Policies and Procedures Guidelines Reference

Organizations should establish policies and procedures to ensure staff, at all levels, know of their responsibilities in providing language services and how to access those services to provide meaningful access to culturally and linguistically diverse families. The policies and procedure should include information and criteria for LSPs such as language utilization data, and procedures for training staff on how to access those services on an ongoing basis. Definitions for bilingual staff member’s roles, responsibilities, qualifications, training, workload and compensation should also be clearly outlined in the policies and procedures.

Bilingual staff can play a key role in providing meaningful access and can increase an organization’s capacity to better serve families if done in an equitable and sustainable manner. Ensuring that bilingual staff are qualified and knowledge, as well as possess the skills, capacity, and ability to perform interpretation and translation tasks are essential to reducing risk and improving outcomes for the bilingual staff, the organization and ultimately the families served. Equally important is ensuring that bilingual staff are supported and that roles are not be combined with any other duties where conflict of interest, impartiality or role integrity come into question. For example, asking a bilingual staff member to act as an interpreter and a family advocate at the same time would compromise role integrity by combining duties in addition to making it nearly impossible to carry out either role faithfully or fully. A bilingual family advocate can engage in direct communication (not interpretation) with a limited English proficient (LEP) family but should not be asked to act as an interpreter on behalf of other staff members or during group meetings; since this would require the bilingual staff member to act as both an interpreter and family advocate at the same time. Asking a bilingual staff member to perform any role in conjunction with interpretation violates the interpreters code of ethics and it compromises the ability of the bilingual staff person to perform his or her role to fidelity and with impartiality.

A Blueprint for Advancing and Sustaining CLAS Policy and Practice

Language Access Assessment and Planning Tool for Federally Conducted and Federally Assisted Programs

Guidelines for Working Effectively with Interpreters in Mental Health Settings

Improving the Quality of Mental Health Interpreting in Victoria

A National Code of Ethics for Interpreters in Health Care

Interpretation Guidelines

Reference

Interpretation is verbal communication between three or more individuals, typically the English-speaking provider, the non-English speaking/LEP patient and the interpreter facilitating the communication. Verbal language access can be provided

A Blueprint for Advancing and Sustaining CLAS Policy

via over-the-phone interpretation (OPI), through video remote interpretation (VRI)

and through on-site interpreters.

and Practice

Language Access

Organization should establish access with interpretation vendors for onsite

interpretation and OPI services for communicating with culturally and linguistically diverse communities. An OPI provider is the most basic and cost-effective way for

Assessment and Planning Tool for

Federally Conducted

an organization to have the capacity to respond to the language needs of their community. This gives the organization and its staff the capacity to respond to

language needs, 24/7, 365 days a year, and is an important part of ensuring federal

and Federally Assisted Programs

compliance. The number of languages supported varies across vendors but is

generally over 200.

Guidelines for Working

Effectively with

Interpreters in Mental

Communication with a phone interpreter is not ideal for all situation, so in addition to having OPI services, having access to an on-site interpreters is more effective for

certain encounters, such as group meetings. Organization should establish

Health Settings

Improving the Quality of

services with a few local on-site language service provider and schedule interpreters in advance for group meetings or lengthily encounters; when having an

onsite interpreter is either more cost effective or conducive to the situation. For

Mental Health Interpreting in Victoria

rural communities where access to on-site interpreters is a difficult, VRI may be a meaningful compromise between OPI and on-site interpreters. VRI could provide

the access to a broader range of languages as well as provide the benefit of sight

for nonverbal ques exchanged and better flow during meetings between families and providers.

Translation Guidelines

Reference

Translation refers to written communication, translating words from one language into another. When the message is adapted to culturally resonate with a specific community or audience then it’s referred to as transcreation or localization and is a

A Blueprint for Advancing and Sustaining CLAS Policy

more meaningful way to approach translation. Organizations should establish services with professional translation vendors to assist with written language

materials that are culturally appropriate and meaningful to the community.

and Practice

Language Access

Providing all agency materials in all languages is not a realistic, cost-effective or a

sustainable long-term practice. Translation can be a great investment for any organization if done with forethought and planning to ensure the best return on

Assessment and Planning Tool for

Federally Conducted

investment and to leverage translation memory for future use. Below are a few things to keep in mind when considering translation:

and Federally Assisted Programs

• Are the materials to be translated the information the LEP community needs?

• Is translation the most cost-effective way to communicate with the community or individuals?

• Has your organization allocated adequate time and funding to pay for professional translation?

• Have the materials been reviewed for translatability and cultural

appropriateness (transcreation/localization)?

□ Does the vendor have capabilities to store and leverage translation memory for future translation projects?