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The Department of Social and Health Services is excited to share that the work of the Substitute House Bill 2221 proviso workgroup has concluded, and a report has been submitted to the Washington State Legislature.
This is a special project focusing on researching solutions for the shortage of American Sign Language, ProTactile, and Trilingual sign Language interpreters.
The report, titled “Report to the Legislature: ESSB 5950 Sec 204 (47) Laws of the 2024 Legislative Session. Establish a work group to address the statewide shortage of qualified and certified American Sign Language interpreters, ProTactile, and Trilingual interpreters,” will be available shortly at the Legislature’s website.
A variety of community engagements were conducted to obtain multiple perspectives and ideas on how to address this shortage. A diverse work group was created, focus group interviews and a survey were completed to obtain more perspectives for the workgroup to consider when exploring potential solutions.
This report includes best practices from other states and recommendations from the workgroup. The recommendations include both short-term and long-term benefits to the Deaf, DeafBlind, trilingual interpreter and sign language interpreter communities.
The Department offers six immediately actionable, prioritized recommendations. These were informed by subject matter expertise, Washington administrative experience, and the community engagement sessions.
The recommendations address interpreter training and certification standards in Washington, increase the number of interpreters across all communities, and enhance professional development and financial support for interpreters to work statewide.
The Office of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing has been interpreting the full Legislative Report into American Sign Language to ensure equitable access to Deaf, DeafBlind and sign language interpreting communities. These interpretations are made possible through collaboration with community workgroup partners and certified and qualified Deaf interpreters.
It is expected to deliver the interpreted report concurrently with the Legislature’s online publication. To review previous announcements and publications regarding the goals, progress and outcomes, and what the recommendations may be, please see the following links.
Links:
- Read the House Bill Report on HB 2221.
- Read more about the Proviso Work group.
- Read more about the Work Group’s goals.
- Watch the recap of the public town hall introducing the Work Group on December 18, 2024.
- Watch the Solutions Summit Recap (February 1-2, 2025).
Watch the Work Group Reports
- (February 4, 2025), and
- (February 10, 2025)
- View the Legislative Report recommendations (May 2025).
Please contact Morgan Jericho at [email protected] for any questions or further information.
Thank you for your collaboration and partnership.
VIDEO LINK
 ID: Text: Interpreter Shortage Legislative Workgroup Report Recommendations above a photo of the workgroup members. TAP to watch in ASL.
Accessibility: We are dedicated to ensuring equitable and inclusive access. Our meetings and events are available in ASL, spoken English, and with captioning. Additionally, other signed and spoken languages are offered. For more information or specific requests, please contact us at [email protected].
Contact Us!
800-422-7930 Voice
425-461-4603 Videophone
[email protected]
Visit Website!
dshs.wa.gov/altsa/odhh
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