WORKING WITH LEP
CLIENTS &
INTERPRETERS
Trainers:
Sandy Yeung, Kim Vo, Asian Outreach Unit
Moriah Nelson, Language Access Fellow, VLP
JUNE 25, 2013
AGENDA
• Introductions
• Language Access Advocacy
• Working with Interpreters
• Hiring interpreters
• Best Practices
• Ethical considerations
• Cultural Barriers
GROUP INTRODUCTIONS
• Name
• Unit
• Language(s) you speak
• Have you had any experience working
with/as an interpreter?
LANGUAGE ACCESS ADVOCACY –
NUMBERS
oWhat are the top five languages spoken by
LEP individuals in Suffolk County?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Spanish (49% of LEP population)
Chinese (11%)
French/Haitian Creole (7.5%)
Portuguese (6.7%)
Vietnamese (6.7%)
LANGUAGE ACCESS ADVOCACY –
NUMBERS
oWhat are the top five languages spoken by
LEP individuals in Norfolk County?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Chinese (32% of LEP population)
Portuguese (10.3%)
Spanish (7.8%)
Vietnamese (7.8%)
Russian (6.8%)
LANGUAGE ACCESS ADVOCACY
• Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
• Prohibits discrimination based on race,
color, or national origin by recipients of
federal funding
• Lau v. Nichols, 414 U.S. 563 (1974)
• Title VI prohibits national origin
discrimination based on language;
• Ensure LEP individuals have meaningful
access to federally funded programs
LANGUAGE ACCESS ADVOCACY
• Executive Order 13166
• Prohibits recipients of federal assistance
from discriminating based on national
origin by failing to provide meaningful
access to LEP individuals
• DOJ LEP Guidance
• Federally funded agencies have to issue
plan to improve access by LEP persons
• Four-factor analysis
LANGUAGE ACCESS ADVOCACY
• Massachusetts Gen. Laws c.151B
• Executive Order 478
• MA Language Access Policy
Implementation Guidelines
• Language Access Coalition
• Legal Services Programs
• Courts
• State Agencies
LANGUAGE ACCESS ADVOCACY AT GBLS
• Individual case level
• Using Language Access as legal handle
• Systemic advocacy:
• Bilingual Ballots Advocacy
• Boston Housing Authority
• Department of Unemployment Assistance
• Department of Transitional Assistance
• Department of Industrial Accidents
OTHER RESOURCES
• lep.gov
• Massachusetts Language Access State
Agency Policy Implementation Guidelines
www.mass.gov/Eoaf/docs/anf/anf16_lang
uage.doc
• Massachusetts Legal Services: Language
Access Library
http://www.masslegalservices.org/librarydirectory/language-access
TRANSITION: WORKING W/ LEP AND THE
NEED FOR AN INTERPRETER?
• When do clients need an interpreter?
• When do advocates need an interpreter?
DEFINITIONS & TERMINOLOGY
• Interpreters – interpret spoken word
• Translators – translate written text
• Modes of Interpretation
• Simultaneous
• Consecutive
• Sight Translation
INTERPRETER ROLE
WORKING WITH INTERPRETERS
BEST PRACTICES
1. Arrange for a qualified interpreter.
2. Schedule additional time for meeting when
interpreter is needed.
3. Prep & Instruct the interpreter.
4. Discuss confidentiality.
5. Arrange seating with direct eye contact
with the client.
6. Speak directly to the client using first
person.
WORKING WITH INTERPRETERS
BEST PRACTICES
7. Use plain English. Define legal terms. No
legalese.
8. Pause regularly. Remind client to pause.
9. Confirm mutual understanding; ask
clarifying questions and confirm key facts
or decisions.
10. Maintain 3-way communication.
11. Explain purpose of questions.
12. Give client your contact info.
13. Debrief with the Interpreter.
DEBRIEF WITH THE INTERPRETER
Some questions you can ask, include:
• From your perspective as the interpreter, how did this meeting
go?
• Were there any moments where you felt you had to go beyond
your role in order to faithfully interpret what was said?
• Were there instances during the interpretation in which you
added or subtracted from the interpretation, and if so can you
share the reasons for this?
• What suggestions do you have for how I can be more sensitive or
more responsive to the client’s culture, when for example, I ask
questions, give information or make suggestions?
GBLS GENERAL POLICY
FOR ARRANGING INTERPRETERS SERVICES
Casehandler is responsible!
Situations:
a) Conference calls/telephone to set up
appointment/ walk-ins – use Optimal
Phone Interpreters (OPI)
b) In personal meeting or phone interview –
arrange for interpreter
c) Emergency (not walk-in) – use OPI, find
bilingual staff
TIPS FOR USING TELEPHONE
INTERPRETERS
1. Get the interpreter’s name or ID number
2. Context and Introductions
3. Test the client’s understanding indirectly
4. Remember that the interpreter cannot see you
5. Ask the LEP client if the interpretation was
successful
RULES OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT FOR
INTERPRETERS
• Canon 1: Accuracy & Completeness
• No omissions, additions or summary
• Style, tone and register
• Canon 2: Representation of Qualifications
• Canon 3: Impartiality and Avoidance of
Conflict of Interest
• Real or perceived
• Canon 4: Professional Demeanor
• Unobtrusive
• Canon 5: Confidentiality
• Attorney-Client Privilege
RULES OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT FOR
INTERPRETERS
• Canon 6: Restriction of Public Comment
• Canon 7: Scope of Practice
• Only to serve as an interpreter or translator
• No legal advice or personal opinions/beliefs
• Canon 8: Assessing and Reporting
Impediments to Performance
• Canon 9: Duty to Report Ethical Violations
• Canon 10: Professional Development
Source: National Center for State Courts Model Code of
Professional Responsibility for Interpreters in the Judiciary
WHEN YOU ARE INTERPRETING…
• Know that your language skills are valuable!
• Know what your role is
• Know the vocabulary - (MLS legal glossaries)
• Know that you need to practice
• Know your limits! Know when to say no!
• Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) Language
Proficiency Self-Assessment
CULTURAL BARRIERS
• Excerpt from Susan, Bryant, The Five Habits: Building
Cross-Cultural Competence in Lawyers, 8 CLINICAL
L. REV. 33 (2001).
• Culture is like the air we breathe -- it is largely
invisible and yet we are dependent on it for our very
being. Culture is the logic by which we give order to
the world.
• Through our invisible cultural lens, we judge people
to be truthful, rude, intelligent or superstitious based
on the attributions we make about the meaning of
their behavior.
CULTURAL BARRIERS
• Ask: what assumptions am I making? What
bias am I bringing?
• Listen to the Client.
• What cultural understanding of issues does
the Client bring?
DIFFERING UNDERSTANDINGS OF SYSTEMS
AND BUREAUCRATIC PROCESSES
• Clients May Have Differing Concepts of
• Process
• Roles
• Ownership/ Entitlement
• Decision making
• Terms of art in Legal world
ROLE PLAY EXERCISE
• Instructions:
• Focus on role of advocate
• Identify problems advocate is having with
the interpreter and client
• Refer to best practices handout and
identify solutions to resolve these problems
GBLS RESOURCES
•
•
•
Interpreters List:
S:\Public\_GBLS Interpreters List
Invoice for Service
Internal website
Evaluations:
Internal website
CLOSING DISCUSSION
• Talk to your Supervisor to check on your unit
policies regarding LEP clients
• Do evaluations on interpreters
• Check materials on our Shared Drive:
s:\Public\Working with LEP clients and
Interpreters