Problem

Solution

   Without regulation, Deaf, hard of hearing, and hearing consumers, including state agencies, are faced with the difficulty of locating and securing qualified interpreters to provide access to essential communication in such settings as medical, legal, educational, mental health, home purchases, state disasters and so on.

  Communication, a basic need of all human beings, is all too frequently denied Florida’s 2.5 million Deaf and hard of hearing citizens.

Licensure, as proposed, would provide a registry or database of interpreters and their respective qualifications in all areas of Florida from which consumers can easily secure qualified services.

  Florida businesses, doctors and other public services, which are making good faith efforts to comply with Americans with Disabilities Act, are floundering with no readily available method to determine the qualifications of interpreting service providers they wish to hire.

  Those who are qualified hold a wide variety of credentials that are unfamiliar to the general population; the average hearing person has no expertise in sign languages, and can only assume, often mistakenly, that they are receiving fair value for their dollars.

Licensure, as proposed, groups the myriad of credentials into a streamlined tiered system of easily identifiable qualifications making it possible for all consumers to make informed purchasing decisions.

  Deaf and hearing consumers have been subjected to those unskilled and unethical practitioners who present themselves as professionally qualified interpreters and those who charge unreasonable fees for poor services. There is no protection from harm for consumers; there is no prohibition on convicted felons providing interpreting services in even the most confidential of communication settings.

The proposed language includes restrictions that prevent unqualified and unethical providers from preying on unknowledgeable consumers and causing harm. Licensure would prohibit convicted felons from providing interpreting services.

  Deaf children are left behind despite Federal legislation requiring that No Child be Left Behind.

   Access to the general curriculum, taught by the mandated highly qualified instructional staff, is denied many of  Florida’s Deaf children whose communication mode is sign language due to educational interpreters who are under-qualified or unqualified to sufficiently translate instructional material and academic content required to pass the FCAT.  A disproportionate number of cognitively normal Deaf children are scoring in quartile one.

 The proposed licensure system would enable districts to identify the linguistic, ethical, and professional competencies of current and prospective providers, make appropriate student linguistic matches, and provide a readily accessible database to locate the needed personnel. 

  Most importantly, licensure would improve access to the general curriculum by Deaf and hard of hearing students who use interpreters and thereby increase the likelihood of meeting Sunshine State Standards (SSS) and passing high stakes tests (FCAT).

  Florida has not met the Federal IDEA and NCLB requirement that states establish standards for interpreters in the public school system.

The proposed licensure of Florida’s interpreters, including those who work in the pre-K to twelfth grade setting would meet the federal requirement for states to establish standards for educational interpreters.

  Florida currently experiences a shortage of qualified interpreters in the educational system and public arena.

Licensure, as proposed, would increase the pool of qualified interpreters by requiring registration of those occasionally providing services and requiring continuing education to increase or maintain skills and credentials. A survey of states with regulation of interpreters reported an increase in the number of available and accessible interpreters.

  Hearing children as young as elementary age are being forced to provide adult level interpreting services for their Deaf and hard of hearing parents in situations that are beyond their cognitive ability to understand much less accurately translate.  State agencies, law enforcement personnel, and other public service

The proposed licensure prohibits any person under the age of eighteen years to provide interpreting services except in emergency situations when a qualified interpreter cannot be secured.  This protects Florida’s children of Deaf parents from being taken advantage of and being placed in inappropriate communication venues.

  The “results of licensure” myths of increased costs, only certified interpreters being allowed to work, and a drastic reduction in the number of practitioners have allowed the interpreting profession to go unregulated in Florida for too long. Public testimony demonstrates the discrimination Deaf and hard of hearing Floridians have experienced and the harm that has resulted to both Deaf and hearing consumers.

Other states report that the increase in cost has been none or nominal, they also report that the pool of interpreters increased following legislation due to the identification of previously unknown providers.  The proposed legislation has a multi-tiered system of regulation plus a two-year “grandfathering” period.  Licensure would demonstrate Florida’s commitment to ensure all of its citizens have access to the most basic of human needs, communication.