DHHS Interpreter Announcement
June 4, 2009
Indiana, like the rest of the United States, is facing a critical shortage of sign language interpreters. Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services (DHHS) and Vocational Rehabilitation Services (VRS), programs of the Division of Disability and Rehabilitative Services (DDRS) Bureau of Rehabilitation Services (BRS), are working to reduce the impact of this challenge and improve access to interpreter services to Indiana’s Deaf Community.
To achieve this goal, the state is planning a change in the way we fill interpreting jobs. We will improve access to interpreter services by streamlining the coordination and scheduling of interpreter services and advancing consumer access to Video Remote Interpreting (VRI). These changes should not affect consumers, as we will still meet demand by using local interpreters to fill local interpreting jobs.
What is changing? As of January 1, 2010, the State of Indiana is set to hire a single organization to schedule interpreters for DDRS programs including VRS and DHHS. Currently, DDRS purchases interpreter services from 14 interpreter provider organizations and 20 freelance interpreters. The coordinating organization will continue to use those same agencies and freelance interpreters. As in the past, every effort will be made to use consumers’ preferred interpreters—when the interpreter is available, and when it is cost efficient to hire that specific interpreter. For example, it would not be cost efficient to hire an interpreter to travel across the state for a job when local skilled interpreters are available.
Scheduling interpreters through a single coordinating unit will allow the state to work more efficiently and better meet the needs of consumers. This change will ensure a more cost-effective and efficient interpreter delivery system. The change also helps the state to ensure funding goes directly toward interpreting by reducing the cost for travel and other administrative functions.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Rhonda Marcum at 1-317-863-4989 or by E-mail at Rhonda.Marcum@fssa.IN.gov.
Thank you.
Division of Disability & Rehabilitative Services (DDRS)
Statewide OASIS System Transformation
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Indiana Higher Education Telecommunication System (IHETS).
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