NCJ Number
35049
Date Published
1976
Length
75 pages
Annotation
THE INTERIM REPORT PRESENTS PROJECT ACTIVITIES, FINDINGS, AND CONCLUSIONS FOR PHASES ONE AND TWO AND DISCUSSES PLANS FOR PHASE THREE OF THIS RESEARCH EFFORT.
Abstract
PHASE ONE INVOLVED DETERMINING THE LEGAL REQUIREMENTS PERTAINING TO LANGUAGE SERVICES, THE LANGUAGE SERVICES PROVIDED BY THE STATE'S JUSTICE AGENCIES, THE PERCEIVED LANGUAGE NEEDS OF NON-ENGLISH SPEAKING PERSONS, THE ESTIMATED NUMBER OF NON-ENGLISH SPEAKING PERSONS BY COUNTY AND LANGUAGE IN THE STATE, THE JUSTICE SYSTEM BARRIERS PERCEIVED BY NON-ENGLISH SPEAKING PERSONS, AND THE PLANNED ACTIVITIES FOR PHASE TWO STUDY. THE PHASE TWO OVERVIEW PROPOSES TASKS, RESPONSIBILITIES, AND RULES OF CONDUCT FOR COURT INTERPRETERS, AND ANALYZES ALTERNATIVES AND MAKES RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE TESTING, CERTIFICATION, AND TRAINING OF COURT INTERPRETERS. ALTERNATIVES ARE ALSO DESCRIBED FOR DELIVERING LANGUAGE SERVICES IN LIGHT OF THE DIVERSE URBAN-RURAL SETTINGS OF THE STATE. CHIEF AMONG THE RECOMMENDATIONS IS THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A STATEWIDE PROGRAM TO TEST AND CERTIFY COURT INTERPRETERS IN THE SPANISH LANGUAGE AND TO EXTEND CERTIFICATION TO SIGN LANGUAGE. THE RECOMMENDATION CALLS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF CENTRALLY DEVELOPED APPLICANT SCREENING AND TESTING PROCEDURES AND THE ADMINISTRATION OF WRITTEN AND ORAL EXAMINATIONS AT THE COUNTY LEVEL UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF THE LOCAL COURTS. PLANS FOR PHASE THREE FOCUS ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF STANDARDS OF COMPETENCY FOR INTERPRETERS AT VARIOUS STAGES OF THE JUDICIAL PROCESS, THE DESIGN OF TRAINING PROGRAMS, DEVELOPMENT OF AN INTERPRETER SERVICE MODEL FOR BOTH URBAN AND RURAL SETTINGS, IDENTIFICATION OF POTENTIAL TEST SYSTEMS FOR THE DEVELOPED INTERPRETER SERVICE MODEL, AND DEVELOPMENT OF AN EVALUATION SYSTEM TO ASSESS THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE TEST MODELS. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED)