Virtual Interpreter Bill Town Hall (Wednesday, April 28, 2021)

As you may be aware, the State Council for Persons with Disabilities, Delaware Association of the Deaf, Delaware Office of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, and Independent Resources, Inc. are holding a virtual public meeting to receive input regarding a draft bill for the registration of Interpreters for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and Deaf-Blind.  The draft bill seeks to provide a quality assurance process and meet consumer needs for quality assurance, while leveraging existing state infrastructure and resources.  

The Virtual meeting is on Wednesday, April 28, 2021 from 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM.  Interpreters and closed captioning will be provided.  Registration is required for BOTH those who just want to attend and those who want to provide public comment.  To register, please go to: 

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_soo10MzFR4muZPIL_T9Vng

A link to the draft legislation will be sent tomorrow.  It will also be available on the scpd website:  https://scpd.delaware.gov/

Please answer in the registration link if you will be providing public comment.  Speakers will be called in the order we received registrations and will have 3 minutes to provide comments.  Speakers will receive notice at 2 ½ minutes.  Speakers will have their time end at 3 minutes even if they are not finished with their comments. Interpretations will continue as needed to include the comments when a speaker’s turn ended. 

This is a time-lim​ited process, so if people registered but are not able to provide comments, they will be able to submit comments to SCPD via a mode of communication which best fits their needs.  Please send those to:   

SCPD@delaware.gov    

Submitted comments will be taken until May 5, 2021.   Thank you.  

 

Virtual Town Hall regarding proposed ASL Interpreter Bill (April 28, 2021)

The State Council for Persons with Disabilities, Delaware Association of the Deaf, Delaware Office of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, and Independent Resources, Inc. are holding a virtual public meeting to receive input regarding a draft bill for the registration of Interpreters for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and Deaf-Blind.  The bill provides a registration process for ASL interpreters in Delaware which would, in part, do the following: 

  • Provide for consumer protection by helping ensure that only qualified individuals would be able to provide this vital and necessary service.
  • Utilize a credentialing process already established, validated and nationally recognized.
  • Provide a quality assurance process.
  • Establish a statewide professional standard similar to other human service fields.
  • Create a public listing of credentialed interpreters accessible to all consumers of interpreter services in Delaware.
  • Empower consumers to verify credentials of interpreters independently.

The Virtual meeting is on Wednesday, April 28, 2021 from 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM.  More details will follow regarding registration and process.  However, we wanted to let you know about the public meeting as soon as we could.  Interpreters will be provided.

Attached is a copy of the proposed interpreter bill – PDF icon Interpreter Registry Draft no track 12-22-20 (Requires Adobe Acrobat PDF Reader or similar)

** If you cannot make it, feel free to send us an email with your concerns, questions or comments.  **