So I'm a Language Access Coordinator... Now What?
Channel: Texan Translation
Date: 30/09/2022

This one-hour training was held by Zoom on September 29, 2022, and was open to anyone working in language access in U.S. state courts, no matter how long they’ve held the position. Guidelines and best practices continue to evolve, and it may be time for a refresher! We discussed:
1. What to do first: finding the latest national and state guidance for language access
2. Prioritizing your responsibilities: a budget-conscious review of low-hanging fruit
3. Educating the judiciary: how to effectively put a monolingual judge, attorney, administrator or other court employee into the shoes of a Limited English Proficient (LEP) immigrant
4. Interpreters and translators

Presented by Marco Hanson, former (and first) statewide LAC for the Texas judicial branch, and Margaret Hanson, Spanish-English legal translator and owner of Texan Translation. Marco is a licensed court interpreter, certified translator, and college instructor. A good audiobook on making lasting changes with minimal resources in a large, complex organization, is "Switch: How to Change When Change is Hard." https://www.amazon.com/Switch-Dan-Heath-Chip-Heath-audiobook/dp/B0038NLX9S/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=switch+heath&qid=1662663108&sr=8-1 

Some of the questions we were asked that guided our preparations:
- Language Access resources available to me when I have no state or federal funding
- More about the Language Access Plan, any deadlines I should be preparing for and data I should be tracking 
- How to handle the negativity some judges and court administrators exhibit regarding “having” to provide an interpreter  
- Recruiting, testing and credentialing process for interpreters
- Tracking systems that operate most efficiently with the fewest extra steps for our court staff to make sure everyone knows about interpreter needs as a case progresses
- Recruiting and providing basic training tools that would make interpreters feel more comfortable and efficient in the courtroom
- Completing forms and similar documents for LEP court users
- How to train judges and attorneys who don’t get much practice dealing with interpreters and most have a strong “muscle memory” for courtroom behavior that sometimes prevents them from allowing the interpreter to do their work.