State of Delaware Administrative Office of the Courts Court Interpreter Program Language Access Plan

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1 State of Delaware Administrative Office of the Courts Court Interpreter Program Language Access Plan I. Legal Background The obligation to provide services to persons with limited English proficiency in the court system arises from the constitutional requirements of equal protection and due process of law, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and 42 U.S.C. 2000(d). Under United States Department of Justice (DOJ) regulations implementing Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, recipients of Federal financial assistance have a responsibility to ensure meaningful access to their programs and activities by persons with limited English proficiency (LEP). See 28 CFR (b)(2). Executive Order reprinted at 65 CFR (August 16, 2000) directs each Federal agency that extends assistance subject to the requirements of Title VI to publish guidance for its respective recipients clarifying that obligation. DOJ published guidance to recipients of its funding programs on June 18, 2002 ( Guidance ). Pursuant to this guidance, courts are specifically included in those entities covered by its provisions. The DOJ Guidance states that recipients of DOJ funds are required to take reasonable steps to ensure meaningful access to their programs and activities by LEP persons. The Guidance further requires recipients to develop an implementation plan to address the identified needs of the LEP populations they serve. This document comprises the plan required by the DOJ Guidance. The document includes a description of existing programs and/or policies to date developed to address language assistance issues in order to provide meaningful access to the courts and a list of goals at various stages of development or implementation. II. Historical Background In 1993, the Delaware Supreme Court appointed a Racial and Ethnic Fairness Task Force. The Task Force received testimony on the need for consistent and accurate language interpretation in the courts and, as part of its final report, the Task Force recommended that a statewide court interpreter certification program be established. Based on this recommendation, then Chief Justice E. Norman Veasey issued Administrative Directive #107, dated April 1996, which established the Court Interpreter Program under the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC). The AOC worked with the National Center for State Courts and the newly formed Consortium of State Court Interpreter Certification to develop the program. (Delaware was the sixth state to join the Consortium in The Consortium now includes 40 member states.) The first orientation session for prospective interpreters was held in each county in Delaware in the fall of The first interpreter test was administered in Spanish in The Supreme Court appointed an Advisory Board to assist in the development of policies and procedures for the program. In 2004, the Advisory Board and the Delaware Supreme Court adopted a comprehensive policy that serves as the operational policy for the program. The Delaware Court Interpreter Certification program recently celebrated 12 years of service and now provides certified and qualified interpreters in

2 foreign languages and for the deaf/hearing impaired. Although court interpreters are always provided for persons deaf and hard of hearing, access services to this population is not addressed in this document/plan because they are not included under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. III. LEP Population Needs Assessment Spanish is by far the predominant language of LEP individuals in Delaware and it is the language for which interpreters have most frequently been provided. See Table 1. In addition, Spanish is the only language for which more than 1,000 LEP persons were identified in the 2000 Census. Table 1. The following table is organized by primary languages and represents the approximate number of LEP persons in Delaware based on 2000 U.S. Census figures compared to the number of interpreters Delaware courts provided to LEP individuals statewide in the 2006 fiscal year. LANGUAGE LEP Total Population 1 Interpreters Provided 2 Spanish Haitian/French Creole Turkish Unknown 17 Polish Korean Arabic Chinese Gujarati 80 2 Russian 74 7 Vietnamese French (inc. Patois, Cajun) Portuguese Hindi 14 2 Tagalog/Philipino 45 3 Bosnia/Slavic 40 3 Farsi/Persian 19 2 Ibo/African Languages 30 1 Japanese 50 1 In FY 2006, a total events required language interpreters. Records on interpreter usage in the courts during most of FY 2007 and FY 2008 reflect that Spanish continues to be the predominant LEP population, followed distantly by Haitian Creole. FY 2008 showed a slight 1 Source: 2000 Census Table 9b. Delaware Ability to Speak English by Language Spoken at Home for the Population 18 Years and Over. Figures are based on combined data from population categories of those individuals who reported that they speak English not well or not at all. Not one person was counted in the not at all category for Tagolog/ Philipino and Japanese language groups. Table 9b is available at These figures most likely underestimate the current LEP population as statistics from the Pew Hispanic Center for 2007 show that the Hispanic population of Delaware increased 34.5% from 2000 (37,185) to 2005 (50,007) and grew by an additional 1% between 2005 and 2007 (51,000) constituting 6% of the state s total population. Source: Pew Hispanic Center tabulations of 2000 Census and 2005 and 2007 American Community Survey. Also, according to the 2007 American Community Survey, 3.8 % of Delaware s population age 5 years and over speak English less than very well and 10% speak a language other than English at home. 2 Figures are based on AOC payment data for New Castle County, Kent County and Sussex County and include the number of interpreters hired, but understate the number of LEP individuals served. For example, the Court of Common Pleas generally hires one interpreter to be available to cover several calendars on a given day. Though the interpreter might serve multiple defendants, only one interpreter would be counted in this data. 3 This number does not include the 193 American Sign Language interpreters provided in

3 increase in requests for Korean, Mandarin, Vietnamese and Russian but in numbers comparatively negligible when considering the number of requests for Spanish. In FY 2008 the Delaware AOC provided interpreting services for an estimated 10,000 defendants, or 5,137 interpreter hours. (See Table 3. under V., B., Costs) TABLE 2. NUMBER OF LEP SERVED BY LANGUAGE DURING FY 2008 FOR THE JUSTICE OF THE PEACE COURT, FAMILY COURT AND COURT OF COMMON PLEAS. 4 Language Family Court JP Court Common Pleas Spanish 1,374 4,828 1,478 Haitian/French Creole Turkish 3 Polish 1 Korean Arabic 1 5 Chinese 2 (Man) 6 12 Gujarati 1 Russian 3 5 Vietnamese 1 2 French (inc. Patois, Caju 1 1 Portuguese Hindi 2 1 Tagalog/Philipino Bosnia/Slavic Farsi/Persian Ibo/African Languages 1 SWA Japanese 1 Other 1 Bengali 1 1Bul, 1Mon IV. The Court Interpreter Program The Delaware Judicial Branch has provided court interpreter services since 1997 through the Delaware Court Interpreters Program 5. The Program is managed by the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) under the direction of the Court Interpreter Advisory Board. The Advisory Board is comprised of 5 Delaware judges, a Certified Interpreter and the Coordinator of the Court Interpreter Program in the AOC. In 2006, the Chief Justice approved the creation of a full time position Court Interpreter Coordinator in FY The position was filled in February The Coordinator is responsible for the development of policies and procedures on the use of interpreters in the Delaware courts, their implementation as well as the daily administration of the program. Additionally, the Coordinator is responsible for the recruitment, testing, and certification of interpreter candidates 4 This number does not include the American Sign Language interpreters provided in 2008 nor the number of LEPs serviced via the telephonic interpreter services provided by Language Line Services, Inc. 5 Information about the Delaware Court Interpreters Program is available at: Information about the Consortium for State Court Interpreter Certification is available athttp:// 3

4 as well as for maintaining a Court Interpreter Registry for the Delaware Judiciary that lists certified and qualified foreign language interpreters and interpreters for the deaf and hard of hearing. The AOC Court Interpreter Program issues a Court Interpreter Registry yearly after the administration of the credentialing exam(s). The AOC provides a copy of the Court Interpreter Registry to the Delaware Judicial Conference, court administrators, the Department of Justice, and the Public Defender s Office as well as other appropriate state agencies. Each court/agency contacts the interpreter directly to schedule services. Upon request, the Administrative Office of the Courts will assist the courts/agencies by providing information from Court Interpreter Programs of other jurisdictions on interpreters certified/qualified in languages for which Delaware has no certified/qualified interpreters. Currently, Delaware has Certified Court interpreters in Haitian Creole, Mandarin, Spanish, Russian and Ukrainian; and Conditionally Approved Interpreters in Spanish, Polish, Turkish, and Russian. There are Registered Candidates in Portuguese and Spanish. The Court Interpreter Program has a Continuing Education Policy which requires Delaware interpreters in the Registry to complete a minimum of 12 hours of continuing education every three years. Of these 12 credits, at least 3 must be in Ethics and 3 others in skills building on modes of interpretation. Continuing Education credits may be obtained through programs approved by the AOC such as, and among others, the Consortium for State Court Interpreters Certification Skills Building Workshops, NAJIT/ATA conferences, educational programs offered by colleges or universities, or training programs offered by other Consortium member states. Interpreter must submit course information for approval from the Coordinator of the Certified Interpreter Program 30 days prior to attending in order to ensure that the proposed course meets the CE requirements. The Court Interpreter Program and the Advisory Board developed a disciplinary policy for court interpreters and presented it to the Supreme Court for approval. The resulting document is Administrative Directive 163 of September 4, 2008, which accompanies this document. V. Services Provided A. Court interpreters The court provides interpreting services when it is apparent to judicial officers and court staff that a person involved in a court proceeding, including defendants, victims or witnesses does not speak and understand English sufficiently to participate in the proceeding. The court also provides interpreting services upon request or when notified by a lower court, social services, police department or attorney that an interpreter will be needed. In addition, court interpreters are available as a matter of course for certain high volume court proceedings in the Justice of the Peace Court and the Court of Common Pleas. Court officers and staff members are sensitive to the needs of LEP individuals and err on the side of caution in determining when to provide LEP services. As a result of this guideline, Delaware courts provide interpreters in a wide range of court proceedings in all State courts, including but not limited to: Arbitration; Arraignments (including Spanish only arraignment nights); Child Support; Contempt Hearings; Criminal, Criminal Delinquency; Custody; Dependency, Neglect and Termination of Parental Rights; Domestic Violence and Protection from Abuse; Driving Under the Influence; Drug Diversion; Entries of Pleas; 4

5 Guardianship; Imperiling Family Relations; Mediation; Non Jury Trials; Preliminary Hearings; Traffic Court, Truancy; and Violations of Probation. Interpreters are also available for the Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) program and diversion programs including Drug Court; Diversion Court; Mental Health Court; as well as Mediation and Arbitration in Family Court. 1. Court Interpreter Qualifications There are three foreign spoken language interpreter categories in Delaware as they appear in the Court Interpreter Registry: 1) Certified Interpreter 2) Conditionally Approved Interpreter 3) Registered Candidate. All interpreters in these three categories have: Attended a two day ethics, judicial procedure and skills building Orientation seminar. Successfully completed a criterion based written examination. Passed a criminal background check as required by the Judicial Branch. Submitted the AOC application with a copy of the most recent CV. Submitted a copy of a W 9 form, a copy of Delaware business license for Professional Services and renews said license on a yearly basis. Additionally, interpreters in the Registry are required to: Voluntarily comply with the Continuing Education Credit requirements described in the Continuing Education Policy of March Comply with the Court Interpreter Code of Professional Ethics. Sign acknowledgement of receipt and agreement with Court Interpreter Policies and Procedures Sheet. The Registry classification is based on certification exam scores as follows: A Certified Interpreter is that candidate who passed a 3 part oral performance examination in his/her particular language combination with a minimum score of 70% overall and in each of the 3 sections independently. These interpreters are to be contacted first whenever the Court is in need of interpreter services. The interpreters in this category may interpret any type of hearing, criminal or civil, and are the interpreters of choice for trials and hearings of any legal or linguistic complexity. Certified Interpreters from other jurisdictions who have attained certification through another Consortium member state, the Administrative Office of the United States Courts or NAJIT and who wish to work in Delaware may apply for reciprocity. A Conditionally Approved interpreter is that candidate who sat for the 3 part performance examination in his/her particular language combination and obtained a minimum overall score of 60% by scoring 70% in at least one section, and scores above 55% in the remaining two sections. These interpreters are to be contacted once it is determined that a Certified Interpreter is not available. Court personnel must consider the nature and potential consequences of the interpreting assignment. These interpreters are only permitted to interpret at trials if they are teamed with a certified interpreter. Included under this category are interpreters for languages for which there isn t an oral performance examination. A Registered Candidate is that candidate who sat for the 3 part performance examination in his/her particular language with a minimum score of 50% overall. Candidates are to be contacted for services ONLY after diligent efforts to secure Certified or Conditional interpreters proved unsuccessful. When considering the use of a registered candidate interpreter and to determine suitability, the court and or court administrator shall weigh the type of judicial hearing and the seriousness of the potential penalties and consequences of same. Therefore, interpreters in this 5

6 category shall be limited to appearances such as arraignments, capiases returns, minor violations in the lower courts and non evidentiary hearings. B. Other Resources Additional resources besides Court Interpreters available to the courts, agencies, self help centers, resource centers and information desks to communicate with the LEP population are: 1. I speak cards If a litigant appears in court with no interpreter and it is unclear what language the litigant speaks, copies of I speak 6 are used. I speak are notices in various languages, to which the litigant can point to indicate their language so that an interpreter may be called. Copies of this card are available to staff at information desks throughout the courthouse as well as at the Self Help Center. 2. Telephonic Interpretation Delaware Judiciary subscribed to the services of Language Line Services, Inc. before the inception of the Program as a means to obtain interpreter services. Since the inception of the Court Interpreter Program, the courts continue to use the Language Line only in cases where the need for an interpreter was not known or could not be foreseen in non evidentiary hearings such as arraignments and capias returns, or in instances where an interpreter for a rare language cannot be secured in person. Language Line Services Inc. is also available for use to staff at the information desks in New Castle County. In 2006, the Court Interpreter Program and the Advisory Board moved to create a Delaware Telephone Interpreter Line using the certified/qualified interpreters in the Court Interpreter Registry and for the same purpose as the previously existing line. The list is circulated to members of the Judicial Conference and designated court staff. This local telephonic interpreting service has been especially successful in providing last minute interpreting services for the Justice of the Peace Courts. The Delaware Telephone Interpreter Line provides known certified/qualified interpreters in the most commonly needed languages at a reduced cost. 3. Bench Cards and Notice on the Role of the Interpreter Available also to the Judges and court personnel are two Bench Cards: Best Practices for Working with Foreign Language Interpreters in the Courtroom and Best Practices for Working with Interpreters for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. (Attachment B ) These cards are a quick but comprehensive guide on how to assess the need for an interpreter; how to determine interpreter qualifications; the interpreter s oath; best practices during proceedings, and additional resources. The Judicial Conference received a laminated booklet containing these two cards and a third one titled Notice on the Role of the Court Interpreter (Attachment C ), which details the appropriate notice as to the role of the court interpreter to all parties, witnesses and jurors, present in court proceedings in which court interpreters are providing services. These cards are also readily available to the Judicial Conference and all court employees in the judicial intranet site Court Interpreter Program page at The intranet Court Interpreter page also contains links to the National Center for State Court Consortium for State Court Interpreter Certification, the active Interpreter Registry; the 6 I speak is a publication of the Ohio Criminal Justice Services. 6

7 Telephone Interpreter list, the Language Line Services information and the Court Interpreter Coordinator contact information, among others. The Court Interpreter Program also designed and published through the Delaware Bar Association to all Delaware lawyers a Best Practices for Working with Interpreters card (Attachment D ). This card can also be found in the Court Interpreter Judiciary internet page. 4. Judicial and Staff Education In an effort to further ensure sensitivity to the needs of LEP individuals, the courts have sponsored, to date, two judicial conferences regarding court interpretation. Additionally, the Coordinator of the Court Interpreter Program has made presentations formally and informally to the Judges for the Justice of the Peace Courts and Court of Common Pleas in an effort to keep the judges current with respect to policy, requirements as well as to answer any questions. In 2001, the AOC s Judicial Education session focused on interpreter issues Interpreting Issues in the Delaware Courts Chief Magistrate Griffin and Franny Haney; and How to Effectively Use A Certified Court Interpreter Maria Perez Chambers. The Delaware State Bar Association offers continuing legal education (CLE) credit for educational programs addressing the use of interpreters in the courtroom. For example, one CLE accredited session was held on April 8, 2004, titled The Importance of Court Interpreters or That Iron Pear, He Fried My Squid!. The Racial and Ethnic Fairness Summit of September of 2007 brought together criminal justice and community leaders to discuss strategies for improving racial and ethnic fairness in Delaware s criminal and juvenile justice systems. Two main areas to be addressed by the Delaware Judiciary as a result of the summit are first, the relationship between judicial staff and the public and their role in the perception of fairness; and second, the relationship between judiciary staff. As a result of the Summit, all court staff was to attend initially four, two hour programs on racial and ethic fairness as well as diversity awareness trainings. Cultural and Ethnic diversity trainings for court staff began in September Delaware Courts: Fairness for All Task Force, seeks additional ways in which the courts can assist self represented litigants and increase procedural fairness and the perception of fairness. As part of the Task Force s work, it has held public and agency hearings to obtain input from groups who serve LEP populations, among others. Flyers for the public hearings were distributed in Spanish to a wide variety of organizations serving the LEP community and at all hearings, Spanish and deaf interpreters were present. At the agency hearings, the Task Force heard from the Governor s Advisory Council on Hispanic Affairs, an immigration attorney, and organizations that focus on providing legal services, including to LEP individuals, such as Community Legal Aid Society, Inc., Legal Services Corporation of Delaware, and Delaware Volunteer Legal Services. It is anticipated that outreach efforts to the LEP community will be among the results of the Task Force. 5. Translation of documents General Information in Spanish on criminal procedure and juvenile arbitration process are posted in the Judiciary Internet page 7

8 Certain key forms are currently available in Spanish as follows: Superior Court Truth in Sentencing Form Court of Common Pleas Waiver of Preliminary Hearing Warrant for Failure to Pay Notice of Hearing for Failure to Pay Payment by Mail (3 forms) Transfer of Bail Work Referral Guilty Plea Wage Attachment DUI First Offenders Order to Pay Payment Agreement Waiver of Extradition DUI Guilty Plea Payment Receipt VI. Program Resources and Costs A. Funding The Court Interpreter Program was initially funded by a grant, which provided $15,200 for the development and administration of a Court Interpreter Program, which would be responsible only for the certification of interpreters. The costs of interpreter services were borne by each court individually. In FY 2002, the AOC moved to centralize the administration of interpreter services and $78,900 in interpreter services funding was transferred from the courts to the Court Interpreter Program. In 2003, the legislature recognized the growth in the need for services and increased the Court Interpreter Program s budget by $120,000. In FY 2007, the AOC created a full time position for a Court Interpreter Program Coordinator and further increased the Program s budget by $50,000. B. Costs Total annual expenditures for court interpreters have increased dramatically every fiscal year, doubling in only five years as shown in Table 3 below. These numbers do not include disbursements made by the AOC for interpreter requests or interpreting hours provided through conflict attorney cases since they are disbursed from a different budget line. The numbers do include ASL interpreter costs. 8

9 Table 3. Cumulative percentage increase in costs of providing court interpreters since CUMULATIVE % FISCAL YEAR DISBURSEMENT INCREASE 2004 $142, 158 _ _ 2005 $153, % 2006 $212, % 2007 $234, % 2008 $268, % 2009 $311, % 1. Language Line Costs Court Interpreter Program Policy states that if the interpreters participating in Delaware Telephone Interpreter Line are unavailable or if the need is for a language not included in said Interpreter Line, the court/agency may contact Language Line Services, Inc. in order to ensure services are provided to the LEP. Table 4. below shows the costs of services for Language Line Services, Inc. since FY2006. The decrease in costs of services is a reflection of both an increase in availability of certified/qualified foreign language interpreters that are being scheduled to appear in court as well as a result of the creation and use of the in house Delaware Telephone Interpreter Line. Table 4. Costs of services for the Language Line Services Inc. for FY2006 FY2009. FY 2006 FY 2007 FY 2008 FY 2009 $29, $25, $20, $14, VII. Goals and Plans The Coordinator of the Court interpreter program and the Court Interpreter Advisory Board have discussed as part of the further development of the Court Interpreter Program: 1. The identification and translation of mission critical informational documents and forms for Superior Court, Family Court, Court of Common Pleas and Justice of the Peace Court. The Court Interpreter Advisory Board has discussed and tasked the Coordinator with the standardization of the translation process prior to the selection of the mission critical forms for each court. The Court Interpreter Program would assign an identical sum of money to each court. It would be up to each court to select informational forms considered vital and to submit said forms to the Coordinator for translation. Proposed Funding: $10,000. Project placed on hold in February 2009 due to current budgetary crisis. 2. Development of training seminars addressing not only professional development language and interpreting skills but the ethics of the interpreting profession in order to ensure high quality services. The Court Interpreter Advisory Board moved to allocate $5,000 to this project. Allocated Funds for Ethics Seminar: $5,000. 9

10 VIII. Revisions. This Language access plan shall be revised every two years or earlier if deemed necessary by the Court Interpreter Advisory Board and/or the Court Interpreter Program Coordinator. EFFECTIVE DATE: September, 2006 with revisions 2007 and LAP State contact: Maria Perez Chambers Coordinator, Court Interpreter Program Administrative Office of the Courts 500 N. King Street, Ste Wilmington, DE Tel: Fax: