SCR135 SD1.DOC

WHEREAS, American Sign Language interpreters work as freelance interpreters to provide communication access between hearing and deaf or hard of hearing individuals; and

WHEREAS, the Vocational Rehabilitation and Services for the Blind Division and the Disability and Communication Access Board prepared a report entitled "Shortage of ASL-English Interpreters in the State of Hawaii" in November 2000; and

WHEREAS, the 2000 report identified job security, consistency of income, stability of schedule, benefits, and professional development as priorities for working interpreters; and

WHEREAS, the 2000 report recommended increasing the pool of qualified interpreters in Hawaii to improve communication access for deaf and hard of hearing persons; and

WHEREAS, the Disability and Communication Access Board is a state agency that issues administrative rules for the utilization of communication access services (e.g., sign language interpreters, real time captioners, and computer-assisted notetakers) and determines the qualifications of interpreters and the credentialing of interpreters who do not hold national certification via a state screening process; and

WHEREAS, the Disability and Communication Access Board has developed and implements a state test, the Hawaii Quality Assurance System, for individuals who wish to obtain a state credential to work as an American Sign Language interpreter in the State of Hawaii but who do not seek national certification; and

WHEREAS, on average, only eight to twelve individuals per year take and pass the Disability and Communication Access Board Hawaii Quality Assurance System test; and

WHEREAS, the Vocational Rehabilitation and Services for the Blind Division has contracted for statewide interpreter referral services with a private agency, Hawaii Interpreting Services, which has experienced significant difficulty in securing American Sign Language interpreters for community freelance interpreting assignments; and

WHEREAS, state agencies, especially agencies that are heavy users of interpreter services, such as the Vocational Rehabilitation and Services for the Blind Division, and the University of Hawaii, are also having difficulty meeting their obligations to provide communication access to deaf and hard of hearing individuals; and

WHEREAS, the lack of American Sign Language interpreters seriously impacts the lives of persons who are deaf in obtaining and maintaining jobs, affecting their health and safety and their interactions of daily life; and

WHEREAS, the State of Hawaii has an Interpreter Education Program at Kapiolani Community College whose purpose, in part, is to train students to become working interpreters to increase the pool of available American Sign Language interpreters in the State of Hawaii; and

WHEREAS, the American Sign Language/Interpreter Education Program at the University of Hawaii, Kapiolani Community College, established an associate of science degree in interpreting and a certificate of completion in interpreting; and

WHEREAS, a majority of graduates of the University of Hawaii, Kapiolani Community College, interpreter education program entered the workforce as educational interpreters rather than as freelance interpreters in the community and dramatically increased the number of qualified and credentialed interpreters in grades K-12, thereby meeting a critical need for interpreters; and

WHEREAS, the establishment of a video relay services call center has provided an attractive, new venue for qualified and credentialed interpreters; and

WHEREAS, more interpreters are choosing to work as video relay interpreters because of these new opportunities; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-fifth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2009, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to conduct a study to identify in existing law, rules, regulations, or policies such as rates, benefits, or reimbursement mechanisms, if any, that deter interpreter practitioners from working as freelance interpreters in the community and to identify possible strategies to alleviate these barriers and increase the number of available free lance interpreters; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Disability and Communication Access Board and Hawaii Interpreting Services are requested to assist the Legislative Reference Bureau to survey current working American Sign Language interpreters in the State; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that it is requested that the study recommend legislation and administrative or program changes that might be implemented to increase the availability of American Sign Language interpreters, including, but not limited to changes in:

(1) The Disability and Communication Access Board;

(2) Title 11, chapter 218, Hawaii Administrative Rules;

(3) The Hawaii Quality Assurance System test;

(4) The Kapiolani Community College Interpreter Education Program; and

(5) The Vocational Rehabilitation and Services for the Blind Division Interpreter Referral Contract; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to consult with the Disability and Communication Access Board, the Vocational Rehabilitation and Services for the Blind Division, Kapiolani Community College Interpreter Education Program, Hawaii Interpreting Services, Hawaii Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, Purple Communications, and user groups of American Sign Language interpreting services in formulating recommendations; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to submit any findings and recommendations to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the 2010 regular session; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Executive Director of the Disability and Communication Access Board, the Administrator of the Vocational Rehabilitation and Services for the Blind Division, the Chancellor of the Kapiolani Community College, the Hawaii Interpreting Services, the Administrator of the Hawaii Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, and the Director of the Legislative Reference Bureau.

Report Title:

American Sign Language Interpreters; Legislative Reference Bureau

THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	135
TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2009		S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII