NEW HAMPSHIRE JUDICIAL BRANCH LANGUAGE SERVICES PLAN

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August Manning
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1 APPENDIX NEW HAMPSHIRE JUDICIAL BRANCH LANGUAGE SERVICES PLAN I. POLICY STATEMENT The New Hampshire Judicial Branch ( NHJB ) is committed to ensuring that all limited English proficient (LEP) litigants, witnesses, and parties in interest have meaningful access to New Hampshire Courts. LEP individuals are persons who do not speak English as their primary language and who have a limited ability to read, write, speak, or understand English. In furtherance of the NHJB s policy, this Language Services Plan (LSP) describes existing and contemplated policies, procedures, and programs to provide language services to these individuals. II. LEGAL BACKGROUND The need to provide language services to LEP persons in New Hampshire Courts arises from Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended (Title VI), 42 U.S.C. 2000d, and the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, as amended (Safe Streets Act), 42 U.S.C. 3789d(c)(1). Title VI and the regulations promulgated thereunder require courts to take reasonable steps to ensure meaningful access to the information and services they provide. The United States Department of Justice published a guidance document regarding LEP issues entitled Guidance to Federal Financial Assistance Recipients Regarding Title VI Prohibition Against National Origin Discrimination Affecting Limited English Proficient Persons, 67 Fed. Reg (June 18, 2002) (DOJ Guidance). The DOJ Guidance describes four factors to help governments determine whether the standard of reasonable steps to ensure meaningful access by LEP individuals is being satisfied. These factors are: number or proportion of LEP persons in the eligible service population; frequency of contact with the program; nature and importance of the program; and resources available and costs. In September 2016, the United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division issued a report entitled Language Access in State Courts. The report urges every state to continuously review their respective LSP to determine whether it keeps pace with evolving demographics within the state. 1

2 III. NHJB HISTORICAL BACKGROUND In April 2012, the Administrative Council designated a committee to recommend improvements to interpreter services in New Hampshire Courts. Two specific tasks given to the committee were: (1) to review and analyze vendor bids for the provision of foreign language and American Sign Language interpreter services in New Hampshire Courts; and (2) to develop a LSP for the NHJB. In April 2017, the Administrative Council designated a committee to review the existing LSP (2014), provide statistical updates, and make recommendations about additional steps to be considered to better serve the LEP population. NOTE: Although the NHJB provides interpreters for hearing impaired persons, services for such individuals are covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act rather than Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, and therefore will not be addressed in this LSP. Accordingly, all references to an interpreter in this LSP shall mean a foreign language interpreter only. IV. IDENTIFICATION OF LEP POPULATION The LEP population in New Hampshire is identified in data from the U.S. Census Bureau (Census Bureau). Language data that used to be collected every 10 years in the census (language use, English-speaking ability and linguistic isolation data) is now gathered annually by the American Community Survey (ACS). 1 The ACS is an ongoing national annual statistical survey conducted by the Census Bureau. To ascertain New Hampshire s LEP population, this report utilizes the ACS survey for In 2015, the Census Bureau estimated the state s population of individuals 5 years old or older at 1,258,609. Of this population, 8% spoke a language other than English at home. 2 Of those speaking a language other than English at home, 27% (estimated at 26,402 people over five years old) 3 spoke Spanish and 73% spoke some other language; 30% reported that they did not speak English very well. (See Table 1). 1 About Language Use - U.S. Census Bureau: ; A Compass for Understanding and Using American Community Survey Data, What State and Local Governments Need to Know, Issued February 2009, US Census Bureau (available at Data on Language Use U.S. Census Bureau: tate=

3 Table 1. Characteristics of Population by Language Spoken at Home 4 Subject Total Speak English Very Not Speak English Well Very Well Population 5 years or older 1,258, % 2.4% Speak only English 92.1% Speak language other than 7.9% 70% 30% English Spanish 2.1% 64.6% 35.4% Other Indo-European languages 3.9% 75.7% 24.3% Asian and Pacific Islander 1.4% 61.3% 38.7% languages Other languages 0.5% 73.4% 26.6% Table 2. Languages spoken in New Hampshire homes for populations 5 years or older 5 Language Estimated # of speakers Language # of speakers Spanish or Spanish Creole: 26,293 Other Pacific Island 1,188 languages: French (incl. Patois, Cajun): 21,848 Gujarati: 961 Chinese: 5,450 Mon-Khmer, Cambodian: 867 Other Asian languages 4,260 French Creole: 836 German: 3,910 Other Slavic languages: 810 Other Indic languages: 3,452 Japanese: 745 Portuguese or Portuguese 3,055 Urdu: 662 Creole: Arabic: 2,820 Laotian: 593 Greek: 2,342 Other West Germanic 564 languages: Russian: 1,943 Other and unspecified 504 languages: African languages: 1,783 Hebrew: 482 Other Indo-European 1,744 Thai: 381 languages: Vietnamese: 1,675 Scandinavian languages: 369 Serbo-Croatian: 1,672 Hungarian: 357 Hindi: 1,622 Persian: 206 Tagalog: 1,479 Armenian: 150 Italian: 1,421 Native North American 93 Korean: 1,273 Yiddish: 16 Polish: 1,199 Hmong: see also (breaking down the four categories of languages) 5 3

4 In 2016, the Courts had 1,757 encounters with LEP individuals. 6 (See Table 3.) In actuality, the number of LEP encounters was slightly higher than shown in Table 3 because two courts, the Manchester District Division 9 th Circuit Court and the Nashua District Division 9 th Circuit Court, utilize block scheduling. 7 (See Table 4). Table 4 provides a two-month summary of LEP encounters in those two courts. Beginning in January 2018, the Court will track monthly the LEP encounters in those two courts. Table 3. Number of LEP encounters in 2016 LANGUAGE # of # of LANGUAGE encounters encounters Spanish 1,167 Portuguese 8 (Brazilian) Arabic 131 Albanian (from 6 Albania) Chinese (Mandarin) 74 Maay 6 Portuguese 63 Punjabi 6 Vietnamese 57 Farsi 5 Napali 55 Liberian English 5 French 51 Krahn 4 Somali 26 Dari 3 Bosnian 23 Kirundi 3 Hindi 14 Russian 3 Swahili 13 Chinese 2 (Cantonese) Haitian Creole 12 Urdu 2 Greek 9 Polish 1 Indonesian 8 Table 4. Block Scheduling for June and July 2017 Month Manchester District Court Nashua District Court In Courtroom General Assistance In Courtroom General Assistance June July Gathered from records provided by the Language Bank for language interpretation services provided during Records provided by the Language Bank for June and July

5 V. INTERPRETER SERVICES PROVIDED A. Persons Receiving Services NHJB will provide an interpreter at the State s expense to the following: LEP litigants and witnesses during all court hearings and trials in all case types; LEP individuals who seek access to NHJB information or services through the call center and/or a court clerk s office; LEP individuals who request NHJB information or services in-person at a court clerk s office; and any LEP non-party individual having a significant interest in a court proceeding, as determined by the presiding judge. A significant interest will be determined based on an evaluation of the following factors: o o o The relationship of the LEP individual to the matter before the court; The seriousness of the matter; and The impact of the outcome on the LEP individual. B. Determining Need for Services Many people who need an interpreter will not request one because they do not realize that interpreters are available or because they do not recognize the level of English proficiency or communication skills needed to understand court pleadings and court proceedings. The NHJB shall inform LEP persons of the availability of interpreters and that these services will be provided to them free of charge. This information will be provided at the moment of their first encounter with the court. Notice is or will be given by: posting the availability of interpreters on the NHJB s website, which can now be translated via Google Translate; having a brochure available in court clerk s offices, courtrooms, and other public areas; prominently placing signs in court clerk s offices, courtrooms, and other public areas; having the first court employee to come into contact with LEP individuals provide the notice; and use of I speak cards in court clerk s offices. 5

6 If a person appears at a court with no interpreter and it is unclear what language the person speaks, court staff shall use I Speak cards to identify the language spoken. These cards contain the sentence I speak {language} translated from English into several different languages. LEP persons can point to the phrase in their language so that an interpreter may be requested. The court may determine whether an LEP individual needs an interpreter for a court hearing in various ways. The need for a court interpreter may be identified prior to a court proceeding by the LEP person, by the LEP person s lawyer, or by anyone acting with permission on the LEP individual s behalf. The need may be identified by a court staff member, clerk, or judge prior to or during a court hearing. When it appears that an individual has any difficulty communicating, it is the NHJB s policy to err on the side of providing an interpreter to ensure full access to the court. To the extent possible, the need for interpreter services should be identified as early as possible. If the need for interpreter services is identified by the LEP, by the LEP person s lawyer, or by anyone acting with permission on the LEP individual s behalf, then advance notice of the need for an interpreter must be given to the court. C. Language Services in the Courtroom The NHJB contracts with an independent agency ( Provider ) for the provision of interpreter services. The requirements of this contract are summarized elsewhere in this LSP. In providing interpreter services during court proceedings, the court will secure interpreter assistance in the following order of preference. First, the court will request the Provider to supply the services of in-person interpreters. Each court has a list of alternate providers should the contracted agency be unable to provide an interpreter. When an in-person interpreter is unavailable and, if appropriate given the nature and seriousness of the proceeding, the court will request the Provider to supply telephonic or remote (if the technology is available) interpreter services. The court may also obtain telephonic interpreter services through Language Line Services, Inc., a telephonic interpretation service. Remote interpreting will primarily be used if the court proceeding is short, if the distance an interpreter will have to travel is long, or if a rare language interpreter is needed. The presiding judge will determine whether remote interpretation is appropriate and the conditions under which such remote interpretation will be conducted. In a case where the court is required to provide an interpreter, but one is not available at the time of the court proceeding even after the court has made reasonable efforts to locate one, the proceeding will be postponed to a date when an interpreter can be provided. The NHJB case management system tracks interpreter needs through case records. Case record interpreter flags assist court staff in making sure that they know that an interpreter is needed for future hearings in a particular case. 6

7 D. Language Services Outside The Courtroom The NHJB is taking reasonable steps to ensure that LEP persons have meaningful access to services outside the courtroom. This is perhaps the most challenging encounter for court staff because in most situations they are charged with assisting LEP individuals without an interpreter present. LEP individuals come in contact with court personnel via the telephone and the public counter in the court clerk s office. To facilitate communication between LEP individuals and court staff, the court will use the following resources: in-person interpretation secured through the Provider; telephone interpretation secured through the Provider; and telephone interpretation through the Language Line or other remote interpreter service provider. It is the responsibility of the private attorney, public defender, county attorney, or attorney general to provide qualified interpretation and translation services for witness interviews, pre-trial transcriptions and translations, and attorney/client communications. VI. TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENTS AND COURT INFORMATION Pursuant to RSA 509:1, all court forms are required to be in English. The NHJB continues to assess the need to have some vital documents in other languages. The NHJB has installed Google Translate to its website to provide assistance to LEP individuals in accessing court resources. In addition, the NHJB has translated into Spanish and posted on its website this LSP document as well as the NHJB complaint form to report interpreter services issues. VII. CONTRACTING FOR INTERPRETER SERVICES The NHJB has determined that the most efficient and cost-effective way to provide interpreter services to LEP persons is to enter a contract with the Provider for such services. To ensure that a high quality of services is provided to LEP individuals, the NHJB s existing and future contracts with the Provider will require that the Provider: assign only qualified interpreters to work in New Hampshire courts; develop objective tests to screen prospective interpreters for skills in both English and the other language to be interpreted; develop and implement a curriculum of instruction for the interpreters they employ on courtroom procedure and the roles of courtroom participants; 7

8 develop interpreter skills programs and require all interpreters to complete annual skills development instruction; allow the NHJB Education Director to review and comment on the Provider s legal interpreter training and the Provider s continuing education for legal interpreters; in cooperation with the NHJB Education Director, develop and deliver to trial court judges, clerks, and court staff a curricula of instruction in diversity and effective use of interpreters; provide the NHJB with periodic management reports that will assist the Provider and the NHJB to improve the quality of interpreter services and to make delivery of such services more effective and efficient; encourage each qualified interpreter to seek certification as an interpreter through tests provided by the National Center for State Courts (NCSC), the National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators (NAJIT), the National Consortium of Interpreter Education Centers (NCIEC), the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, or any other entity that purports to certify foreign language interpreters for courtroom work; design and execute an interpreter evaluation process that includes input from judges, non-judicial staff, attorneys, and LEP individuals; and require all foreign language interpreters to acknowledge in writing the obligation to abide by the New Hampshire Judicial Branch Code of Professional Responsibility for Interpreters. VIII. STAFF AND JUDGE INFORMATION AND TRAINING A curriculum for training judges and court personnel on language access issues exists and has been implemented. This curriculum includes training with respect to the following matters: the LSP; how to identify language needs of LEP persons; sources of interpreter services; procedures to follow for obtaining interpreter services; diversity training; working effectively with an interpreter in person and on the telephone; 8

9 tracking the need for interpreter services in the case management system; and the role of the interpreter in court proceedings. Each court staff member also maintains at his/her workstation a language services card containing information on how to determine the need for an interpreter when interacting with an LEP individual, approved sources of interpreter services, and the procedure for securing interpreter services when needed. Judges are provided with a bench card which serves as a quick guide on how to determine the need for an interpreter, the role of an interpreter in court proceedings, and how to work with an interpreter during court proceedings. IX. COMPLAINT PROCEDURE Any person who feels that the quality of the interpreter or translation service provided was inadequate or that his or her right to meaningful language access to the court has not been met by the NHJB may file a written complaint with the Administrative Office of the Courts. The Director of the Administrative Office of the Courts or his/her designee will review, investigate, and respond to such complaint within thirty (30) days of the date of its receipt. The Director or his/her designee will any take any necessary corrective action as soon as is practicable. Complaint forms are posted on the NHJB website and are available in the clerk s office in each court location. Completed complaint forms should be directed to: Christopher M. Keating, Director Administrative Office of the Courts 1 Granite Place, Suite N400 Concord, NH X. REVIEW OF LSP The LSP will continue to be reviewed and updated every two years by a Review Committee (Committee). The members of the Committee will be the Director of the Administrative Office of the Courts and such other court personnel as may be appointed by the Administrative Council. The review will include identification of any problem areas and development of corrective action and strategies. Elements of the Committee's review may include the following: number of LEP persons requesting interpreter and translation services; assessment of current community demographics and language needs to determine whether additional services or translated materials should be provided; whether the NHJB should continue to provide interpreter services through contracting with a provider; 9

10 assessment of whether court staff adequately understand LSP policies and procedures and how to execute them ; review of feedback from court staff and judge training sessions; interpreter evaluations; feedback from LEP individuals, court constituents, and lawyers; and complaints filed, if any, since the date of the last review of the LSP. The Committee will recommend to the Administrative Council any revisions to the LSP it deems necessary to address all deficiencies or problem areas identified. XI. EFFECTIVE DATE OF LSP The effective date of this LSP is February 6,

Thurston County Superior Court 2016

Thurston County Superior Court 2016 LANGUAGE ASSISTANCE PLAN (LAP) I. LEGAL BASIS AND PURPOSE This document serves as the plan for the Thurston County Superior Court, including Family & Juvenile Court