Civil Rights Policies

TITLE VI PLAN

I. PLAN STATEMENT

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin in programs and activities receiving Federal financial assistance. Specifically, Title VI provides that “no person in the United States shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance” (42 U.S.C. Section 2000d). As a recipient of Federal aid through two of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (US DOT’s) operating administrations, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG) is accountable for compliance with both Title VI and the following implementing regulations: US DOT’s “Nondiscrimination in Federally-Assisted Programs of the Department of Transportation” (49 CFR Part 21), FTA’s “Title VI Requirements and Guidelines for Federal Transit Administration Recipients (FTA Circular 4702.1B), and FHWA’s “Title VI Program and Related Statutes” (23 CFR Part 200). These regulations have expanded the original Title VI protections to incorporate subsequent related statutes, including protections against discrimination based on gender, age, and disability; and federal policies regarding environmental justice and limited-English proficiency.

Santa Barbara County Association of Governments is committed to ensuring that no person is excluded from participation in or denied the benefits of its services on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability, as protected by Title VI and the implementing regulations listed above. This plan was developed to guide SBCAG in its administration and management of Title VI-related activities.

Title VI Coordinator Contact information:

Lauren Bianchi Klemann

Santa Barbara County Association of Governments
260 N. San Antonio Road, Suite B
Santa Barbara, CA 93110

Office: (805) 961-8900
Email: info@sbcag.org

II. TITLE VI INFORMATION DISSEMINATION

Title VI information posters shall be prominently and publicly displayed in public areas of SBCAG’s facility, Clean Air Express transit vehicles, Clean Air Express stops, and on the agency’s website. Transit stops exist within both the City of Santa Barbara’s and Goleta’s jurisdictions. SBCAG will work with both cities, the County of Santa Barbara and Santa Barbara’s Metropolitan Transit District (MTD) and Ventura County Transportation Commission (VCTC) to display information posters at stops shared with these transit agencies. Within Santa Barbara, information posters will be at the Santa Barbara St at de la Guerra and the Figueroa Courthouse. Within the city of Goleta, signs will be displayed at Cortona at Castilian and within unincorporated area a poster will be displayed at the County Administration stop. The name of the Title VI coordinator is available on the SBCAG website, at www.SBCAG.org. Additional information relating to nondiscrimination obligation can be obtained from the SBCAG Title VI Coordinator.

Title VI information shall be disseminated to SBCAG employees annually via the Employee Education form (see Appendix A) at the beginning of the fiscal year. This form reminds employees of SBCAG’s policy statement, and of their Title VI responsibilities in their daily work and duties.

During New Employee Orientation, new employees shall be informed of the provisions of Title VI, and the SBCAG’s expectations to perform their duties accordingly.

All employees shall be provided a copy of the Title VI Plan and are required to sign the Acknowledgement of Receipt (see Appendix B).

III. SUBCONTRACTS AND VENDORS

All subcontractors and vendors who receive payments from SBCAG where funding originates from any federal assistance are subject to the provisions of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as amended.

Written contracts shall contain non-discrimination language, either directly or through the bid specification package which becomes an associated component of the contract.

IV. RECORD KEEPING:

The Title VI Coordinator will maintain permanent records, which include, but are not limited to, signed acknowledgements of receipt from the employees indicating the receipt of SBCAG’s Title VI Plan, copies of Title VI complaints or lawsuits and related documentation, and records of correspondence to and from complainants, and Title VI investigations. A letter acknowledging receipt of a complaint will be mailed within thirty (30) days (Appendix D).

V. TITLE VI COMPLAINT PROCEDURES

How to file a Title VI Complaint?

The complainant may file a signed, written complaint up to thirty (30) days from the date of the alleged discrimination. The complaint should include the following information:

Your name, mailing address, and how to contact you (i.e., telephone number, email address, etc.).

How, when, where and why you believe you were discriminated against. Include the location, names and contact information of any

Other information that you deem

The Title VI Complaint Form (see Appendix C) may be used to submit the complaint information. The complaint may be filed in writing with SBCAG at the following address:

Title VI Coordinator

Santa Barbara County Association of Governments
260 n. San Antonio Road, Suite B
Santa Barbara, CA 93110

PLEASE NOTE: SBCAG encourages all complainants to certify all mail that is sent through the U.S. Postal Service and/or ensure that all written correspondence can be tracked easily.

What happens to the complaint after it is submitted?

All complaints alleging discrimination based on race, color, national origin, gender, age, or disability in a service provided by SBCAG will be directly addressed by SBCAG. SBCAG shall also provide appropriate assistance to complainants, including those persons with disabilities, or who are limited in their ability to communicate in English. Additionally, SBCAG shall make every effort to address all complaints in an expeditious and thorough manner.

A letter of acknowledging receipt of complaint will be mailed within thirty (30) days (Appendix D). Please note that in responding to any requests for additional information, a complainant’s failure to provide the requested information may result in the administrative closure of the complaint.

How will the complainant be notified of the outcome of the complaint?

SBCAG will send a final written response letter (see Appendix E or F) to the complainant. In the letter notifying complainant that the complaint is not substantiated (Appendix F), the complainant is also advised of their right to 1) appeal within seven calendar days of receipt of the final written decision SBCAG, and/or 2) file a complaint externally with the U.S. Department of Transportation and/or the Federal Transit Administration. Every effort will be made to respond to Title VI complaints within 60 working days of receipt of such complaints.

In addition to the complaint process described above, a complainant may file a Title VI complaint with the following offices:

Federal Transit Administration Office of Civil Rights Attention: Title VI Program Coordinator

East Building, 5th Floor – TCR 1200 New Jersey Ave., SE Washington, DC 20590

VI. LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENCY (LEP) PLAN

SBCAG has developed a Limited English Proficiency Plan (LEP) (see Appendix K) to help identify reasonable steps to provide language assistance for LEP persons seeking meaningful access to SBCAG services as required by Executive Order 13166. A Limited English Proficiency person is one who does not speak English as their primary language and who has a limited ability to read, speak, write, or understand English. This plan has detailed procedures on how to identify a person who may need language assistance, the ways in which assistance may be provided, training staff, how to notify LEP persons that assistance is available, and information for future plan updates. In developing the plan to determine the extent of obligation to provide LEP services, SBCAG analyzed the U.S. Department of Transportation four factor analysis, which considers the following: 1) The number or proportion of LEP persons to be served or likely to be encountered in a SBCAG program, activity, or service; 2) the frequency with which LEP individuals come in contact with SBCAG programs; 3) the nature and importance of programs, activities or service provided by SBCAG to the LEP population; and 4) the resources available to SBCAG and overall costs to provide LEP assistance.

VII. COMMUNITY OUTREACH

SBCAG implements a public involvement process to inform and involve residents in SBCAG’s various planning, programs and project activities. This includes, but is not limited to, residents of Santa Barbara County, lower income households, minorities, persons with disabilities, representatives from community and service organizations, tribal councils, and other public agencies. SBCAG’s current Public Participation Plan, adopted by the SBCAG Board of Directors, describes the agency’s core values related to public participation, and provides goals and strategies for increasing public information and engagement in the planning process. Some of the ideals for participation include:

Value public participation and promote broad‐based involvement by members of the community;
Provide varied opportunities for public review and input;
Treat all members of the public fairly, and respect and consider all resident input as an important component of the planning implementation process;
Promote a culture of dialogue and partnership among residents, property owners, the business and environmental communities, organizations, other interested citizens, and public officials;
Use existing community groups and other organizations, as feasible;
Encourage active public participation at the initial stages of the process, as well as throughout the process;
Provide communications and agency reports that are clear, timely, and broadly distributed; and
Outreach to groups that may be underserved by existing transportation systems or who may be disproportionately impacted by transportation projects.

SBCAG’s Public Participation Plan can be found here: http://www.sbcag.org/documents.html

Moreover, examples of significant opportunities for public engagement includes the Regional Transportation Plan, which employed innovative strategies to ensure voices of more vulnerable and underrepresented communities throughout the region are included. Specifically, the public process was designed to more proactively engage traditionally hard to reach and disadvantaged populations by employing community ambassadors who were embedded in the community to conduct listening sessions and participate in virtual public workshops with simultaneous language translation. Additionally, SBCAG invited staff as well as regional local government and transit partners to participate in a “One Room, Many Voices Workshop: Planning for Cross Language Communication” training to explore best practices for planning inclusive and multilingual events and spaces where all languages are valued equally.

SBCAG is a recipient of the California Department of Transportation and Federal Transit Administration for annual allocations of Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Section 5303 revenue and occasional subrecipient of 5307. In addition, SBCAG submits grant requests for FTA Section 5304 and Section 5311 revenue.

SBCAG encourages active public participation at the initial stages of any planning, programming or project process, as well as throughout the activity’s progression. The agency holds monthly public meetings. At these meetings the public is welcome to attend and share in discussion with a variety of activities or items of interest associated with SBCAG. Listed below are a description of SBCAG’s advisory and board committees. The Measure A Citizens Oversight Committee as the only transit-related, non-elected advisory committee, of which membership is selected by SBCAG’s Board of Directors. Consistent with Title 49 CFR Section 21.5(b)(1)(vii), SBCAG provided information depicting the racial breakdown of the membership on that committee as well as other transit-related planning boards and advisory councils by which SBCAG does not have authority in selecting membership in Tables 2 and 3 of Appendix J. SBCAG encourages participation of minorities and representatives of underrepresented communities on the Measure A Citizens Oversight Committee as required by the ordinance and summarized in the section on the committee below.

Advisory Committees:

SBCAG regularly brings all transit related items to the Santa Barbara County Santa Barbara County Transit Advisory Committee, Technical Transportation Advisory Committee, Technical Planning Advisory Committee, and Measure A Citizens Oversight Committee.

Santa Barbara County Transit Advisory Committee (SBCTAC): The Santa Barbara County Transit Advisory Committee (SBCTAC) assists the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments in soliciting the input of transit dependent and transit disadvantaged persons, including the elderly, disabled, and persons of limited means on transit issues, to participate in the identification of transit needs in the jurisdiction, including unmet transit needs that may exist within the jurisdiction of the council, annually review and recommend action on the existence of unmet transit needs, identify if these unmet transit needs are reasonable or unreasonable to meet, and advise SBCAG on any other major transit issues, including the coordination and consolidation of specialized transportation services. Eighteen total members serve on the Santa Barbara County Transit Advisory Committee, participants represented include:

North County Representatives:

Local Social Service Providers for Seniors (1 member)
Local Social Service Providers for Persons of Limited Means (1 member)
Potential Transit Users Who is 60 Years of Age or Older (1 member)
Agricultural Worker Representative – (1 member – vacant)
City of Lompoc Transit (Colt) (1 member)
Local CTSA – Smooth (1 member)
County Transit (1 member)
Guadalupe Transit (1 member – vacant)
Santa Ynez Valley Transit (SYVT) (1 member)
Santa Maria Area Transit (SMAT) (1 member)
Transit Users from Northern Santa Barbara County (1 member)

South Coast Representatives:

Local Social Service Providers for Persons with Disabilities (1 member)
LOCAL CTSA – Easy Lift (1 member)
Transit Users from Southern Santa Barbara County (1 member)
Local Social Service Providers for Seniors (1 member)
Santa Barbara Metropolitan Transit District (MTD) – (1 member)
Potential Transit Users Who Has a Disability (1 member)
Local Social Service Providers for Persons with Disabilities (1 member – vacant)

Technical Transportation Advisory Committee (TTAC): The Technical Transportation Advisory Committee (TTAC) is a standing advisory committee, which provides professional technical advice and recommendations to the policy making board of directors of the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments on transportation issues affecting the region. TTAC also serves as a forum to exchange transportation-related information among member agencies. Committee members include staff representatives of each city within Santa Barbara County, County of Santa Barbara, Caltrans, APCD, and the Santa Barbara Metropolitan Transit District. Twelve total members serve on the Technical Transportation Advisory Committee

Technical Planning Advisory Committee (TPAC): The Technical Planning Advisory Committee (TPAC) is a standing committee which provides professional technical advice and recommendations to the board of directors of the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments on planning issues affecting the region. TPAC also serves as a forum to exchange planning-related information among member agencies. TPAC shall serve in an advisory capacity to the SBCAG board and does not have policy making authority. Committee members include staff representatives of each city within Santa Barbara County, County of Santa Barbara, Caltrans, APCD, and the Santa Barbara Metropolitan Transit District. Ten total members serve on the Technical Planning Advisory Committee.

Measure A Citizens Oversight Committee: Measure A is Santa Barbara County’s local transportation sales tax measure that was approved by 79 percent of Santa Barbara County voters in 2008. The measure funds high priority transportation projects and programs to address the current and future needs of local communities, including public transit. The Measure A Citizens Oversight Committee helps ensure accountability regarding the expenditure of funds and to assist SBCAG in ensuring that all provisions, requirements, and voter mandates specified in the Investment Plan and Ordinance are properly carried out. The ordinance requires the appointment of an eleven-member advisory committee by the SBCAG Board of Directors. Members are encouraged to be comprised of an appropriate balance of transportation users representing the geographic, social, cultural, and economic interests in the county. SBCAG North County Subregional Planning Committee nominates four members, the South Coast Subregional Planning Committee nominates four members and the remaining three are “at-large” appointments made by nomination of an ad-hoc committee of the SBCAG Board of Directors. Member recruitment efforts are extensively advertised through SBCAG’s communication channels, local news media, Chamber of Commerce organizations, community based organization stakeholders, local jurisdictions i.e. cities and county as well as through networks from members of the SBCAG Board of Directors.

VIII. ACTIVE INVESTIGATION, LAWSUIT OR COMPLAINT

SBCAG has had no active investigations, lawsuits or complaints alleging discrimination on the

basis of race, color, national origin, gender, age, or disability.

IX. SUBRECIPIENTS MONITORING

SBCAG shall ensure subrecipients are complying with Title VI. SBCAG subrecipient’s shall submit its Title VI program every three years in line with SBCAG’s Title VI program. Subrecipients will also submit annual complaint logs to SBCAG which will be kept in an electronic storage device for further review by FTA as necessary.

X. BOARD DEMOGRAPHICS

SBCAG board members are all elected members. Therefore, this does not apply. The one ex-officio board member, appointed by the Governor, is usually the California Transportation Department of Transportation District 5 Director. The racial and ethnic composition of SBCAG advisory committees is outlined in Table 3 of Appendix J: Demographic Tables.

XI. EQUITY ANALYSIS FOR BUILDING SITE

SBCAG is in the planning stage regarding purchasing property for the purposes of a regional transit support facility. Therefore, the agency is in the process of conducting an equity analysis consistent with Chapter III-11 and once complete can be found here: http://www.sbcag.org/documents.html. No facility has been constructed since the last Title VI Plan update.

XII. RESOLUTION APPROVING TITLE VI PLAN

A copy of this resolution can be found in Appendix H of this Plan.

XIII. FIXED ROUTE TRANSIT PROVIDERS

SBCAG uses local funding, Measure A local transportation sales tax measure, to operate a fixed route commuter bus service, which provides unidirectional, peak hour, weekday-only service between North Santa Barbara County communities and Santa Barbara/Goleta. The standard level of service (pre-COVID) consists of 26 one-way trips that operate 386,644 revenue miles and about 9,000 revenue hours annually. The service carries 180,000-220,000 passengers each year. SBCAG standards and policies are found in Appendix I.

APPENDIX A: Employee Annual Education Form Title VI Policy

Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG) is committed to ensuring that no person is excluded from participation in or denied the benefits of its services on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability, as protected by Title VI and associated implementing regulations.

All SBCAG employees are expected to consider, respect, and observe this policy in their daily work and duties. All dealings with the public should be conducted with respect and impartiality, without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, age, or disability. If a member of the public approaches you with a question or complaint, direct that person to Lauren Bianchi Klemann, who is the Title VI Coordinator.

APPENDIX K: Limited English Proficiency (LEP) Plan; Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG) (Adopted January 21, 2021)

Introduction

This Limited English Proficiency (LEP) Plan has been prepared to address Santa Barbara County Association of Governments’ (SBCAG’s) responsibilities as a recipient of federal financial assistance as they relate to the needs of individuals with limited English language skills. The plan has been prepared in accordance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Federal Transit Administration Circular 4702.1B dated October 1, 2012, which states that no person shall be subjected to discrimination on the basis of race, color or national origin.

Executive Order 13166, titled “Improving Access to Services for Persons with Limited English Proficiency (LEP)”, indicates that differing treatment based upon a person’s inability to speak, read, write or understand English is a type of national origin’s discrimination. It directs each federal agency to publish guidance for its respective recipients clarifying their obligation to ensure that such discrimination does not take place. This order applies to SBCAG as both a recipient of Federal transit funds and as a programming agency responsible to distribute Federal transit funds to the different public and private transportation providers in this region.

Plan Summary

SBCAG has developed this LEP Plan to help identify reasonable steps for providing language assistance to persons with Limited English Proficiency who wish to access transportation services provided by recipients of FTA assistance for persons residing, visiting or working in the SBCAG region. As defined in Executive Order 13166, LEP persons are those who do not speak English as their primary language and have limited ability to read, speak, write, or understand English.

This plan outlines how to identify a person who may need language assistance, the ways in which assistance may be provided, staff training that may be required, and how to notify LEP persons that assistance is available.

The guidance outlines four factors recipients are to consider when assessing language needs and determining appropriate steps to ensure meaningful access to services for LEP persons. In order to prepare this plan, SBCAG undertook the U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) four-factor LEP analysis which considers the following:

The number or proportion of LEP persons to be served or likely to be encountered in a SBCAG program, activity or
The frequency with which LEP persons come in contact with SBCAG programs, activities or services.
The nature and importance of programs, activities or services provided by SBCAG to the LEP population.
The resources available to SBCAG and overall cost to provide LEP

Limited English Proficiency (LEP) Plan Outline

All front-line SBCAG staff are provided with the LEP Plan and educated on procedures and services available. To assist in identifying LEP individuals who need language assistance, SBCAG will:

Review prior requests for language assistance to determine if language assistance might be needed at future events or
Determine if planning, programming, or project scope may benefit or impact LEP individuals who need language assistance.
Contract with professional language access services and/or bilingual public outreach professionals for preparing, planning and conducting public meetings to assist SBCAG in identifying language assistance needs for future
Frontline staff and planners will be surveyed annually on their experience concerning any contacts with LEP persons during the previous

Language Assistance Measures

There are numerous language assistance measures available to LEP persons, including both verbal and written language services. There are also various ways in which SBCAG staff responds to LEP persons, whether in person, by telephone or in writing.

Frontline staff, planners and Rideshare program coordinators will be surveyed annually on their experience concerning any contacts with LEP persons during the previous
Network with local community organizations providing services to LEP individuals and seek opportunities to provide information on SBCAG programs and services within their agency setting or at jointly sponsored
Contract with a professional language-access services to support community events, public hearing and Board of Director meetings when deemed Placement of statements in notices and publications that interpreter services are available for these meetings, with 48 hours advance notice per the Ralph M. Brown Act.
Post the SBCAG Title VI Policy and LEP Plan on the agency website, sbcag.org.
When interpretation and translation services are needed for a languages other than English in-person, virtually or on the telephone, staff will attempt to access language assistance services from a professional translation

Staff Training

The following training will be provided to SBCAG staff:

Information on the SBCAG Title VI Procedures and LEP responsibilities
Description of SBCAG language assistance services offered to the public
Documentation of language assistance requests
How to handle a potential Title VI/LEP complaint

Outreach Techniques

When staff prepares planning, programming, or project information for public engagement for which the identified audience is expected to include LEP individuals, SBCAG will follow the procedures outlined in the Public Participation Plan and determine the resources available to prioritize access to information and translation of documents associated with those activities. Other outreach techniques include direct outreach to local community organizations providing services to LEP individuals and seek opportunities to provide information on SBCAG programs and services within their agencysettingoratjointlysponsoredfunctions and contract with a professional language-access services.

Monitoring and Updating the LEP Plan

SBCAG will update the LEP as required by U.S. Department of Transportation. At minimum, the plan will be reviewed with updates to the Public Participation Plan to include data from new American Community Survey counts, or when it is clear that higher concentrations of LEP individuals are present in the SBCAG region. Updates will include the following:

The number of documented LEP person contacts encountered annually

How the needs of LEP persons have been addressed

Determination of the current LEP population in the service area per the latestS. Census reports at the community level

Determination as to whether the need for translation services has changed or whether a change in the contractor used for translation services is warranted based on geographical proximity or availability at times needed

Determine whether SBCAG’s financial resources are sufficient to fund bilingual language assistance resources needed

Determine whether SBCAG has fully complied with the goals of this LEP Plan

Determine whether complaints have been received concerning SBCAG’s failure to meet the needs of LEP individuals

Dissemination of the SBCAG LEP Plan

A link to the SBCAG LEP Plan and the Title VI Procedures is included on the SBCAG website at www.sbcag.org.

Any person or agency with internet access will be able to access and download the plan from the SBCAG website. Alternatively, any person or agency may request a copy of the plan via telephone, fax, mail, e-mail or in person and shall be provided a copy of the Plan at no cost. LEP individuals may also request copies of the plan in translation which SBCAG will provide, if feasible.

Questions or comments regarding the LEP Plan may be submitted to Santa Barbara County Association of Governments, Title VI Coordinator:

Lauren Bianchi Klemann
Title VI Coordinator

Santa Barbara County Association of Governments
260 N. San Antonio Road, Suite B
Santa Barbara, CA 93110

Email: info@sbcag.org
Phone: (805) 961-8900