. 1. (SB 1309) Effective January 1, 2013.)